For the third straight season, Milwaukee Vincent won the Division I state girls basketball championship. But it wasn't easy this time with a 48-47 squeaker over Milwaukee King in the state finals.
The champs were led by Chelan Landry, who went 13-of-14 from the free-throw line en route to 17 points and seven rebounds. Nicole Griffin added 11 points and eight boards.
“My team stayed together,” said Vincent Coach Marquis Hines, whose squad ended at 25-1. “It was a matter of just communicating and working extremely hard. We're the hardest working team there."
Sarrina Symonds had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the title game for King.
“Both teams are talented and forced a lot of turnovers,” Hines said. “But you couldn't have asked for a better game with the two best teams in the state. It went down to the end. You always say that you have to work extremely hard. We shocked them with a 1-3-1 zone. (King) had so much talent that we had to make adjustments on defense.”
Griffin averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocked shots a game for Vincent to earn state and conference player of the year honors. She still has a senior season left to play.
“She's won three state championships with us,” Hines said. “She understands that this is her team. Offensively, she improved and is getting stronger.”
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The Division 2 champion this season is Grafton, thanks to 23 points and five rebounds from Sarah Eichler in a 54-52 victory over the weekend against Durand.
Grafton's season ended at 24-2.
Samantha Hoyt had 23 points for Durand, whose season ended at 23-3.
For coach Bob Maronde, it's the program's second state title since 2007.
“The key behind the team's success this year was the fact we got little or small contributions from all kinds of different kids on the team,” Maronde said. “We had one star, Sarah Eichler, who averaged around 24 points a game. The real key for us on the tournament run is we got contributions from all kinds of different people.
“At the end, we had our post player Miranda Tyler step up big for us and average double figures. We also had Sarah Eichler's little sister, Hannah Eichler, a freshman, have a great state tournament.”
In the title game, Tyler scored 13 points and was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Hannah Eichler had 11 points. But her big sister contributed heavily all season.
“Sarah Eichler is a tremendous athlete and a tremendous competitor,” Maronde said. “She spent a great deal of time in the offseason working on all her skills. This year, she's a total complete player. She can score outside with the three, she can drive to the basket, she can post you up. She's got the complete game.”
Eichler was on the 2007 state team and on the 2008 state semifinal team.
“This is definitely her best season of the three,” Maronde said. “She has stepped up and become a leader for us. She's had to play defense. We were a little bit limited this year. Not only did she have to be a scorer but she also had to be a defensive stopper.”
Eichler, who earned MVP honors in the state tournament and first team All-State, will play at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay.
In Division 3, Amherst ended a perfect 27-0 season with a 41-37 win over a Cuba City team that suffered its first loss of the season after 26 straight wins.
Kate Glodowski scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds for the winners while Jenna Pitt had eight points and 11 boards.
St. Mary Central (23-4) is the champ in Division 4 with a 45-42 win over Potosi. Rachel Brown had an exceptional game for St. Mary with 20 points and five rebounds. She shot 12-of-14 from the stripe. Brittany Schaffer had 14 points and 12 boards.
Potosi ended at 25-2 and had 18 points and eight rebounds from Thresia Elskamp and 13 rebounds from Alison Tobin.
