By John Dalton
Mineral Point’s 19-game winning streak concluded on Saturday evening in Monticello, as they were defeated by Albany/Monticello’s Space Stallions with a final score of 50-33 in the WIAA Regional Final. The matchup showcased two of Wisconsin’s Division 4 top ten teams, with Mineral Point ranked tenth and Albany/Monticello fifth in the state standings.
Although Albany/Monticello won by 17 points, the score doesn’t reflect how competitive the matchup was. Midway through the second half, AM held just a narrow 33-31 lead. Throughout the game, AM’s defense consistently pressured Mineral Point’s shooters, making it difficult for them to score. In the final 10 minutes and 30 seconds, the Pointers managed only one basket, scored by Maddy Kabat on an offensive rebound, while AM wrapped up the contest with an impressive 17-2 run.
Mineral Point had an early lead in the game 6-2, thanks to two 3-point baskets by Sadie Miller and Ava Ingwell. AM would regain the lead 10-8 after hoops by Emerson Butts and Heidi Olson. Then Jaydn Schultz connected with a 3-point shot, giving the Pointers their last lead of the game 11-10.
Heidi Olson made a shot in the lane to give AM back the lead, and twith the Pointers rying to get the ball inbounds after the hoop, Molly Olson intercepted the pass and converted it into a basket and 14-11 lead for AM. Both teams exchanged baskets right up until halftime. Kabat assisted with many of those dishing the ball to open shooters who connected, and if she didn’t find anyone, she would score on her own with some nice moves in the lane. It was Schultz who buried a 3-point shot just before half to cut the Space Stallions lead down to 23-20.
AM hit their first two shots of the second half with Butts driving to the hoop for a score, and Heidi Olson hitting a jump shot. She led all scorers with 19 points.
AM was ahead by nine points, but back-to-back buckets by Sadie Miller and Kabat cut the lead to five, 31-26. After Heidi Olson scored for AM, it was Sadie Miller from the corner knocking down a 3-point shot and AM’s lead was now four 33-29. After an empty AM possession, Kabat muscled her way to the hoop cutting the lead down to two.
But this is where it stalled out for the Pointers. With 10:30 left in the game, the only Pointer score came when Kabat grabbed an offensive rebound and laid in with 5:00 left, while the Space Stallions were hitting clutch 3-point shots by Emerson Briggs and Annie Olson to widen their lead. Mineral Point couldn’t buy a basket and was forced to foul,. The Space Stallions made free throws to increase their lead and securing their sixth straight regional championship.
“They’re a really good basketball team, they play hard, they play together,” said Mineral Point Head Coach Merrill Brunson on how tough Albany/Monticello is. “We talked at a film session that there were a lot of similarities between the two teams. They hit some big shots and I give them credit,” he said.
“I thought we were executing really well in the second half and the ball just wasn’t going in, and that’s what happens in this game and unfortunately we haven’t felt this in a while and of course in the playoffs you lose and you go home so we weren’t prepared for this to happen, but again, all credit goes to Albany/Monticello,. Coach Doescher does a fantastic job and those girls deserve it tonight,” Brunson added.
Head Coach Derik Doescher on his team’s performance. “Our defense, we live and die on our defense, and we played man-to-man on every possession tonight. Mineral Point is so good, they came in here after winning 19 games in a row, they’re so well coached.
Coach Brunson does an amazing job, but we got some lucky bounces that didn’t go Mineral Point’s way tonight,” he said.
“I told the girls at halftime, against a program like that, I said if we were up three at half with four timeouts and no foul trouble, I said coming into this game would we take that, of course we would and that’s what the status was. The only thing we said is we’ve got to keep running a them because that’s our game and we felt they were wearing down a little bit and we’ve got to keep pressing and putting on pressure, not to turn them over, but to use their legs so it affects their shooting, and that’s what we did,” Doescher added.
Brunson thanked his team for an outstanding season. Mineral Point tied Cuba City for the SWAL conference title at 12-2 and they finished their season with an impressive 21-5 record. “It’s an amazing group of young ladies in that locker room. I told them thank you and that I’m proud of them and I’ll never forget them, it was an amazing season,” he said. “The girls made it easy. They’re super coachable. They work harder than most, and they’re fun to be with at practice. These girls are driven. They’re winners. And I was glad to be part of it this season.”
Albany/Monticello (24-2) will play Deerfield (25-1) this Thursday in the WIAA Sectional Semifinal. That game tips off at 7:00 p.m. at Madison LaFollette High School. For video highlights of the Mineral Point vs. Albany/Monticello game, check out The Democrat or The Dodgeville Chronicle’s Facebook page.
Box Score
Albany/Monticello 23 -27-50 Mineral Point 20-13-33 Albany/Monticello (fg-ft-tp); Heidi Olson 6-6-19, Molly Olson 2-4-8, Emma Thompson 2-3-7, Emerson Butts 2-2-6, Emerson Briggs 2-0-5, Annie Olson 2-0-5.
3-pointers;
Briggs 1, Annie Olson 1, Heidi Olson 1.
Mineral Point (fg-ft-tp); Sadie Miller 4-0-10, Maddy Kabat 4-0-8, Ava Ingwell 2-1-7, Jaydn Schultz 2-0-6.
3-pointers:
Sadie Miller 2, Ingwell 2, Schultz 2.
