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"There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships"
No, that wasn't said by legendary Barneveld Golden Eagles coach Jim Myers, at least he didn't say it first.
That quote comes from Michael Jordan, one of the greatest players the game of basketball has ever seen. Jordan was the type of player that, if anyone could win by himself, he could have.
But the thing is, he didn't.
Jordan believed in the team concept and while he made a team better by playing on it, the team made him better by him being part of it.
The Barneveld Golden Eagles girls basketball team has no Michael Jordan type players but they have a very good team. In fact, they just might be an excellent team, and they were last Saturday when they beat defending Division 5 state champion Heritage Christian to earn a trip to Green Bay.
This is not the first trip to state for the Golden Eagles, a team used to being part of a lot of firsts. They played in the first girls basketball tournament at the Kohl Center, the first at the Alliant Center and now the first at the Resch Center.
This is the first time the Golden Eagles will stay overnight as the other venues were a comfortable distance away in Madison.
They have been successful in their adventures at state. This the eighth trip for the Golden Eagles and have state titles to their credit in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2005. They were runners up in 2007. The Eagles had appearances at state played in 2003 and 2006.  Their record going into the 2013 tourney is 9-3.
Following is a recap of the 2013 Division 5 field from the WIAA.
ABOUT THE
DIVISION 5 FIELD:
Newman Catholic is making its fourth consecutive State appearance and its 10th overall. The Fighting Cardinals won the Division 4 title in 2010 and the Division 5 crown in 2011. In addition, they won the Division 4 State championship in 2002. Furthermore, their appearances in 2005 and 2006 produced runner-up finishes.
They placed third in the Marawood Conference South Division this season behind Assumption, which has also earned a State berth. The Cardinals earned their seemingly perpetual entry into the State Tournament field by thumping Hilbert 60-32 in the Waupaca Sectional final.
Barneveld makes its eighth overall appearance in the State Tournament and its first since the last of three straight appearances in 2007. The Golden Eagles have won four State titles, capturing the crown in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2005. They are the champions of the Eastern Division of the Six Rivers Conference.
They eliminated defending champion Heritage Christian 49-46 in the final of the Watertown Sectional to return to the tournament field.
South Shore returns to the tournament field for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2004. The Cardinals first appearance came two seasons earlier, which resulted in a loss in the semifinals. They defeated Owen-Withee 61-53 in the final of the Spooner Sectional for their entry in the State Tournament bracket.
They are the champions in the West Division of the Indianhead Conference.
Assumption will experience the State Tournament for the second time. The Royals' previous appearance came in 2005, which ended with a defeat in the semifinals.
They are the champions in the South Division of the Marawood Conference this season. Their path to the State semifinal came through the La Crosse Logan Sectional with a 49-31 win over Seneca in the final.
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Assumption was the only team to hand Barneveld a loss in the regular season, getting past the Eagles 44-41 on Saturday, January 12.
Will it be easy to give a tourney favorite tag to any of the teams?
That is a pretty tough question.
The Eagles, with their stunning win over Heritage Christian last Saturday, earned the respect of small schools everywhere by knocking off the Milwaukee area powerhouse. Barneveld has been gracious in mismatches this season and still has the ability to handle tough situations.
Myers used the loss to Assumption as a building block, calling it a "good loss" if there is such a thing.
"It came at the right time of the season," Myers said. "People say there is no such thing as a good loss but I think it helped us get the win last Saturday."
Their opponent Thursday, South Shore, is found in Port Wing, WI just a few steps from Lake Michigan. It is about the last place you can be in Wisconsin without stepping into water.
According to the WIAA basketball program, South Shore has 43 students in the high school, making it the smallest school in the tournament. Barneveld has 111, Assumption 154 and Newman 156.
Myers and the Eagles will be concerned about 10 of those students, the girls making up the Cardinals team.
Their credentials are impressive.
-The team is coached by Clendon Gustafson who is also the District Administrater, Principal and Special Education coordinator. He coached the boys team for 13 years until the mid-2000's when he got into administration.
There are two good reasons Gustafson is back on the court. He admits it is a calming effect after a stressful day and he sees two familiar faces at the practices and games. They belong to his daughters, Megan and Emily.
Megan, a 6-3 sophomore, is deadly from mid-range to close in and plays post and forward. She leads the state in scoring with a 31.3 average. She has also picked off 298 rebounds,.
Emily, a 6-2 senior, is the team leader. She is also the top rebounder in the state with 416. And that is not where her game stops. She also averages 18.5 points per game.
Then there is 5-4 junior guard Janice Anderson. You might remember her sister, Jolene, who led the Cardinals to the state runner up spot at the 2004 state tournament. She went on to star for the UW Badger Women for four years.
While Jolene was an off guard and was counted on to put points on the board, something she did better than anyone else in the state that year, Janice is a point guard who is known for her passing. She is the state's assist leader with 191 and is up there in steals with 135. She can score, too as she averages 17.2 points per game.
"The one thing she has in common with her sister, Jolene, is they are both tough as nails," Gustafson said.
Jenna Sorenson, a quick 5-6 junior, is on the floor for her defense and rebounding. Her freshman sister, Morgan, also starts and coach Gustafson says her motor never quits running. She plays strong defense and has a good outside shot.
At 26-0 the Cardinals are the only undefeated team in D5. They beat Shell Lake 83-59, Luck 64-39, Northwoods 57-48 and Owen-Withee 61-53 in their post season run.
