The season came to an end for the Superior High School girls basketball team with a 53-31 loss to Eau Claire North in a WIAA Division 1 sectional championship game at the Marshfield Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans, whose season ends with an 18-6 record, were attempting to win just their second sectional championship. Their first and only trip to state came during the 1994-95 season when they lost to La Crosse Central in the quarterfinal game played at the University of Wisconsin Fieldhouse in Madison.
Eau Claire North (23-2), with 19 straight wins, faces Appleton East (15-9) in a Division I quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Stevens Point, Wis. Appleton East beat Oshkosh West 38-36 in four overtimes in Oshkosh.
Tuesday's winner will play in one state tournament semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday in Madison.
Kayla Hagadorn led ECN with 16 points, including nine in the deciding third quarter. Alica Olson added 14 points, Chelsea Eisold had 10 and Kaley Bernhardt seven.
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Jessica Lindstrom led the Spartans with 14points. Hailey Kontny was next with seven, Sam DeMeyer had six and Cassie O'Neill and Abby Clemons had two apiece.
After ECN's Olson and SHS's Lindstrom traded 3-pointers to start the game, the Huskies opened up a pair of four-point leads and then a 13-6 lead on 3-pointers by Olson and Hagadorn, which led to a Superior time out.
Superior's Kontny made a free throw after the break and Superior trailed by six points after the first quarter.
The Huskies extended their lead to 20-11 midway through the second quarter, but Superior answered with eight straight points to get within 20-19 with 17.7 seconds left in the half.
Lindstrom scored five points during the Spartans' run, DeMeyer added a basket and Kontny a free throw.
North took a 22-19 lead into the locker room on Eisolds's basket just before the buzzer.
While the game was close in the first half, the Huskies dominated in the second, outscoring the Spartans 31-12, including 15-5 in the third quarter.
Thanks to three fast-break baskets by Hagadorn, the Huskies opened up the second half with an 8-2 run for a 30-21 lead.
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Lindstrom scored out of the time out but Hagadorn nailed a 3-pointer and Eisold hit a jumper in the lane for a 35-23 lead and a Superior time out.
Olson scored another fast-break basket for North before the quarter ended with a Lindstrom free throw for a 37-24 lead for the Huskies.
Kontny's free throw and basket brought the Spartans within 37-27 early in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies regrouped and eventually opened up a pair of 15-point leads, the latest with three minutes remaining.
A DeMeyer free throw stopped the bleeding for Superior, but it would be the final point the Spartans would score.
The Huskies finished the game by scoring the final eight points for the 22-point win.
SPARTAN SPIN: The Spartans lose just two players from this year's team, Cassie O'Neill and Sharita Turner. ... Superior was 10-of-18 from the free-throw line and ECN was 10-of-15. ... Michelle Peplinski is now 40-10 in two years as ECN head coach. ... Superior's head coach of the state tournament team in 1995 was Tom Mestelle. His assistant coach was ifan's Dave Williams. ... Superior also lost to ECN in overtime during the regular season in the SHS gym.
