Girls hoops: Fall Creek falls to Mishicot in Division 4 state semifinals

Feb. 26—LA CROSSE — Fall Creek girls basketball was never able to find a shooting rhythm Friday. Mishicot took advantage.

The top-seeded Indians held the Crickets to 29% from the field and pulled away with a pair of sizable runs to secure a 55-30 win and end Fall Creek's season in the Division 4 state semifinals in La Crosse.

Fall Creek, making its first appearance at the state tournament in six years, struggled to find the basket for long stretches, while Mishicot's two 6-footers showed why the Indians were the favorite among the final four.

"Size definitely played a difference here today," Fall Creek coach Jason Martzke said. "But I couldn't be happier for these girls for what they accomplished this year."

Fall Creek played the top seed close early, tying the game at 10 through 10 minutes on a basket from Emily Madden. Then the Crickets went cold, going without a point for over eight minutes. Gianna Vollrath saved the team from ending the period on an 8:08 scoreless drought with a last second basket before the break, but the damage was done. Mishicot went on a 14-0 run while the Crickets missed nine straight field goal attempts to pull ahead 24-12.

Mishicot held at least an eight-point cushion the rest of the way, maxing out at a 27-point advantage with 5:37 remaining in the contest.

"That's typical for our defense," Mishicot coach Mike Garceau said. "We'll let you have the ball at the perimeter. We're not much for pressuring you up at the half court and making you earn every pass. We'll give you the perimeter passes that you want, but what we're trying to do is not let the ball get down deep. And when the ball does get down deep, we want to take it. When we do that, they feel that pressure coming and it kind of forces them to take shots sooner than they want to take them. And then that presents rebound opportunities for us."

Some big game jitters perhaps led to turnovers for both teams early, though Mishicot was better able to take advantage of its foe's miscues. Fall Creek had nine turnovers and Mishicot had seven in the first 18 minutes, but the Indians scored 11 points off those chances to the Crickets' zero.

Mishicot looked like the team that had been on this stage before, having competed at state in 2020.

"They were able to get some buckets inside there, just working their way through," Martzke said. "A lot of that stuff early is going to be a lot of adrenaline and a lot of nervousness. That probably helps them out a little bit, having the experience from last year. ... You don't have the typical crowd, obviously, but just the setting of state and understanding what's going to happen, understanding the runs and the emotions of it, that helped them out a little bit early."

The Crickets appeared poised to cut into the deficit by scoring the first two baskets of the second half, but Mishicot had another run in it. A 16-2 spurt over a six-and-a-half-minute span pushed the advantage to 40-18 and all but ended Fall Creek's hopes of an upset.

"I knew that with my teammates working together we were starting to pull away," Mishicot's Desiree Kleiman said. "I knew that they weren't going to give up, so we had to keep fighting. We worked together really well and were able to swing the ball in and out."

Vollrath recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in addition to four assists for the Crickets. Katie Kent also had 10 points, hitting on a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.

Mishicot's star duo of Kylie Schmidt and Kleiman were outscoring the Crickets by themselves in the later stages of the second half and nearly completed the feat by the final buzzer, with Kleiman scoring 15 points and Schmidt adding 11. They also combined for 16 rebounds, part of the Indians' 38-23 advantage in the battle of the boards.

The Crickets graduate a four-player senior class consisting of Hannah Ming, Madden, Mackensy Kolpien and Emma Ryan.

"They've provided us some really good leadership this year," Martzke said. "They fought through different things over the past couple of years, different struggles. For the last couple years, we met up with (Melrose-Mindoro) in the regionals and got beat pretty good. These guys just had that drive and fight to lead us and help us get here."

Fall Creek finishes 15-5 on the year, having overcome a pair of stoppages due to the coronavirus.

"It's been a tough season obviously with the two COVID breaks," Vollrath said. "But I think that's made us stronger as a team and it made us have more drive to win."

Mishicot advances to Friday night's Division 4 final, where the Indians will play the winner of the Bangor vs. Mineral Point matchup.

"No matter what, win or lose, we were finishing up on the last day of the season we could possibly play," Martzke said. "It means the world for these guys to get to this point. We talked this week about the difficult year, trying to get through school, trying to get through seasons, trying to get to play. There's nothing better than finishing up here, other than getting to tonight."

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Mishicot 55, Fall Creek 30

Fall Creek (15-4): Katie Kent 10, Gianna Vollrath 10, Emily Madden 2, Emma Ryan 4, Tori Marten 2, JaneyAnne Grossinger 2.

Mishicot (18-2): Desiree Kleiman 15, Ally McArdle 8, Abby Garceau 4, Kally Krueger 5, Kylie Schmidt 11, Kailey Tulachka 4, Katelyn Callahan 4, Lacey Tauschek 4.

3-point goals: Fall Creek 2 (Kent 2), Mishicot 2 (Kleiman, Krueger).

Halftime: Fall Creek 24-12.