By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
While getting to the WIAA State Tournament a year ago clearly was a historic moment for the East Troy girls basketball team, none of them were pleased they were bounced in the first round.
And, though it may not have been admitted publicly, the Trojans were determined to right that wrong Friday morning when they faced Neillsville in one Division 3 semifinal.
A strong third quarter ensured that would happen.
East Troy rallied from a four-point halftime deficit with a 21-8 advantage after the intermission en route to a 68-56 victory. The win improved the Trojans to 26-1 overall and sent them to the state finals Saturday against Kewaunee, a game they fell in heart-breaking fashion 60-58 to end the year at 26-2.
Coverage of the championship matchup appears an page 1.
Neillsville, last year’s Division 4 state champions, ended the year at 26-1. The loss also snapped the Warriors’ 54-game winning streak.
East Troy coach Jeff Brown was quick to credit Neillsville for its past success and the effort it put together against his squad Friday.
“Their program is something maybe we should even emulate,” he said. “We are real excited to have beaten them. We give them a ton of credit. They are so well coached and so do many things right. They play the right way.”
A layup 11 seconds into the second half by Neillsville’s Molly Attoe gave the Warriors a 34-28 lead, but that’s where the Trojans began their comeback.
Breanna Gaspervich drained a 3-pointer off an assist by Alicia Oleson, followed by a layup and another 3-pointer to suddenly put the Trojans in front 36-34 with 4:27 left in the period.
“That little run was huge,” Brown said. “We always think we’re going to have to at least one run in us because we just shoot the ball so well. We just keep looking for it and looking for it (to happen).”
The lead eventually grew to 10 points on a pair of free throws by Andrea Olsen and sat at 49-40 heading into the fourth quarter on a jumper by Oleson as time expired.
Neillsville made one last-ditch effort to stay in the game late in the fourth quarter when Katelyn Crothers drained a 3-pointer with 3:16 left to cut East Troy’s lead to six points at 59-53.
But the Trojans weren’t about to be denied on this day.
East Troy closed the game on a 9-3 scoring run to ice the win. The Trojans made seven of nine free-throw attempts in the final 1:57.
Both teams battle early
The first half was a tight, back-and-forth battle throughout. East Troy held its biggest lead at five points twice in the second quarter, the latest coming at 23-18 on a 3-pointer by Rachel Atchison with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Neillsville took back the lead at 29-28 on a layup by Jennifer Lindner, who then made three straight free throws to build the Warriors’ advantage to four points at 32-28 heading into the intermission.
“We talked at halftime about of little things that we had to clean up,” Brown said. “I know I have the best shooters around, but defensively, we had to clean it up a little bit.”
Brown said he had to rely more on a zone defense in the second half than he normally would – in an attempt to slow down Lindner, but also to keep his team’s foul trouble from becoming more of a factor.
“We would rather play man, but we got into a little bit of foul trouble in the second quarter,” Brown said. “We decided to play zone and know where (Lindner) was a little bit better than we did in the first half and try to make some other kids try to beat us.”
Gaspervich led the Trojans with 25 points, six rebounds and five steals, followed by Atchison with 19 points and five rebounds. The pair combined for 10 of East Troy’s state tournament record-tying 11 3-pointers in the contest.
Atchison’s six 3-pointers set a Division 3 state record by an individual.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting (to set the record), but I work hard and shoot after practice.”
Olsen chipped in with 12 points on the strength of an eight-for-nine effort from the free-throw line and five assists, followed by Oleson with seven points and six assists.
Lindner led all scorers with 26 points, followed by Attoe with nine and Naughton with seven for the Warriors.
