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D2 Semi-Final Notes: Notre Dame pulls away from Menomonie and Pewaukee swarms Reedsburg

03/11/2022, 9:00pm CST
By Travis Wilson

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What was a close game most of the way turned into a blowout as top-seeded and defending state champion Notre Dame pulled away for a 64-45 victory over fourth-seed Menomonie in a WIAA Division 2 Girls Basketball State Semi-Final.

Notre Dame's defensive pressure wore down Menomonie, who trailed by just five points at halftime and cut it to as close as two points early in the second half.

While the Notre Dame lead was just four points with seven minutes remaining in the contest, the Tritons turned up the intensity and dominated the remainder, outscoring Menomonie 14-3 to close it out.

Notre Dame forced 20 turnovers in the contest, scoring 21 points off those Menomonie miscues. The Tritons also dominated inside, out-rebounding the Mustangs 38-20, also outscoring Menomonie 38-20 in the paint. Notre Dame put things away at the free throw line, going 20-of-27 in the game.

It was a balanced scoring effort for the victorious Tritons, who saw five players score between nine and 13 points, led by 13 from junior Hope Barington, who had eight of those after halftime. Sophomore Trista Fayta added nine points after the break, finishing with 12 in the game.

Sophomore Mary Berg led Menomonie with 12 points, while the team's top two scorers coming in, senior forward Emma Mommsen and senior guard Helen Chen, were limited to just 11 total points by the Notre Dame defense.

Notre Dame is making its sixth WIAA state title game appearance, as in addition to a Division 2 championship last year, the Tritons also won it all in 2001, 2013, and 2014.

While much of the talk in Division 2 centered around a possible state title rematch between defending champ Notre Dame and unbeaten Reedsburg, as well as which team deserved the top seed, Pewaukee proved it had a lot to say about how it would all shake out with a dominating 73-43 victory over Reedsburg in a WIAA Division 2 girls basketball sem-final.

The Pirates were the better, more battle-tested team from the beginning, as Reedsburg led for just 16 seconds the entire game. 

When Reedsburg did make a run to tie it up with two minutes remaining on a three-pointer by senior Trenna Cherney, Pewaukee answered with three consecutive three-pointers to close the half and a 34-25 halftime advantage. 

Pewaukee scored on the opening possession of the second half, and their lead would never dip into single digits the rest of the way.

Pewaukee's constant offensive onslaught, led by freshman sensation Amy Terrian, built a large lead, it was the Pirates' defense and Reedsburg's ice-cold shooting that let it get out of hand.

Reedsburg shot just 23.5% in the second half and 27.7% for the game, as the Beavers went scoreless for more than four minutes midway through the second half and netted just 18 points after halftime.

Amy Terrian was the best player on the floor, finishign with 31 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including three-of-six from deep and 10-of-11 from the free the line, to go with five assists. Sarah Newcomer and Megan Zielsdorf added 10 apiece, while 5'7" senior guard Lia Chudzik led the way with 13 rebounds.

Sophomore Sydney Cherney paced Reedsburg with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Mahra Wieman added 16 points in the final game of her illustrious career. 

Pewaukee's challenging schedule in the Woodland-West and in the non-conference certainly prepared the Pirates for this moment, a dominating win to hand top-ranked Reedsburg its first loss of the season.

Pewaukee's only previous state tournament appearance came in 2020, but the Pirates did not get to play a game before the COVID shutdown.


Tag(s): News Archive  GBB News  Travis Wilson  Girls Hoops Playoffs