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Mineral Point's stifling defense has the Pointers headed back to the WIAA Division 4 State Championship for the second consecutive season, after holding off Westfield 55-45 in the semi-finals.

Mineral Point's full court, run and jump pressure caused problems early and often for Westfield, forcing the Pioneers into fifteen first half turnovers, resulting in 14 points off turnovers for Point.

Westfield sophomore Carly Drew came into the contest averaging nearly 20 points per game, but was hounded by Point's Mallory Lindsey from the tip. Drew didn't score her first point until 8:32 left in the first half, but proceeded to score on three straight possessions, helping Westfield pull within four at half. Drew had six points at half.

Lindsey, a UW-Oshkosh commit, led Mineral Point on the offensive end as well. The savvy senior guard attacked the Pioneer defense, getting to the charity stripe four times and connecting on all four free throws. She led the Pointers with 11 points as Mineral Point went into halftime with a 21-17 lead.

The second half started much how the first did, with Mineral Point forcing turnovers on five straight possessions and going on a 7-0 run in just over two minutes.

Westfield began to pressure Mineral Point causing a few turnovers and pulling the Pioneers within seven, but that was as close as they got.

Mineral Point ended up being too much in the end holding off Westfield 55-45.

Mallory Lindsey led all scores with 20 points for Point, including going 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Teammate Ella Chambers added 14 while Blair Watters and Kennedy Wenger added nine and eight respectively.

For Westfield, Carly Drew had a team high 15 points while Brandi Lentz joined her in double figures with 10.

Mineral Point's team defense proved to be the difference in the game as they forced 26 turnovers and scored 30 points off of them. 

Mineral Point will square off with Laconia in the Division 4 State Championship, Sunday at around 1:35 pm.

A balanced attack from a well-rounded Laconia team has the Spartans heading back to their second state championship in four years to take on Mineral Point.

The Spartans downed Neillsville 50-39  in the second D4 State semi-final game.

Laconia opened the game on a 5-0 run, but Neillsville used their own 5-0 stretch to tie the game with 13:09 left in the first half.

The Warriors saw themselves up 12-11 after a Paige Voigt pull up with 6:56 left in the half, but that would prove to be the only lead of the game for Neillsville.

Laconia went on an 8-0 run over the next four and a half minutes, pulling ahead 20-12.

A 5-2, end of the half difference for Neillsville pulled the Warriors within five as Laconia led 22-17 at the intermission.

Voigt led all scorers at the half with seven for Neillsville.

For Laconia, seven different girls scored, none scoring over four points and connecting on more than one field goal.

Through the first five minutes of the second half, Laconia pulled ahead 28-19. The Spartans forced three turnovers during this time and held Neillsville to 0-3 from the field.

A pair of threes from freshman Payton Morgan helped Laconia pull further ahead to a 38-23 lead with 7:01 left in the game.

Over the next three and half minutes, Neillsville went on a 12-4 run to pull within seven with 2:27 left in the game. The Warriors forced Laconia into six turnovers during this run. Emma Moseley scored seven points and Amelia Trunkel had five.

Seven would be as close as it would get for the Warriors however, as Laconia pulled away for a 50-39 win despite going 9 for 18 from the free throw line down the stretch.

Morgan led Laconia with 12 points while fellow freshman Aubrey Leonard had ten points and seven rebounds. Senior Molly Johannes had seven points for the Spartans, but added 12 rebounds. Eight different girls had two or more points for Laconia.

Moseley was the lone girl in double figures for Neillsville, finishing with 10 points. Sophomore Paris Opelt, Neillsville's leading scorer on the season, averaging over 11 points per game, was held to two points, but added a team high nine rebounds. Like Laconia, Neillsville got scoring from a lot of different girls. Nine different players scored for the Warriors, with none making more than two field goals on the game.