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Altoona made it 2-0 in favor of Eau Claire metro area schools over Kewaunee County schools at the girls state basketball tournament with a 54-48 win over Kewaunee in the Division 3 title game.

Earlier in the day, Regis out-battled Algoma 56-42 to claim the Division 4 championship.

After taking a 6-4 lead just under two minutes into the game, the Lady Rails would not trail the rest of the game en route to their first state girls basketball title.

Altoona was relentless all day, pounding the glass against the bigger Storm for eight offensive rebounds in the first half and 13 on the day. Four first-half three-pointers also helped the Rails as they took a 29-23 lead into halftime.

It wasn’t all perfect however, as Kewaunee was able to connect on 61% (11 of 18) of its shots in the first half. The second half was a different story, as Altoona pressured the Storm on the perimeter and inside to hold them to 36.8% (7 of 19) after halftime.

Still, Kewaunee was able to keep Altoona within striking distance, trailing 40-33 at the end of the third quarter and closing the gap to four points on two different occasions.

Free throw shooting played a key role for both teams, as it often does. Altoona was able to execute its offense and forced Kewaunee to foul much of the fourth quarter. For the game, the Rails were 20 of 31 (12 of 19 in the fourth quarter alone), with senior Kayla Springer connecting on 11 of 14 foul shots. Conversely, Kewaunee made just 9 of 18 freebies on the day.

The ability to rebound inside, attack the basket to draw fouls, and keep the larger Kewaunee squad out of the lane defensively were telling signs of just how hard the smaller Altoona team worked.

Springer led the way for Altoona with 22 points while Bria Rogers added 10. The duo tied for the team high with 7 rebounds, while Bethany Reyzer added 6 assists. Sophomore Kelsey Stangel was the only Kewaunee player to crack double digits in the scoring column with 10 points. Jill Kleiman, who had a game-high 18 points in a semi-final upset of previously unbeaten Dominican, scored just 6 points in the game, coming on a pair of late fourth-quarter three-pointers.

Kleiman’s deep triple with 2:35 to go pulled the Storm to within four points at 49-45, but Altoona hit enough of its free throws down the stretch to close it out.