Dramatic OT loss completes Lena’s 28-3 journey

So close, and yet so far. Kali Fischer — a 55% free-throw shooter for the season — swished a pair from the charity stripe to give the Lena Wildcats a 50-45 lead with 35 seconds left in regulation at the WIAA Division 5 girls basketball championship game on March 9 at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon. In what Albany/Monticello head coach Derik Doescher described as “the two biggest shots in Albany history,” Dalana Trumpy made a second-chance layup with 17 seconds left, and Abby Hollis nailed a three-pointer with five seconds left to make it 50-50 and send the game into overtime. Lena moved ahead 54-52 in the extra period, but Hollis struck again with 1:03 to go, dropping a three-point shot to put the Comets up by one, and free throws in the final seconds brought the final score to 57-54. “That was an amazing game. I think anyone who paid the price of a ticket got their money’s worth,” Lena head coach Tim Goldschmidt said after the team accepted the silver ball trophy as state runners-up. “I think our team left everything on the court, I’m very very proud of them.” Lena finished the season 28-3, while Albany/Monticello went 27-3. The two teams fought tooth and nail the entire game. After the Comets roared to a 15-6 lead in the opening eight minutes, the Wildcats clawed back led by their power forwards, Marinette & Oconto Conference Player of the Year Eva Brooks and Madi Thomson, and tied it up 19-19 on a three-point shot by Maddy Kushner with 4:40 left in the first half. A Thomson layup at 3:41 gave Lena its first lead of the day at 21-19, and the two teams went into the locker room at halftime knotted up at 21-21. The Wildcats extended their lead with a 12-5 run through the opening minutes of the second half, reaching their biggest lead at 33-26 with 13:40 to go, before the Comets began to work their way back, matching Lena’s height with quickness and ball handling to set up the dramatic finish. Brooks scored 19 pounds and set a Division 5 tournament record with 19 rebounds for the game, while Thomson poured in 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. As a team, the Wildcats dominated the Comets on the boards with 48 rebounds to 25. The Wildcats are a young team — Brooks is a junior this year, Thomson a sophomore, and Whitney Potter and Alabama Lambert are the only two seniors — so Goldschmidt felt confident in saying they are capable of returning to the Resch Center next year. “We have to work harder this summer, we can get back here again,” Goldschmidt said. “I think we’re going to be up to the challenge and hopefully we’ll be back here talking to you about the same time next year.” Potter and Lambert are great players who will be hard to replace, he said, adding that he felt for Lambert, a speedy defensive player who injured her ankle in the state semifinal against Clear Lake. “She’s a scrapper, she would have matched up well and would have helped us in this game with her athleticism matching up with their athleticism,” Goldschmidt said. “She tried to tough it out today, and I give that girl credit, if you’d seen that ankle you wouldn’t think she’d even be in uniform today but being this is her senior year, she wanted to give it a try and she did the best she could to her abilities.” For Doucher, it was a triumphant return after Albany lost in last year’s state semifinals to eventual champion McDonnell Central Catholic 59-20. Under the theme “Together we are stronger,” the southern Wisconsin school formed a co-op team with neighboring Monticello, dressing 10 girls from Albany High School and four girls from Monticello. “I think we gave the whole state a heck of a show, Lena and Albany/Monticello, so much to be proud of,” Doucher said. Ironically, the last time Lena sent a girls basketball team to state, the girls played Monticello in the 1991 title game, falling in overtime by a score of 66-56. --- wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com