Red Hawks end season with opening round loss to Altoona

The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau girls basketball team made strides this winter with a group that will almost all be back next year. After a loss in the opening round of the playoffs, they’ll now head into the offseason hoping to build on the progress they’ve made.

No. 6 seed Altoona (12-15) defeated the 11th-seeded Red Hawks (2-23) 63-37 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs last Tuesday in Altoona. The Railroaders went on to beat No. 3 seed Mauston in the regional semifinals before losing to No. 2 seed Wisconsin Dells in the regional finals.

It was fitting final opponent for the Red Hawks, who had also played Altoona in the season opener and lost that game 56-18. G-E-T head coach John Schmidtknecht felt the playoff rematch illustrated some of the strides his team made over the course of the winter.

“As a coach, I was proud of how the girls finished the season at Altoona. We showed so much growth from the first game of the year against Altoona, until the last game this year,” Schmidtknecht said. “We had a great fight and drive during the game. I felt it was one of our better games and we could see that we can compete with teams which makes everyone excited for next season.”

The obvious highlight of the year came at the start of February, when the Red Hawks ended a lengthy losing skid with back-to-back wins over Tomah and Black River Falls. Those triumphs were the culmination of the improvements they made and a cause for optimism for the young players in the program moving forward. 

Halene DeJager is the team’s lone senior and someone Schmidtknecht describes as “a player every team would love to have as she brings leadership, hustle and fun into every practice and every game.”

Though they will miss her presence in the program, there is excitement among those who will be back that things are trending the right way.

“I hope these girls look back on this season and see their growth and see the positives they all played in each and every game,” Schmidtknecht said. “We were a very young team this year and they all had bright spots throughout the year, and I think with hard work this summer we will continue to turn that corner to winning more games. We had a lot of excitement at the end of the year about camps for this summer and league to help us continue in the right direction for next year.”