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Barneveld's 6'2" senior center Maggie Oimoen had her hands wrapped around the basketball on a ton of rebounds Saturday but the grip she had on the ball was nothing compared to how hard she held onto the WIAA D5 Sectional championship plaque.
Oimoen was one of the Golden Eagles girls team who ventured to center court to pick up the hardware after Barneveld's 68-42 win over a dangerous Bangor team and secured a berth in this week's Girls State Tournament.
Oimoen held the plaque as she roamed among the fans who mobbed the girls after the game. She finally surrendered it when Hannah Whitish asked to hold it for some photo ops.
The Eagles play Fall River at 1:35 p.m. Thursday (today) to kick off the 2015 state tournament in Green Bay at the Resch Center. A win will send them to Saturday's 11:05 A.M. championship game where they will play the winner between South Shore and Assumption.
The Eagles have played both Fall River and Assumption this season with their only loss coming from Assumption at a feature game at Just A Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells.
The win over Bangor assures the Eagles of a chance to defend the state title they won last year.
The Eagles reeled off eight straight points to start the game, forcing the Cardinals to call time out. Rachel Slaney keyed the good start as leading scorer Hannah Whitish picked up some early fouls. Oimoen also came into the game and scored the last five points of the first frame to make it 19-12.
Slick ball handling senior Morgan Horstman had three free throws and freshman Emma Wittmershaus scored from underneath and clicked on a three pointer to get the Cardinals going in their late start.
The Eagles started to pull away in the second quarter. Slaney started it with a pair of free throws after being fouled on a drive then added a pair of baskets. Hannah Whitish got back on the floor and added four points on a pair of neat moves in the lane. Mia Whitish, who has assumed the role of super sub, drilled a three pointer and a free throw.
But the momentum-turning play of the frame was when Oimoen got ahead of the Cardinal defense and took the ball in on a fast break.
The Cardinals main weapon in the quarter was the 6'2" Wittmershaus who scored twice on rebounds and added a pair of gift shots.
The third quarter was the best eight minutes for the Eagles as they went on a 15-3 run, dominated the boards, doubled the defensive pressure and put some distance between the two teams. Hannah Whitish got her game in sync with seven points, two which came on a feed from Oimoen on a high-lo play that pushed the score to 44-25.
The Eagles held the Cardinals without a point until Jordan Tallman put in the first of two free throws with 1:54 left in the quarter. They got their only basket of the frame when Morgan Horstman hit from the lane off a drive with two seconds left.
After three quarters the lead was 22 at 50-28, but Eagles coach Jim Myers was not ready to call the advantage safe.
It is a good thing he didn't as the Cardinals had a last gasp with a 6-1 run over the first two minutes that was keyed by a three pointer from Morgan Horstman.
But the Eagles regrouped with a 17-10 run that kept things comfortable and on track for the 26 point win.
"Even with us up 20, I wasn't calling it," Myers said. "Bangor is a good team. We had to keep Morgan Horstman from penetrating and Emma Wittmershaus from getting loose for threes."
Hannah Whitish finished with 22 points, playing such a smooth game that her points were not easily recognized. Slaney added 17 with nine of them free throws from the place her aggressive play earned her a spot much of the game. Oimoen finished with 11, most of them second chance points.
Morgan Horstman had 17 and Emma Wittmershaus 13 for the Cardinals.
Myers said he feels the Eagles had important contributions from everyone who played.
"Some started, some came in and they all did what needed to be done," he said. "Rachel got us started and held things together when Hannah was out with fouls. Kelsee Fargo played great defense on top and kept Horstman from driving which was big."
"Hannah controlled things pretty well and scored some big points. Maggie was a force on the boards and scoring. Mia came in and turned in some big plays," Myers said.
"Up and down the bench we got contributions. They did what they had to do until the starters got back in. It was good to see them play that well and make another state run," he added.
"The third quarter gave us separation but even when it got to be a 20 point difference I wasn't ready to say it was over. Bangor is a good team. They score. They rebound. They will be back."
Now it is a return to familiar territory for the Eagles. This is their third straight trip in search of a gold ball.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bangor 12 13 3 14 42
Barneveld 19 16 15 18 68
BOX SCORE
BANGOR 42: (fg-ft-tp) K. Horstman 0-0-0, Tallman 0-2-2, M. Horstman 5-6-17, Tenner 0-0-0, Martin 0-0-0, Fortier 0-0-0, Wittmershaus 4-4-13, Zimmer 0-0-0, Langrehr 0-0-0, Browne 0-0-0, Hundt 1-0-2, Nicolai 0-0-0, Wilcox 0-1-1, Freit 3-1-9, Pfaff 0-0-0 Totals 13-14/18-42 Fouls-15
BARNEVELD 68: Fargo 1-0-3, Sutter 0-0-0, Walker 0-0-0. Owens 1-0-2, H. Whitish 9-3-22, M. Whitish 3-1-8, Schave 1-0-3, Cannoy 0-0-0, Roberts 0-0-0, Slaney 4-9-17, Malin 1-0-2, Oimoen 5-1-11 Totals 24-16/27-68 Fouls-20 Fouled out-Owens
3 point goals:
Bangor-M. Horstman 1, Wittmershaus 1
Barneveld-Fargo 1, H. Whitish 1, M. Whitish 1, Schave 1