Eleva-Strum’s storybook season ends with sectional final loss to Barneveld

It’s been nothing less than a storybook season for the Eleva-Strum girls basketball program under first-year head coach Dave Hazuga, as they rocketed from a five-win campaign last year to winning the Dairyland Large Conference and following it up with a postseason run that brought them a regional title and left them on the doorstep of state.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their magical run came up one win shy of that coveted trip to the Resch Center.

No. 1 seed Barneveld (21-7) pulled away from No. 2 seed Eleva Strum (22-7) in the second half for a 60-39 win in their Division 5 sectional final showdown last Saturday at Logan High School in La Crosse.

The Cardinals got off to a fast start in Saturday afternoon’s high-stakes clash, using some strong outside shooting to race out to a 23-16 advantage. However, the Golden Eagles settled in and finished the half on a 13-2 run to carry a 29-25 lead into the intermission.

That run wound up being a sign of things to come, as Barneveld outscored Eleva-Strum 31-14 in the second half to secure a spot in Green Bay for the state tournament.

Barneveld junior point guard Izabel Durst was electric for the Golden Eagles, pouring in 24 points to help power the win. For Eleva-Strum, Maddea Brown scored nine points and the duo of Avery Glenz and Neeley Lasher added eight apiece, though both Glenz and Lasher were held scoreless in the second half.

“I was happy with the girls’ intensity and effort. They deserved to be here, and they proved it,” Hazuga said. “The game didn’t get away from us until halfway through the second half. Things wore on us, we had a few breakdowns, my adjustments weren’t working. We know we could’ve done better than this, but I’m proud of the girls.”

Though the Cardinals came up a little short in their quest for the program’s first state bid since 2008, the excitement around the program should only build. Lasher is the lone senior graduating who was a major rotation player, so Eleva-Strum should be primed for big things once again in 2025-26.

“Is it harder to be the underdog and come out of nowhere or is it harder to come into the season with expectations? Now, we’re not a surprise next year,” said Hazuga, who was previously the head coach at Cadott. “Everybody is going to say, ‘you’re going to be good’ and they’re right, we will be good. My only main message to the team is ‘this is the new norm.’”

Familiar face leads Barneveld back to state

For a 20-year period, Barneveld was one of Wisconsin’s great powerhouses in girls basketball, winning six state titles and making 11 state tournament appearances from 1995 to 2016. Hall of Fame head coach Jim Myers was at the helm for all six state titles and 10 of the state trips before leading the Barneveld boys to their first state appearance in 2016 and first state title in 2017.

After Myers decided to come out of coaching retirement and return to the sidelines for the Golden Eagles, it took just one season for the program to make its triumphant return to the Resch Center for the first time in nine years.

Myers, who became the all-time wins leader in Wisconsin high school girls basketball history this winter, admitted that he didn’t necessarily have state expectations for this group early in the year, but their true potential became clear as their confidence continued to build throughout the season.

He also conceded that, after nearly a decade away from coaching, this latest sectional title is something he’ll try to savor that extra bit more.

“(Barneveld) has had some really good success in volleyball and softball and basketball kind of dwindled a little bit for a while,” Myers said. “To get that back to where it was before and get kids believing in it and getting young kids wanting to play, that’s really special.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around doing this, but while I’m here I’m going to enjoy it.”