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There is a sign in the middle of Barneveld's downtown that was put there for encouragement.
"One Team
One Dream"
It was put there to encourage the Barneveld girls basketball team in their quest for the Division 5 state title.
The girls fell a little short of their goal, losing to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 39-35 Saturday in a game that once again featured the heart and soul of a young team that has fought all year to be the best they can be.
"You've got to have a dream, if you want to have a dream come true."
Dennis Waitley
It was apparent early in the season that the Barneveld girls squad wanted to be the best they could be. They played their hearts out night in and night out for their legendary coach Jim Myers. They no doubt found out that Myers is a great coach, a great role model and a equally great friend.
They started a freshman, two sophomores a junior and a senior. Their bench strength---and the Eagles had a very deep bench--was made up of underclassmen
Their lone senior, Madi Laube, was on the varsity all four years and was the consummate role player. Give her a job and all you had to do was wait for her to get it finished. Her height is listed at 5-9 but there is no statistic for the size of her heart. All you had to do was see her play and you would know her heart was the biggest part of her game.
The Eagles were on a mission. They were in a race all season. And while they didn't get the checkered flag, you have to respect and admire where they finished.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.
Dale Earnhardt
The Eagles started the season winning the Mount Horeb tournament. They went on to earn the Six Rivers East conference crown and claimed the championships of the Regional and Sectional. They knocked off the reigning state champion in the sectional finals and then beat only undefeated team in Division 5 left at state when they beat a South Shore team that featured the top scorer, top rebounder and top assist leader in the state.
That set the scene for a match-up with Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, the only team to beat the Eagles this season. Their margins of victory were 44-41 and 39-35.
The usually fast starting Eagles had some problems early and trailed at the end of the first quarter, 14-7. They did lead 5-4 but the Royals went on a 10-2 run after that.
Seven of Assumption's points came on turnovers and they added a basket on a second chance that gave the momentum to the Royals.
By halftime Assumption had a 24-13 advantage.
The Eagles increased the intensity after halftime and picked up six points on turnovers. They also got more aggressive on the offensive glass and accounted for three second chance points.
The fourth quarter was the one how the Eagles fans will remember the team.
The girls battled back and got the game tied at 31-31 with 3:13 to play on a pair of free throws by Laube. The senior guard had been silent much of the game and did not attempt a shot the first half as she was the subject of some tightly focused Assumption defense.
She later nailed a dagger three pointer with 1:51 left to keep the Eagles within one at 35-34.
But it came down to free throws and with the lead, Assumption drew them
Freshman Gena Grundhoffer made a pair of clutch throws with 1:02 to play for a 37-34 lead. Hannah Skibba and Jenny Wanta put in one each in the last minute.
The Eagles answered it with a free throw from sophomore Rachel Slaney but it wasn't enough.
Slaney, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had her second double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Laube finished with eight.
Junior Samantha Evans came off the bench to score six points, grab four rebounds, pick off a pair of passes and block a shot, all in 11 minutes.
Grundhoffer was eight for eight from the line and led the Royals with 10 points. Junior Mary Siglar, the leading scorer for the Royals throughout the season, finished with nine points as she battled foul trouble all day.
The Eagles received the runners-up trophy known as the "Silver Ball,"
That means of all the teams in the state that play in Division 5, only two went home with a trophy. The only difference in the two awards is the color of the ball on it--first gets gold, second silver."
"We would have liked to have won but in the end we lost only twice this season and as it turns out it was to the best team in the state," said Barneveld coach Jim Myers. "We are pretty proud to walk out of here with the silver basketball."
The game was one of the most aggressive games played at the Resch Center as both teams brought their "A" defensive games.
"When we played them at Barneveld we learned how physical they can be," Myers said. "It was probably the most physical game of the year and it helped us here. People look at us and think we are a finesse team but we showed we can go down there and mix it up too."
With the attention Laube received Siglar bumped into her enough to be forced to the bench and finally fouled out. But, Laube stayed with it.
When asked if she got tired from the pressure Laube said,
"You get tired out there but you keep on going."
Laube played all 32 minutes of the game for the Eagles, the last one of her high school career.
The Eagles found out that second place is pretty darn good and the dream was one worth dreaming.
"Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out."
John Wooden
SCORE BY QUARTERS
A 14 10 7 8 39
B 7 6 11 11 35
BOX SCORE
ASSUMPTION 39: (fg-ft-tp) Grundhoffer 1-8-10, Skibba 2-3-7, Wanta 2-1-5, Sigler 2-4-9, Birkhauser 1-1-3 M. Zurfluh 1-2-5, Newman 0-0-0, S. Zurfluh 0-0-0 Totals 9-19/27-39 Fouls-15 Fouled out-Siglar
BARNEVELD 35: Sporle 0-2-2, Slaney 2-8-12, Kleppe 0-0-0, Whitish 2-2-7, Laube 2-3-8, Udlehofen 0-0-0, Straubhaar 0-0-0, Evans 3-0-6, Oimoen 0-0-0 Totals 9-15/20-35 Fouls-17
3 point goals:
A-Siglar 1, M. Zurfluh 1
B-Whitish 1, Laube 1