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Hortonville hung close, but ultimately Beaver Dam's depth of talent was too much, as the Golden Beavers are back in the WIAA Division 2 Girls Basketball championship game to defend their title from last season.

Beaver Dam led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but saw Hortonville cut the lead to just five points on three different occasions in the second half before pulling away for a 54-43 victory.

With four players that have received Division 1 offers, Beaver Dam shared the wealth, but it was freshman Maty Wilke who made the biggest impact on the game. Already holding scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Marquette, Green Bay, and Iowa amongst others, and Badgers coach Jonathan Tsipis looking on, Wilke scored a game-high 19 points, impacting the game in every area. The 5-10 guard added eight rebounds, six steals, and a pair of assists on eight-of-14 shooting.

Hortonville got on the board first, as sophomore standout Macy McGlone hit a jumper, but by the ten minute mark of the first half, Beaver Dam held a ten point advantage. The lead grew to 15 points, but Hortonville cut into it to forge a 27-17 game at halftime.

Hortonville leading scorer Shay Frederick was held scoreless in the first half, but picked things up a bit in the second half, helping the Polar Bears to chip away at the Golden Beavers' lead. However, Beaver Dam turned to its talented core group of players to help stave off any hopes of a Hortonville comeback.

Afton Bartol and Jada Donaldson each had eight points for Beaver Dam, while junior North Dakota recruit Aly Van Loo added six, junior Wisconsin recruit Tara Stauffacher had five, and junior Eastern Illinois commit Paige Schumann chipped in with three points.

McGlone, a promising 6-2 sophomore forward, led Hortonville with 18 points, while Frederick finished with nine, all in the second half.

It appeared a couple different times that New Berlin Eisenhower would run away with the contest in the second half, but it took some clutch free throw shooting for the Lions to put away Monroe, 67-63 in a Division 2 WIAA Girls Basketball state semi-final contest from the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Despite trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Monroe battled back behind a big performance from junior All-State guard Sydney Hilliard, who had a game-high 25 points. Her two made free throws with 2:28 made it a two-point game, a short time later she hit two more to pull within one. 

Eisenhower's Hannah Plockelman hit a pair of free throws on the other end, but Monroe had a chance to tie it up with 20 seconds remaining. Emily Benzschawel had a look from the top but it caromed off the rim. Hilliard grabbed the rebound and found Grace Tostrud for an open look on the wing, but her shot was off as well, and Eisenhower rebounded the miss, as Plockelman made the first free throw to put the game away and provide the final margin.

It was a bit of revenge for the Lions, who dropped an early season game to Monroe, 65-47. Most importantly, it puts Eisenhower back in the state title game after winning it all two years ago.

Junior guard Julia Hintz led the way for Eisenhower with 18 points, while three others reached double-figures as well: 13 apiece for Plockelman and Katie Ludwig with 10 by promising sophomore forward Erin Hedman.

In addition to Hilliard's 25 points, Megan Benzschawel reached double-digits for Monroe.