GREEN BAY — Thirty-six minutes wasn’t enough to crown a champion, so the Lena and Albany/Monticello girls basketball teams took their epic battle to overtime in Saturday’s WIAA Division 5 State title game at the Resch Center.
Drama soaked the final two minutes of overtime after Maddy Kushner scored to nudge the Wildcats ahead by two, only for a clutch 3-pointer by Abby Hollis to put the Comets on top 55-54 with 1:03 left to play.
Alana Durtschi sank an insurance layup 49 seconds later to make it a three-point game, and after Madi Thomson’s desperation half-court heave fell short, Albany/Monticello erupted in celebration after fending off Lena 57-54 to capture the Division 5 State championship.
“I’m not sure where this would rank, but that had to be one of the best D5 girls’ State championship (games),” Albany/Monticello coach Derik Doescher said. “I think we both, Lena and Albany/Monticello, gave the entire state a heck of a show.”
“That was an amazing game, and I think that everyone who paid the price for a ticket got their money’s worth,” concurred Lena coach Tim Goldschmidt. “It’s just a shame that there has to be a loser in a game like this, but our team left everything on the court and I’m very, very proud of them.”
Albany/Monticello led by as much as nine points in the first half but Lena clawed its way back to tie the score at 19-19 before Thomson scored to give the Wildcats’ their first lead of the game.
Anna Ellinger knocked down a pair of three throws to knot matters up at 21-21 entering halftime.
Lena opened the second half on a 10-to-4 run to seize a 33-26 advantage before Hollis drilled a triple to tie the game at 37-37.
“It looked pretty bleak getting down by seven. We looked worn out and Lena’s size was getting the best of us, but the girls stuck to our gameplan and ultimately found a way,”Doescher said.
Eva Brooks reeled off seven unanswered points to put the Wildcats on top 44-39, but the Comets pulled within three thanks to a layup by Avary Briggs.
Lena had chances to put the game out of reach but struggled from the foul line down the stretch, going 2-4 on free throws, which allowed Albany/Monticello to hang around before another triple by Hollis evened the score up 50-50 at the end of regulation.
Hollis, who led the Comets in scoring with 15 points, was the only player from Albany/Monticello to connect from long-range, going 4-11 on 3-pointers and 5-17 overall from the field.
“This young lady struggled all night to shoot and then hit the two biggest shots in Albany history,” Doescher said, referring to Hollis.
Overtime saw the Wildcats jump ahead by two thanks to a pair of free throws by Brooks before Dalana Trumpy hit a layup to tie matters up for the seventh time.
“When overtime started, it was a new game, 0-0, and we had our chances to score more and didn’t take them,” Brooks said. “They have a good 3-point shooter (Hollis), and she did what she needed to do.”
Brooks made State tournament history on Saturday, recording the most rebounds (19) in a single Division 5 State tournament game, breaking the old mark of 18 set by Megan Gustafson in 2015.
She finished with a game-high 21 points. Thomson finished with 16, Kali Fischer chipped in six, Kushner notched five, Whitney Potter pitched in four and Hannah Thomson added two.
Miscues plagued the Wildcats on Saturday, with Lena turning the ball over 23 times compared to just six for the Comets. Albany/Monticello was able rack up 18 points off turnovers.
“That’s been one of our Achilles’ heels this year. At times, we didn’t handle pressure as well as we should have, and we knew that Albany/Monticello was going to come after us, Goldschmidt said. “Part of our gameplan was making sure that we were comfortable with the ball in our hands because if you don’t, we’re going home with the silver ball rather than the golden ball.”
Trumpy collected 14 points for the Comets. Briggs and Durtschi both had eight, while Ellinger and Molly Olson each contributed four.
Lena, a program that was just 1-22 five years ago, finishes the 2023-24 campaign at 28-3 overall.
For Albany/Monticello, winning the State championship is a moment of redemption.
As a standalone program a season ago, Albany qualified for the State tournament but fell in the semifinals to McDonnell 59-20.
Albany and Monticello joined forces this season and together, the Comets embarked on a crusade that ended with an overall record of 27-3, as well as the hardware that eluded them a year ago.
“I was in tears last year because you feel like you’ve disappointed your town. We felt like we let them down and that burned inside of us for the last 365 days,” Doescher said. “Adding Monticello was the key.”
“There’s no feeling of letting people down tonight.”
Albany/Monticello 57, Lena 54 (OT)
Albany/Monticello 21 29 7 — 57
Lena 21 29 4 — 54
Lena: Brooks 21, M. Thomson 16, Fischer 6, Kushner 5, Potter 4, H. Thomson 2
Albany/Monticello: Hollis 15, Trumpy 14, Briggs 8, Durtschi 8, Ellinger 6, Olson 6
WIAA Division 5 State championship game by the numbers
Time with lead — Lena 16:09; Albany/Monticello 15:13
Points from turnovers — Lena 4, Albany/Monticello 18
Points in the paint — Lena 40; Albany/Monticello 30
Second chance points — Lena 11; Albany/Monticello 9
Fast break points — Lena 10; Albany/Monticello 4
Bench points — Lena 5; Albany/Monticello 6
Team stats
Lena
Field goals: 23-53 (43.4 percent); 2-14 3-PT (14.3)
Rebounds: 48 (12 offense, 36 defense)
Fouls: 12
Technical fouls: 0
Free throws: 6-10
Assists: 17
Steals: 4
Blocks: 6
Turnovers: 23
Biggest lead: 7
Albany/Monticello
Field goals: 23-66 (34.8 percent); 4-20 3-PT (20.0)
Rebounds: 25 (10 offense, 15 defense)
Fouls: 12
Technical fouls: 0
Free throws: 7-13
Assists: 16
Steals: 10
Blocks: 1
Turnovers: 6
Biggest lead: 9
Most Popular
Comments / 0