B-T girls upset Eagles, fall to Panthers in semifinal

The Blair-Taylor girls basketball team continued to play well when Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament play began, but fell to one of the top teams in the state last week.

B-T closed the regular season having won five of six, then opened tournament play with a 63-57 win over Alma/Pepin. B-T was the 10th seed so the win put them against second-seeded Royall — which began its tournament with a 70-17 win over Plum City/Elmwood. It looked like another run was coming for B-T as they outscored Royall 17-2 at the start, but the Panthers recovered and made big plays down the stretch to win 48-44. 

“I am so proud of these ladies,” B-T coach Jesse Lien said. “They have improved so much this year. This game will definitely give them motivation going into next season.”

Royall (22-2) won the regional title over Independence/Gilmanton (see story elsewhere in Sports) the next day and will play Cochrane-Fountain City in the sectional this week.

Coming off a state runner-up finish in 2023, the Wildcats had a roster made up mostly of players who hadn’t played significant varsity minutes. The team struggled for much of the season before finishing strong. It ends this season with a record of 11-15 and projects to return every varsity player next year. 

B-T 63 A/P 57

B-T’s tear continued in an upset win to open WIAA play.

The Wildcats were aggressive offensively and knocked down outside shots in the first half to score 37 points and take a 10-point lead into halftime. The Wildcats held off the Eagles in the second half for the win.

B-T knocked down nine three pointers in the game and was aggressive attacking the basket, managing 26 free throws — making 18. Andi Beck had three three pointers and six free throws as she scored a game-high 21 points. Elissa Smetana knocked down five threes and scored 17 points while Maddie Frederixon managed 11. Andrea Waldera scored seven points and pulled in 11 rebounds.

B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Frederixon 2/8-6/8-1-1-11 Beck 6/10-6/9-1-1-21 Lejcher 0/0-0/0-1-0-0 Waldera 3/7-1/2-11-3-7 Nerby 0/0-0/0-1-0-0 Smetana 6/9-0/0-0-1-17 Aguilar 0/6-5/7-6-2-5 Woodard 0/0-0/0-2-0-0 Zentgraf 0/1-0/0-3-2-0 Thorson 1/1-0/0-11-0-2

Royall 48 B-T 44

The Wildcats stormed out of the gate and nearly ended Royall’s season.

B-T scored the first seven points then 10 straight points to take a 17-2 lead. However, Royall climbed back and made clutch plays late, while the Wildcats couldn’t get shots to fall.

The Wildcats maintained a 10-point lead at halftime, but the Panthers tied the game about six minutes into the second half. B-T’s Smetana responded with a three pointer and hit another jumper after Royall tied the game at 40.

The Panthers didn’t take the lead until they scored with 2:50 left to break a 42-42 tie. They added free throws to go ahead by four with two minutes remaining. 

B-T had chances down the stretch. The Wildcats had three shots to tie the game in the final minute, but both shots by Waldera missed — the second rolled around the rim before coming off with 33 seconds remaining in the game.

Royall made a free throw to extend the lead to three and B-T had a chance to tie it, but Beck’s three pointer bounced off the rim. Royall added a free throw with 10 seconds remaining to go ahead by the final.

The Wildcats were aggressive at the start of the game. Waldera scored off the opening tip and Smetana knocked down a three on their next possession. Waldera scored again to make the score 7-0.

After a Royall basket and a B-T free throw, Frederixon drilled a three to put the Wildcats ahead by nine. Waldera scored with 13:50 to put B-T ahead by double digits before free throws by Frederixon and a basket by Aguilar made the score 17-2 with 12:15 remaining in the first half.

The Panthers recovered, though B-T still took a 30-20 lead into halftime. 

Waldera scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for B-T. The team got nine points from Smetana, eight from Aguilar, seven from Frederixon and five from Beck. 

B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Frederixon 2/8-2/3-3-4-7 Beck 1/8-3/5-3-3-5 Waldera 7/11-1/2-10-4-15 Smetana 3/6-1/2-5-2-9 Aguilar 3/11-0/0-7-2-8 Thorson 0/1-0/0-1-0-0