Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

Neither team put on a great exhibition of offensive efficiency, but in the end, Beaver Dam did enough on the defensive end to claim a second straight Division 2 girls basketball state championship, topping New Berlin Eisenhower 51-41. 

Beaver Dam shot just 30.2% for the game, and 23.3% in the first half, but forced Eisenhower into 19 turnovers in the game, including 14 before halftime. While the Golden Beavers struggled to get anything to fall from field, they made up for it at the free throw line, going 15-for-18 in the contest to help put things away.

Both teams feature very talented offensive players, including several scholarship athletes, but many of the stars struggled offensively. Beaver Dam's freshman phenom Maty Wilke, who had 19 points in a semi-final win over Hortonville on Friday, made just four-of-14 attempts, though she finished with a game-high 16 points. Junior Wisconsin recruit Tara Stauffacher made just one-of-11 shots and was limited to three points, but impacted the game in many other areas. Junior point guard Paige Schumann scored 14 points for the Golden Beavers.

New Berlin Eisenhower was led by 15 from senior Hannah Plockelman, while junior guard Julia Hintz added 10 points.

Beaver Dam took a four-point lead into halftime, stretching it to 12 points early in the second half. The shooting woes kept the Golden Beavers from putting the game away, and Eisenhower did enough to hang around. The lead shrunk to six points with 1:53 left on a Nikki Dienberg jumper, but Beaver Dam went six-for-six in the final two minutes from the free throw line to help close it out.