Bay Conference opponents have been a thorn in the side of the Shawano girls basketball team all season long.
That thorn showed up again Feb. 19, as the Hawks ended up on the short end of a 71-55 score to Xavier, which wrapped up the regular season with a win on its home court in Appleton.
It was the second time this season the Xavier Hawks topped the Shawano Hawks, with Xavier posting a 57-51 win Jan. 9 in Shawano. It was also the first game for Xavier since it wrapped up the Bay championship with a 13-1 record. Shawano finished the regular season with a 7-7 mark and placed fourth in the conference standings behind Xavier, Winneconne and Fox Valley Lutheran.
Shawano never had the lead in the game despite 29 points, 14 rebounds and an assist from Leah Nordin in her final regular-season game.
“Tonight, we just didn’t execute the little things, our passing, our ball handling,” she said. “We’ve got to get better at that.”
Xavier used a 12-6 run at the end of the first half to take a 26-25 lead at the break. A 12-1 run early in the second half gave the home team a 51-34 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining. Shawano never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 23.
Creden Weisnicht added 12 points for Shawano, while Hailey Hafner led Xavier with 20.
Both teams have a bye in the first round of the WIAA state tournament. Shawano, a No. 1 seed in Division 2, and Xavier, also a top seed in Division 2, will open tournament play with a regional semifinal at home Feb. 27.
Shawano will host Wausau East or Lakeland, while Xavier, which moved up a division after falling to Oostburg in the Division 3 state championship game last year, will host Green Bay East or Ashwaubenon.
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Jadyn Brown looks for an open Shawano teammate under Xavier’s basket. (Greg Seubert)
Shawano’s Anna Dreier and Xavier’s Layna Petersen keep their eyes on the ball in a matchup of Bay Conference teams. (Greg Seubert)
