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In the crazy game of basketball some things just don't seem to make sense.
For instance, how can a team with only eight players and a good share of them freshmen get to the state tournament let alone compete with the state's top ranked team?
"They are 26-1 for a reason," Barneveld coach Doug Pickarts said about the undermanned and undersized Clayton Bears. He refused to look past them.
It is a good thing he and the Eagles didn't.
In the end Barneveld won 57-46 but until the last nine minutes of the game it was either team's to win.
But enough is enough, sans Hannah and Mia Whitish and the cousins took over the game, sending the Eagles to the win.
Until then it was a battle with freshman Kailey Ketz stirring the pot.
Ketz was held scoreless the first half, missing all three of her attempts but somehow the switch was flipped in the final eight minutes.
Ketz kept the Bears in it with four three pointers and 17 points as she made six of 10 shots.
Another freshman, Allison Leslie, added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bears while junior McKenna Larson finished with 10 points and six boards.
But the performance by the Whitish cousins the last half of the final quarter was too much for the Bears to answer.
Two free throws by Mia Whitish broke a 43-all tie at 6:55 and she followed with a three pointer to up the lead to five.
Hannah Whitish made a free throw at 5:12 then stole the ball and fed Mia for a layup at 4:41. Mia was fouled on the play and completed the three point play and set the scored at 52-43.
Mattie Schave had a basket and a free throw down the stretch and Kelsee Fargo buried a pair of gift shots for the final margin.
Hannah Whitish finished the game with 21 points and eight rebounds. Mia Whitish had 20 and six boards. Fargo and Teegan Pickarts both added seven rebounds.
Hannah Whitish had five assists and four steals to complete her performance.
It was Teegan Pickarts, daughter of coach Doug Pickarts, who glued the Eagles together when Clayton's lead got to nine the second half. She had a personal seven point run to cut the lead to two at 38-36 with 11:20 left and primed the pump for the Whitish cousins to take over.
"All year we have had different players step up and today it was Teegan's turn," the coach said.
He credited the Whitish cousins in their role in the win.
"They keep us together," he said. "All great players rise to the occasion. Today they both rose to the occasion."
Mia Whitish said she knew the Eagles would have their work cut out for them,
"They are a real scrappy team," she said.
"We knew they wouldn't be easy," Hannah Whitish said. "We knew we had to go get it."
SCORE BY HALVES
Clayton 27 19 46
Barneveld 25 32 57
BOX SCORE
CLAYTON 46: (fg-ft-tp) Larson 3-4-10, Je. Bussewitz 0-0-0, C. Ketz 1-1-3, K. Ketz 6-1-17, M. Fall 0-0-0, K. Fall 1-0-3, Ja. Bussewitz 0-0-0, Leslie 3-6-13 Totals 14-112/16-46 Fouls-17
BARNEVELD 57: Fargo 1-2-4, Pickarts 4-0-9, H. Whitish 8-4-21, M. Whitish 6-6-20, Schave 1-1-3, Sutter 0-0-0, Skaife 0-0-0, Cannoy 0-0-0 Totals 20-14/18-57 Fouls-14
3 point goals:
C-K. Ketz 4, Leslie 1, K. Fall 1
B-M. Whitish 2, H. Whitish 1