Xavier girls basketball snags state tournament berth with upset win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood in WIAA D-3 sectional final
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
SEYMOUR – The Xavier girls basketball team is going back to the Resch.
The Xavier Hawks took down previously unbeaten and top-seeded Wittenberg-Birnamwood 63-45 in a WIAA Division 3 girls basketball sectional final on Saturday afternoon at Seymour High School, cementing their second-straight trip to the state tournament.
The win also hands the Chargers their first and only loss of the season and marks the second year in a row Xavier knocked them off in a sectional final.
Xavier (18-10) will play a Division 3 semifinal against Elk Mound at the 2025 WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament at the Resch Center on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Led by Brynn Krull and her 29 points, the Hawks overcame a slow start and caught fire quickly as they punched the Chargers in the mouth and never looked back. Wittenberg was unable to respond.
“Just like Thursday, it was a different game as this was a much more fast-paced game,” Xavier head coach Andy Vande Hey said. “Wittenberg plays much differently than Winneconne does and we knew this game would be much faster and more physical. I am super proud of the girls as we asked them to speed up the tempo even if we turn the ball over.”
Rory Salvesen forced two turnovers on back-to-back possessions to put the Chargers up 4-0 in the blink of an eye. The nerves were in full force early, but after a quick timeout by the Hawks, it was the Xavier offense that started to get rolling as Brynn Krull once again set the tone.
“In the beginning, we were a little bit nervous, and you saw that in those early turnovers,” Vande Hey said. “We called a timeout to reset as a team, and I wanted the girls to calm down and relax.”
Brynn Krull has had the hot hand throughout the playoffs, and after knocking down a pair of threes to get the scoring started for the Hawks and tie the game at 6-6 game, it was a sign of things to come. Krull knocked down seven triples on the afternoon. Her second triple ignited what was a 9-0 run for the Hawks as Faith Hafner, Ali Tylinski, and Annika Heimann all picked up buckets to put the Hawks in front 12-6.
The Chargers tried their best to come back, with Melaina Granquist and Faith Resch picking up a pair of buckets on the inside, only to have the Hawks respond with four made free throws to keep them in front 16-11. Two of those free throws came from Brynn Krull, as those were the only points that were not on 3-point points in the first half as she scored 17 in the opening 18 minutes.
“I was very happy with the way we moved the ball tonight,” Vande Hey said. “The girls did a great job of getting the ball inside so we could kick out to Brynn and our shooters, and that generated plenty of open looks. One thing about Brynn is she isn’t afraid to take any shot and that led to one of her better field goal percentage games of the season.”
It was at this point when the Hawks began to take over as another Wittenberg turnover led to the Heimann layup as part of another 9-0 run that stretched the Hawks lead to 21-11. That lead would eventually grow to 27-15 after another Brynn Krull triple, and just like that, Xavier was on the verge of breaking this one open in a big way.
Like all good teams do, Wittenberg-Birnamwood (27-1) started to chip away at the lead with Granquist asserting herself on the inside to pull the Chargers back within six late in the first half, only to have Chole Pfefferle pick up a late bucket to give the Hawks a 35-27 lead at the break.
Brynn Krull and Faith Hafner teamed up 10 quick points out of the break, and suddenly, the Hawks had their biggest lead of the game, 45-30. In danger of letting this one get out of hand, the Chargers finally started to look like the team that entered the game 27-0 as Faith Resch and Ava Brei helped Wittenberg-Birnamwood add seven straight points to pull the Chargers within 45-37.
It was all Xavier from that point on, as the Hawks defense held the top-seeded Chargers to just eight points the rest of the way, with Granquist responsible for a significant portion of those points. Pair that with the continuous hot shooting from Faith Hafner, Hailey Hafner, and Brynn Krull, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see the Hawks come away with another dominating performance, 63-45 to book another trip to state.
Unlike last season’s team, which was built on experience, this season was drastically different as Joy Krull was the lone starter returning to the lineup. That led to some early season struggles, but when the games got bigger, this team stepped up and the lack of experience is no longer a concern.
“We only returned one starter (Joy) from last season’s team and lost four others,” Vande Hey said. “It’s a different look for us this season and as the game’s get bigger we understand as coaches that the girls are going to make mistakes, but a lot of these girls have played in plenty of big games before and that experience is starting to show.”
Hawks 63, Chargers 45
Xavier 35 28 – 63
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 27 18 – 45
XAVIER (45): Brynn Krull 29, Faith Hafner 15, Joy Krull 5, Hailey Hafner 4, Chole Pfefferle 4, Annika Heimann 4, Ali Tylinski 2. FG: 22. FT: 8-9. 3 pointers: 11 (Brynn Krull 7, Faith Hafner 3, Joy Krull 1). Record: 18-10.
WITTENBERG-BIRNAMWOOD (45): Melaina Granquist 15, Rory Salvesen 9, Faith Resch 8, Harper Rogowski 6, Ava Brei 3, Kylee Beversdorf 2, Brieleigh Ladika 2. FG: 16. FT: 11-17. 3 pointers: 2 (Granquist 1, Resch 1). Record: 27-1.