Their regular season featured three games against opponents from Michigan. The Cardinals beat Cromwell 83-49, Ironwood 71-20 and Wakefield-Marenisco 94-17.
What will the Eagles do against the Cardinals?
"Unless we can get some lifts in our shoes we will not get to be 6-2 by the tournament," Myers joked.
"Actually we played against 6-2 and 6-3 when we faced Waukesha North at the Mount Horeb tournament at the start of the season," Myers said. "We handled the size that time but you don't really stop players like South Shore has and their size will be a challenge. We will just have to do the best we can. I am just glad we are getting a chance to play them."
For the Eagles it will be going from slaying one giant to facing another. Except, this time the giants will be bigger.
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The darkhorse tag may just belong to Newman Catholic, no stranger to the state tournament scene.
Coach Tom Weinkauf has taken both boys and girls teams to the state tournament and is back for the fourth straight year. The Fighting Cardinals won the 2010 title in Division 4 and the 2011 title in 2011.
Weinkauf describes the 2013 edition of Fighting Cardinals basketball as a "work in progress." The team has been faced with injuries and illness all season and is recently back to as close to full strength as possible.
Madison Tubbs, a 5-8 junior guard, missed the first 11 games and has since reclaimed her starting spot. She was inserted into the starting line-up with 15 games to play and has averaged 9.8 points per game, She has also dished 72 assists and came up with 31 steals.
Tubbs was out with a stress fracture in her back, the same injury that ended the season for 5-7 junior forward Anna McCarty. She was scoring 7.4 points per game when she was forced to take an early exit.
Kimberley Steif, a 5-6 senior guard, leads Newman in scoring with a 13.2 average.
Chloe Chapman, a 5-11 junior forward is the leading rebounder with 139 and averages 8.2 points per game.
The starting line-up features 5-7 senior guard Brianna Jankowski, 5-4 junior guard Abigail Connolly who join Steif, Chapman and Tubbs.
The Cardinals go seven deep in their rotation with 5-9 junior forward Lauren LaPree and 5-7 senior forward Christina Grunow also seeing extended court time.
Newman was third in the Marawood Conference. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption was the conference champion and will be the opponent the Fighting Cardinals will face at 1:35 p.m. Thursday.
Assumption beat Newman the first time the two teams met, 60-45. Newman got revenge in the second meeting of the two teams, 67-59.
This will be the third time the two teams have met this season but their match-ups are not new. The two teams were rivals in the WISSA days when the private schools had their own association and they have gone toe to toe ever since.
"It is always a great battle," Weinkauf said.
Weinkauf sees the tournament as wide open and was not surprised by Barneveld's win over Heritage Christian.
"Jim Myers and his teams have been tough for years," Weinkauf said. "So I am not totally surprised by their win."
Newman might have been helped some by former players.
"Sisters of the girls on this team have ridden them hard all year," Weinkauf said. "That has helped them develop. We are playing good basketball right now."
The Fighting Cardinals are 20-7 coming into the tournament.
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Assumption is 2-1 against Division 5 teams in the state tournament. The Royals split with Newman and handed Barneveld its only loss of the regular season.
Assumption enters the tournament 26-1.
Coach Joe Birkhauser considers playing in the Marawood Conference an honor and sees every game a battle night in and night out.
"We see teams like Newman, Auburndale, Stratford, Edgar and Abbotsford who all have quality programs," Birkhauser said.
Birkhauser said the Royals have a great relationship with Barneveld. The Golden Eagles beat the Royals on the way to the state championship in 2005 and have played against each other in recent seasons. The Eagles were in the Assumption tournament for two seasons and have gone home and home with them in non-conference games.
"We plan to be in their holiday tournament next year," Birkhauser said.
The Royals are led in scoring by 5-9 freshman guard Mary Sigler who averages 17.6 per game. Freshman forward, 6-1 Gena Grundhoffer, averages 11.6 and is the rebound leader with 116.
Hannah Skibba, a 5-9 senior forward, is the role model for the young team and assumes the leadership role. She averages 5.7 points per game and is second on the team in steals with 52. Grundhoffer leads the steals category with 55.
Sigler is the assist leader with 63.
Others who see extended playing time are 5-8 junior guard Brittney Birkhauser, the coach's niece, 5-6 junior guard Jenna Wanta and 5-7 junior forward Sadie Zurfluh.
Birkhauser said Zurfluh started the first half of the season before the decision was made to go bigger. Grundhoffer was then put into the starting five and Zurfluh comes off the bench.
"Both girls have accepted their roles very well," Birkhauser said.
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2013 Girls State
Basketball Championships
Resch Center, Green Bay

Thursday, March 14
1:35 p.m. - Division 5 Semifinals
Newman Catholic vs. Assumption
South Shore vs. Barneveld
6:35 p.m. - Division 4 SemifinalS
Algoma vs. Cuba City
Colfax vs. The Prairie School
Friday, March 15
9:05 a.m. - Division 3 Semifinals
Kewaunee vs. Lodi
Neillsville vs. East Troy
1:35 p.m. - Division 2 Semifinals
Notre Dame vs. Milton
New London vs. New Berlin Eisenhower
6:35 p.m. - Division 1 Semifinals
Arrowhead vs. Mukwonago
Superior vs. Milwaukee Riverside
Saturday, March 16
11:05 a.m. - Championship Games - Divisions 5, 4 & 3
6:35 p.m. - Championship Games - Divisions 2 & 1