Basketball fans in Shawano and Rice Lake got the matchup they wanted for a WIAA Division 2 girls sectional final.
The game, played March 7 in Stevens Point, featured a pair of University of Wisconsin recruits in Shawano’s Leah Nordin and Rice Lake’s Adaline Sheplee, and for the second season in a row, Sheplee led the Warriors to a trip to state with a win over Nordin and the Hawks.
Sheplee’s game-high 23 points and 18 from freshman teammate Brielle Balts helped Rice Lake end Shawano’s season with a 59-45 loss. The Hawks never had the lead and ended their season with an 18-10 record, while the Warriors improved to 25-3 and advanced to state for the second year in a row.
Rice Lake led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 36-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
While Sheplee led the Warriors with 16 points at the break, Shawano didn’t have an answer for Balts, who scored 10 straight points for the Warriors with two 3-pointers, a 3-point play and a free throw. She finished the half with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Nordin and Jadyn Brown combined for 24 of the Hawks’ 26 points in the first half with 13 and 11, respectively.
Three baskets from Nordin cut Rice Lake’s lead to five, four and six points in the second half. Her basket with 10:18 remaining made it 44-40, but Shawano never got any closer. Her final points of her high school career cut the lead to six, but Shawano didn’t score in the game’s final five minutes.
“We had the lead late in the game last year,” coach Ryan Koenig said. “This year, we closed it to four (points) and just ran out of gas. We made our run, and that was the end of it.”
Sheplee and Nordin led their teams in scoring, but neither of them took the game over.
“I think that was the coaches’ plan, not to let them go nuts,” Koenig said. “We knew they were going to cancel each other out. We were worried about (Addison) Schmidt in the middle. We held her to five (points) and wanted to hold her to 10 to 12.”
Schmidt, a volleyball and basketball commit to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, finished with seven points, but also grabbed 19 rebounds.
“The girls did a great job being as physical as they could and boxing out, but she’s really tough,” Koenig said. “They have two really good studs over there. We battled hard, but came up a little short.”
While the Hawks were able to keep Schmidt in check offensively, they couldn’t stop Balts, who finished with four 3-pointers.
“She was their X factor,” Koenig said. “Someone like that has to step up in a big game. For us, Jaydn Brown hit a couple shots for us, but we didn’t have that other player to have 20 points along with Leah.”
Nordin and Brown scored all but nine of the Hawks’ points, and Brown finished with 14 to go with Nordin’s 22.
“We had to hold them to 45 or 50 and obviously, 59’s too much,” Koenig said. “That’s kind of the way it’s been all year.”
It was the final high school game for Nordin and seniors Maci Beyer and Anna Dreier.
Nordin will leave some big shoes to fill, and Koenig said other players will have that opportunity.
“Other players can step up and work to make their name known in the summer and offseason,” he said. “She’s a generational talent and what she did is have the young girls come out, cheer for her, see her play and understand that that could be you someday. That’s what’s good for the program. We’re going to miss her, Anna and Maci quite a bit next year.
“I’m so proud of the girls. They’re really awesome and I love them. It was a good season. We wanted to go another week, but unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to.”
