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Altoona's strength too much for Prairie du Chien

Altoona controlled the game from the get-go, never trailing in a 48-34 victory over Prairie du Chien in Friday’s first Division 3 state girls basketball semi-final.

The Lady Rails’ stifling defense and efficient offense were too much for the Blackhawks, who scored just 2 points in the first quarter and 8 in the first half. Prairie du Chien was held to just 12 shot attempts in the first 16 minutes of the game as a combination of turnovers (6), a tough Altoona defense, and a Lady Rails offense that took it’s time to find good shots made for a fairly slow-paced game.

After Prairie du Chien’s Courtney Lewis scored on the first possession of the second quarter to make it 6-4, Altoona knocked down three straight three-pointers and stretched their lead to 15-6. They would lead 19-8 at the halftime break.

Prairie du Chien would get no closer than 7 points the rest of the way, as Altoona hit their free throws (15 for 19 on the game), didn’t turn the ball over (only 2 the entire day), and took advantage of Prairie du Chien’s over-aggressiveness to get baskets inside.

Seniors Bethany Reyzer, Ariel Gillespie, and Kayla Springer controlled the tempo all game for Altoona, who had little trouble with the various pressure defenses the Blackhawks threw at them. Springer finished with a game-high 18 points while fellow senior Payton Eckwright provided 10.

It was a rough shooting day for Prairie du Chien, who had limited opportunities in the first half, but got more chances after halftime. For the game they made just 13 of 34 shots and were just 2 of 13 from three-point range. Junior Morgan Banasik was one of the few Blackhawk players who were able to find her range, scoring a team-best 16 points (12 coming in the second half) on 5 of 7 shooting.

However, by the time Prairie du Chien was able to start knocking down shots, the Altoona lead was in double digits and the Rails made their free throws down the stretch to close it out.

After previously losing in the semi-finals in their first two state tournament trips in 2008 and 2010, Altoona will advance to Saturday’s Division 3 state title game.

Notes:  Fewest turnovers is not a stat tracked in the WIAA record book, but Altoona’s 2 miscues would figure to be high up on the list…The teams’ combined free throw percentage of 80.8% (15 of 19 for Altoona; 6 of 7 for Prairie du Chien) set a new Division 3 record…Altoona recorded just 5 offensive rebounds in the contest while Prairie du Chien added just 3…Altoona’s largest lead was 16 points, which came with 21 seconds left in the game…Altoona committed just 7 personal fouls in the game…Courtney Lewis led Prairie du Chien in rebounds with 9 and assists with 4.

Kewaunee holds off advances of previously unbeaten Dominican

Every time it looked like Kewaunee would put away previously undefeated Dominican in their Division 3 state semi-final, the Knights would find a way to get back in it. The Storm made enough plays down the stretch to hold off a furious comeback attempt however, as Kewaunee claimed a 61-56 victory to advance to the Division 3 title game.

The Storm went up double digits on several different occasions in the game, including a 21-11 second quarter lead after sophomore Jill Kleiman nailed back to back three-pointers. As they did several times though, the Knights answered, going on a 4-0 run of their own.

Kewaunee kept after it though, and would take a 27-17 lead into halftime. The teams traded blow at the beginning of the third quarter, with Dominican cutting the lead to just 6 points at one point. Kewaunee would hit three three-pointers in a short span to push the lead back to 12 points however, and seemed to be in a position to close it out.

Things looked even bleaker for Dominican when leading-scorer Dilonna Johnson fouled out early in the fourth quarter. They would rally behind Deysha Smith-Jenkins, Mishayla Jones, and Brionna Simond however, and cut a 42-31 Kewaunee lead down to 48-43 with just under three minutes remaining. After Mishayla Jones made a pair of free throws, the Kewaunee lead shrunk to just one possession at 51-48, but Kewaunee hit enough free throws down the stretch to eventually close it out.

In its first ever girls basketball state tournament appearance, the Storm advance to the Division 3 state final Saturday against Altoona.

Notes:  Jill Kleiman hit four three-pointers in leading Kewaunee in scoring with 18 (12 in the second half); Alex Richard contributed 15 points with most of her damage done in close…Kelsey Stangel led the team in rebounding with 9 boards…Kewaunee has no seniors on its roster…Kewaunee’s largest lead was 13 points at the 2:13 mark of the third quarter…Smith-Jenkins scored 21 for Dominican while Jones added 20…Leading-scorer Dilonna Johnson scored just 2 points on 1 of 10 shooting before fouling out…Dominican actually out-shot Kewaunee 53 to 41, but lost the free throw battle as the Storm went 18 of 25 while the Knights were just 7 of 12...Dominican was the last undefeated team left in girls basketball after Black Hawk went down yesterday, and with the Knights loss we are assured of no unbeaten champions this year.