Barneveld girls gain state berth topping Independence/Gilmanton

By John Dalton

In a closely contested Division 5 Sectional Final on Saturday afternoon, the Barneveld Golden Eagles edged out Independence/Gilmanton 38-34 in a physical, defensive showdown. Legendary coach Jim Myers and his Barneveld team will now pursue their seventh state championship at the WIAA State Tournament as the #3 seed, set to take on #2 seed Pacelli on Friday, March 13, at approximately 11:00 a.m.  

After losing four straight ball games in January, the last loss at Argyle/Pecatonica 57-48, the Golden Eagles have now won 14 straight games and are heading back to the Resch Center in Green Bay. Last year, Barneveld brought home the silver ball, losing a tight championship game to Assumption 34-30.  

But to get there, Barneveld had to win its Sectional Championship in a game played at Mauston High School last Saturday. The stands were packed and it was loud, with enthusiastic fans from both communities.  

Barneveld’s Izzy Durst made the first basket of the game driving to the hoop and scoring on a layup.  But the Indees responded, going on a 7-0 run.  Shauna Dejno tied it in the paint on a turnaround jumper, and Arabelle Knisley connected on the next five points.  The Indees went up 10-6 when Hannah Ekern knocked down a 3-point shot.

The Eagles went on a 9-0 run, however, to take a 15-10 lead.  Aleea Norton, Hannah Esch and Durst all hit 3-point shots to regain momentum.  Barneveld was up 21-16, but the Indees ended the first half scoring the last five points to tie the game 21-21.

That momentum carried into the second half for the Indees, as Rielynn Sheahan stole the ball on Barneveld’s first possession, and dribbled the distance for a 23-21 lead.  Down 26-25, Esch found Erin Lasse on a cross-court pass beyond the arc, and she drained it, and after an Indee empty possession, Durst drilled a 3-point bomb giving Barneveld a five-point advantage 31-26.  They went up seven when Durst found Norton under the hoop who laid it in.  

Knisley scored for the Indees, then Durst, with the ball again, found Norton hanging around the basket and she converted into a big hoop.  Ekern scored on their next possession for the Indees and the score was 35-31 with two minutes left.  

Free throws played a crucial role in Barneveld's victory. Esch hit two from the line, stretching their lead to 37-31. Schank responded with a jumper in the lane, narrowing the score to 37-34. With 40 seconds left, Indees' Knisley had a solid chance to tie the game with a corner three-pointer, but it rattled out. After Barneveld missed a couple of free throws, Knisley got another opportunity—this time from the top of the arc with 7.9 seconds remaining—but missed again. Following this, Aleea Norton was fouled, made one free throw, and helped seal Barneveld’s 38-34 win, sending them back to the state tournament.  

Barneveld Head Coach Jim Myers after the game said, “That one was not easy. They were an unbelievable, physical, well-coached ball team.”  Indeed, the Indees hassled Barneveld defensively the entire game, something Myers expected.  “We expected it, we thought we would have some other kids maybe help out a little bit. Again when some shots don’t go down, it makes it tough, but we gutted it out.  We didn’t turn it over to give them points and I said if that’s what we need to do, that’s what we do,” he said.  

“It was an ugly game, but we came out on top and that’s all we needed to do,” said Senior Erin Lasse following the game.  “I’m really proud. My freshman and sophomore seasons I feel we didn’t really connect well, and I think my junior and senior seasons we really came together as a group.”    

Senior Aleea Norton said, “This has been just amazing, this whole season has been bigger than basketball so we’re all putting in the work knowing we can do this, pulling off the win feels so good.”  She went on to say, “After we went to state last year and got runner-up, we were like we can do this.  We were doubted all season, doubted all last season too, it feels so good to be going back to state.”

“It feels great, to survive and advance and knowing we’ve been there before just going up with the confidence and the knowledge we have,” said Senior Izzy Durst.  “Our team is the greatest you could ask for. Thank you to the community for coming and showing up this afternoon, thank you all,” she concluded.  Durst finished the game with a game-high 16 points.  

Senior Hannah Esch, “It so surreal, this one was a little crazier than last year.  But going back to state, I’ve dreamed about this since I was a little kid going to state and to be able to do it twice with my best friends I’ve grown up with, its so amazing,” she said.  “We have the best coaching staff ever, they always keep telling us to keep shooting, they have our backs at all times. I’m so grateful, I couldn’t ask for better coaches.”

For Myers, the winningest girls’ basketball coach in Wisconsin history, this season has been particularly difficult after losing his wife, Rosann, to cancer, on January 1.  But he credits his team for picking him up throughout the season.  “It’ been a tough year,” he said with emotion.  “These girls have done a great job, and they lifted me up all year long.”

Myers, who came back last year in his second stint as the girls coach at Barneveld, took the Eagles to state last year and became the all-time winningest coach surpassing Owen-Withee Coach Al Guthman who won 710 games.  Myers now sits at 743 wins.  This will be his 12th team he has taken a team to state having won six state championships and bringing home four silver balls. 

Barneveld will play in the second morning contest Friday against Pacelli.  Their game will take place 15 minutes following the #1 seed Eleva-Strum vs. #4 seed Fall River game which tips off at 9:05 a.m.

Box Score

Barneveld                 21 – 17 – 38

Indepen/Gilmanton 21 – 13 – 34

Barneveld (fg-ft-tp); Izzy Durst 5-4-16, Hannah Esch 2-2-7, Aleea Norton 3-1-7, Erin Lasse 1-0-3, Mya Norton 1-0-3, Jayda Oimoen 1-0-2.  

3-pointers; Durst 2, Lasse 1, M. Norton 1, Esch 1. 

Indepen/Gilmanton (fg-ft-tp); Arabelle Knisley 5-2-13, Shauna Dejno 3-1-7, Nora Schank 3-0-6, Hannah Ekern 2-0-5, Rielynn Sheahan 1-0-2, Hadley Sylla 0-1-1.  

3-pointers; Knisley 1, Ekern 1.