Xavier Wins

The Appleton Xavier Hawks will play in their first ever WIAA State championship game after beating a cold shooting Hayward team 44-34 in today’s Division 3 semfinal.  After a competitive first quarter in which the Hurricanes led 8-7, the Hawks defense dug in and Hayward couldn’t buy a bucket.  They went the entire quarter without a field goal, missing several inside shots as Xavier outscored them 12-2.   Xavier maintained a double digit lead for nearly the entire second half.  Peyton Uri led the Hawks with 17 points while Kayla Gresl delivered 12 off the bench.  Katie Stark scored 14 for Hayward which shot just 22.2% for the game (8/36).  The game included 36 fouls with both teams getting to the free throw line.  Xavier hit 16 of 26 for the game while Hayward was17 for 21. The Hurricanes finished 24-3 on the season.  Xavier, making it’s first public school state tournament appearance after winning a WISAA title in 1978, will face top ranked and undefeated Whitewater in the Division 3 championship game Saturday afternoon at 2:30 PM at the Resch Center.