Arrowhead rolls into title game; Hartford falls short
ASHWAUBENON – Behind a 33point performance from sophomore star Natalie Kussow that included a 6for-8 shooting exhibition from deep, top-seeded Arrowhead advanced to the Division 1 state title game for the first time since 1991 with an 82-55 victory over Franklin on Friday night at the Resch Center.
Libby Gilmore added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Warhawks with guard Presly Samz tying the D1 state record with 11 assists and just one turnover.
“I don’t know. It was crazy,” Kussow said with a laugh on her 11-of-18 shooting performance from the field that saw her come 1 three-pointer shy of tying the Division 1 state record for a single game.
“My team definitely helped. It was just great having us all work as a team. We started off really good and it was amazing.”
Arrowhead (26-3) was to play Neenah in the championship game Saturday night.
Kussow sparked the 9-0 start for the Warhawks, who had a 41-27 advantage at the break over the short-handed Sabers (20-9). The No. 4 seed lost Lauren Capstran with about 11:32 to play in the first half. Capstran hit a triple to trim the deficit to 17-7, but as she got back on defense, she suffered what appeared to be a non-contact injury to her left knee.
Sabers coach Ron Hibben talked to the trainer and it was confirmed Capstran’s night was done.
“You go down and she told me coming out ... she just hit a three, came down the court, went down, got back up and said, ‘ I’m going back in,’” Hibben said. “All of a sudden, you start feeling that weakness.
“Even when you say, ‘You gotta pick it up,’ you can’t afford to lose players like Natalie (Meaux) and Cap(stran) to the team, especially against a really good team like Arrowhead. It was tough to take.”
Meaux starred in her final high school game with a team-high 24 points while being hounded by the Warhawks defense on every possession. It was only her 12th game this season since dislocating her ankle in offseason action during the fall.
“I remember one of the first appointments I had with the doctors. They said I probably wouldn’t come back for the whole season,” Meaux said. “That was tough. I’ve had such a good coaching staff to help me through it all. They took time out of practice to do separate things with me. They’ve been so supportive of me. It’s so nice to have this opportunity because as soon as something is taken away from you, you don’t know how much you love it.”
Neenah 77, Hartford 70
The current Ms. Basketball met a potential contender to win the award in 2025 in the second semifinal.
The round went to Neenah’s Allie Ziebell, who put on a spectacular display with 40 points, 19 rebounds and five assists to lift the Rockets over a hungry and physical Hartford bunch, led by Hartford’s Makena Christian, playing at state for the first time since 2000.
Ziebell’s 40 points were the thirdmost in D1 state history and tied for the fourth-most overall at a state tournament.
“Let’s be real. The kid shoots 44% from three, she’s 51(%) from the floor and 90(%) from the line,” Hartford coach Vinny Daniels said on stopping Ziebell. “She scored 40 (points) multiple times, so I think the phrase ‘Stop Allie’ is ... no matter what, she makes a great basketball play.”
Christian finished with 23 points but struggled to find that well-known efficiency in a 7-for-25 shooting performance with nine rebounds against Amaya Jones and a rugged Neenah approach defensively against one of the state’s top players.
“(The) big thing we did for multiple days this week was to have someone play the part of what Makena does,” Neenah coach Andy Braunel said. “We defended that with multiple people. Whether it was Allie, whether it was Amaya, whether it was Abbie (Fischer), whether it was Rachel (Dietrich) ... we knew we had to account for her. The other kids are good, too. They get downhill so fast. We had to take the right angles.”
For Hartford, the best season in almost 21⁄ decades came up just one game short of a shot at the gold ball. With just one lone senior departing however, the Orioles are primed for a run back to the Resch next season.
“Next year’s a thought. Next year’s not real,” Daniels said. “This year was real. We got picked against with Bay Port. Cool. Great team, but we beat them. People said we’re not gonna beat Kimberly. People said we’re not gonna beat Brookfield and we beat Brookfield East. The ‘Why not us?’ (slogan) is that chip on our shoulder that I think our kids had.”