This evening, the #1-seeded Arrowhead Warhawks took on the #4-seeded Franklin Sabers in the WIAA Girls D1 State semi-final at the Resch Center in Green Bay. The winner of this game awaits Hartford/Neenah tomorrow night for a matchup in the Division 1 State Championship game. Hartford and Neenah will battle tonight following Arrowhead vs. Franklin.
The Warhawks are coached by Ron Reichle, and Franklin is coached by Ron Hibben. Arrowhead comes off of a big win against Oregon, 65-54, while the Sabers get a huge revenge win on Muskego, down 15 at the half, to comeback and beat them 54-50 to punch their ticket to Green Bay.
WIAA State Semi-Final Recap First Half
To start off the game, Arrowhead is hot on a 9-0 run, led by sophomore Natalie Kussow (22) with 6 points, both coming from the three-ball. With 11 minutes left to go in the first half, senior star Lauren Capstran (1) injured her knee on a defensive possession and would not return to the game. Senior Natalie Meaux hits an and one with 8 minutes left to go and cuts the Arrowhead lead to single digits, 26-17. Natalie Kussow caps an 8-0 run by Arrowhead with a three to put them up 36-20 with 3 minutes to go in the first half. Franklin gets a couple of drives to end the first half to cut the deficit to 14, but Arrowhead has been dominant, crashing for their boards, giving them second chances to score.
Arrowhead Leads 41-27 HALFTIME
LEADING SCORERS AT HALF:
Arrowhead: Natalie Kussow (22), with 14 points
Franklin: Natalie Meaux (10), with 11 points
WIAA State Semi-Final Recap Second Half
Arrowhead continued to stay blazing hot from the three point line as they were 10/18, led by SO Natalie Kussow (22) who shot 4/5 from deep up to this point. and extended their lead to 55-35 with 14 minutes left to go in the half. With 9:54 left to go in the game, Franklin would respond on a 9-6 run led by SR Natalie Meaux (10), who had 18 points in that moment, but Arrowhead would still keep fighting for second-chance points, crashing everyone for rebounds after a shot. Arrowhead 61-44. Natalie Meaux continues to light the court on fire, going back-to-back triples with 24 points (5-9 3pt) now as the Warhawks continued to lead 65-51 with 8:19 remaining in the game. Franklin continues to hang in with the 1 seed. With 4 minutes left to go in the game, sophomore Natalie Kussow (22) stayed hot and went on a big run on her own with 33 points to go on a 13-0 run, ultimately sealing the deal at this point to send Arrowhead to the state championship game Saturday night.
FINAL SCORE: Arrowhead 82-55
LEADING SCORER FOR BOTH TEAMS:
Arrowhead: SO Natalie Kussow with 33 points (6-8 from 3 points)
Franklin: SR Natalie Meaux with 24 points
Thoughts From Franklin Postgame (Interview Link)
Head Coach Ron Hibben talked about how much of a blow it was to lose senior Lauren Capstran early on in the game and how senior Natalie Meaux chipped in to make this game interesting by hitting 5 three pointers.
Thoughts From Arrowhead Postgame (Interview Link)
Head Coach Ron Reichle talked about “staying in their box,” meaning the team will get better from spreading the ball around, and they are going to do what they need to do to create open shots and help each other out to secure the victory.
Arrowhead will now play the winner of Neenah vs. Hartford tomorrow night for the D1 Championship.
