Late free throws push Xavier girls basketball past West De Pere
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – In one of the most highly-anticipated early-season girls basketball matchups, two of the Bay Conferences best squared off as the Xavier Hawks welcomed the West De Pere Phantoms to Torchy Clark Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
Coming into the season, it was the Phantoms who were picked by most to take home the Bay Conference crown, with the Hawks right up there with them following a state tournament appearance last season.
If this game was any indication of what is to come from these squads down the road, both showed the potential for a long playoff run. The Hawks, using a pair of late free throws from Hailey Hafner, picked up the 72-71 win.
“I am super proud of the girls,” Xavier head coach Andy VandeHey said as the Hawks (1-3, 1-1 Bay Conference) earned their first win of the season. ”They never gave up and never stopped fighting, and truly lived our play-hard fundamental.”
It was a win that was looking bleak late in the game as Xavier found itself behind most of the second half and were down by as many as eight midway through. Credit them for battling back several times to the point where they pulled within four with just under four minutes to go. That is when their defense took over as the Hawks ended the game on an 8-3 run, capped off by those two free throws to seal the victory.
The game was anything but an offensive shootout based on how it started as both teams struggled to find the basket across the first four minutes. All it took for things to get rolling was an Ava VanEss triple to put the Phantoms in front 6-4 as the offensive explosion was set to begin.
From that moment on, both of these teams exchanged blows with Brynn Krull taking over early on as she scored 10 of the Hawks’ first 15 points en route to a massive 23-point night. She was a big reason why the Hawks were able to keep things close in the early going, but after a Joy Krull bucket put the Hawks on top 23-17, it was time for the West De Pere offense to take over.
Whether it be Faith Walder and her ability to slash to the bucket seemingly at will, or the outside shooting of Madisyn Berggren and Ella Francois, everything was clicking for the Phantoms as they used a 16-6 run to surge in front 33-29 late in the first half. That trio did most of the Phantoms’ scoring, combining for 61 points, with Walder leading the way with 25.
West De Pere continued to flex its muscle late in the first half as an open 3-pointer from Francois gave the Phantoms a 41-33 lead only to have Hailey Hafner score late in the half to make this a 41-37 West De Pere at the break. Not to be outdone from her strong first half, Brynn Krull came out on fire to start the second half, scoring the first four points for the Hawks to keep things close before her teammates started to get involved.
Trailing by one after another Walder bucket, Layna Petersen took it upon herself to lay one in as the Hawks retook the lead 45-44 for the first time since late in the first half. It was a lead that didn’t last long as Walder continued to slash to the hole for several easy layups while also setting things up for Francios and the rest of the Phantom shooters. VandeHey knew facing Walder would be an issue.
“West De Pere is a great team,” he said. “We always have great battles.”
By this point in the second half, it was starting to become the Walder and Francois show for the Phantoms as they went on to score 12 of the team’s next 14 points to maintain a narrow 57-54 lead. A quick bucket from Faith Hafner kept the Hawks in striking distance only to have Berggren knock down a massive triple to push the Phantoms lead to 63-56.
Needing offense in a hurry, Xavier once again turned to Brynn Krull, who showed some skill and strength to convert a tough layup under the hoop and pulled the Hawks within five. She would add another tough bucket a few minutes later, which came after the Hailey Hafner reverse, as the Hawks continued to battle back, facing a 63-60 deficit.
“What I am most proud of is after a disappointing loss last Friday to Shawano our girls came in on Saturday to lift and run a captains practice,” VandeHey said. “That ownership they displayed on Saturday is why this is such a special group. I believe that is what made the difference for us tonight.”
Every time it looked as if the Hawks were finally starting to slow the Phantoms offense down, West De Pere had the answers as Walder continued to go two on the inside, using several more drives to get to the hoop and kept the Phantoms in front 68-64. Although it took 35 minutes for the defense to sink in, when Xavier needed it the most their defense was there as they held the Phantoms to three points over the final four minutes.
That alone gave the offense a chance to do something special, and that they did as the Hawks battled all the way back to finish off the Phantoms.
Xavier will play at Menasha on Friday and at The Prairie School in Racine on Saturday.
Hawks 72, Phantoms 71
West De Pere 41 30 – 71
Xavier 37 35 – 72
WEST DE PERE (71): Faith Walder 25, Mia Racine 2, Makenna Runke 2, Madisyn Berggren 19, Ava Van Ess 6, Ella Francois 17. FT: 8-14. 3-pointers: 6 (Berggren 3, Van Ess 2, Walder 1). Fouls: 20. Record: 7-2, 2-1 Bay Conference.
XAVIER (72): Hailey Hafner 21, Brynn Krull 23, Joy Krull 9, Chloe Pfefferle 2, Alexandra Tylinski 6, Faith Hafner 7, Layna Petersen 4. FT: 19-23. 3-pointers: 3 (H. Hafner 1, B. Krull 1, J. Krull 1). Fouls: 14. Record: 1-3, 1-1 Bay Conference.