STOUGHTON — A cold start offensively spelled trouble for Edgerton in a WIAA Division 3 girls basketball sectional semifinal Thursday night at Stoughton High School.
The top-seeded Crimson Tide put up just seven first-half points and couldn’t fully recover as they lost to No. 2 seed Madison Edgewood, 43-21.
The Crusaders, ranked third in the state in Division 3 by , scored the game’s first seven points, and the Crimson Tide, ranked No. 8, didn’t get their first points until 4 minutes, 40 seconds had passed.
Despite falling behind, Edgerton held its own. Its ball handlers didn’t give in against Edgewood’s full-court press, and the Crimson Tide were able to get shots that they liked, head coach Chris Jenny said.
“We just picked the wrong night to not shoot it great,†he said. “We haven’t had many of those nights, but tonight certainly was one.â€
Edgerton went 3 of 15 from the floor, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range. It didn’t help that Edgewood (24-3) won the turnover battle in the first half, forcing nine while committing just three, and the Crusaders converted a couple of second-chance opportunities with offensive rebounds.
Nickie Shaw made a basket to make it 8-4 Edgewood in the early going. From there, the Crusaders embarked on a 12-0 run to go up 20-4.
Gracee Langer, who along with Shaw led their team with six points apiece, ended Edgerton’s long scoring drought with 5:47 left in the first with a three-point play, but the Tide wouldn’t score again in the half. In the meantime, Beanie Thompson and Zhana Gnewuch combined for a 6-0 run that gave the Crusaders a 26-7 advantage at the break.
The Crimson Tide scored first in the second half, but another 5-0 spurt for the Crusaders gave them a 31-9 lead. That run ended with a free throw for Erin Schauer, which was her game-high 13th point of the night.
After that, Edgewood slowed down its offensive pace. The Crimson Tide did whittle their deficit down to 34-20 with about four minutes left on the clock after Edgewood missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity.
The next time the Crusaders went to the line, Lilly Moschkau made her first attempt and missed the second. But Edgewood got the offensive rebound and went to the line again. The Crusaders again missed the first bonus free throw, and while Edgerton got the rebound this time, it turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, leading to a runout layup for Anna Miller.
Those three points were part of a 9-1 Edgewood run that salted the game away.
The Crusaders will play Waupun next, the top seed in the other half of the sectional and Division 3’s No. 2 team in the WisSports rankings, for a berth to the WIAA state girls basketball tournament. That game will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at Evansville High School.
Despite the difficult end to the season, Jenny said he hopes his players, including graduating seniors Shaw, Jillian Scharlau, Katie Punzel and Mackenzie Bowen remember how “half the town†came out to support them in a sectional semifinal.
“Tonight doesn’t change what happened during the course of the season and the historical things that they did for our basketball program and for our school,†Jenny said.
The team finished the season with a 25-2 record, an undefeated Rock Valley Conference Rock Division championship and a regional championship trophy.
Many of this year’s top contributors, including freshman guard Claudia Jenny and sophomores Marti Rebman and Gracee Langer, will be back next season. For now, the 2023-24 Crimson Tide will hold a special place for coach Jenny.
“I’ve never had a group that got along better on and off the court and played so hard for each other,†he said. “You could see it on the court, just the way that they played together and how unselfish they were and how deeply they care about each other, and I think that’s the part that’s most painful tonight. Tomorrow we’re not walking into a gym together sharing the same moments that we got to share every day this year.â€
MADISON EDGEWOOD 43, EDGERTON 21
Edgewood 26 17 — 43
Edgerton 7 14 — 21
Madison Edgewood (fg ftm-fta pts) — Moschkau 0 2-4 2, Fernandez 2 0-0 4, Schauer 5 2-5 13, Foley 0 2-2 2, Agapi Gialamas 1 0-0 2, Thompson 1 1-2 3, Gnewuch 2 0-0 4, Schmotzer 2 2-5 6, Miller 3 1-2 7. Totals 16 10-20 43.
Edgerton (fg ftm-fta pts) — Rebman 3 0-0 6, Punzel 0 1-2 1, Langer 2 2-3 6, Scharlau 1 2-2 4, Shaw 2 0-0 4. Totals 8 5-9 21.
3-point goals — ME 1 (Schauer), E 0. Total fouls — ME 13, E 17. Fouled out — None.
