Notre Dame Coach Sarah Rhode accepts the silver trophy after winning three straight golds.
The incredible run to the brink of history for the Notre Dame Tritons Girls basketball team ended with disappointment but consider the joy from the other side as the Pewaukee Pirates, in the third straight W.I.A.A. Division 2 state championship game against the Tritons, finally got over the top, 60-52 at the Resch Center Saturday night. The victory denied Notre Dame from becoming the first girls team to win four consecutive titles.
It was a remarkable bookend to the season for these two teams. The opening game of the year had Pewaukee defeat Notre Dame by the exact 60-52 score. Notre Dame has lost only three games in the last two seasons combined, all three at the hands of Pewaukee who fell 68-54 in the D2 championship two years ago, 64-49 a year ago.
It was different right from the outset. Pewaukee’s swarming defense forced a half dozen Notre Dame turnovers before they scored four points. The Pirates jumped on top 14-4 and laid down the storyline for the entire game. Notre Dame would rally to make it close, only to see Pewaukee settle themselves and build the lead back up. The Pirates never trailed the entire game.
Pewaukee led 32-26 at halftime and scored the first 10 points of the second half. The Tritons closed to within one at 53-52 with 2:31 remaining and wouldn’t score again. The last run of the night belonged to the Pirates who got a hoop from and five free throws in six attempts to the final horn that resulted in an on-court celebration three years in the making.
Pewaukee celebrates it’s first state championship
Twin sisters, juniors Amy and Anna Terrian, both committed to Michigan State University, have carried the program to three tourney appearances in a row and said they never stopped believing it would eventually turn our way. Amy put up 18 points on 4 of 8 three point shooting. Giselle Jankowski led the Pirates with 20, going 8 of 10 at the free throw line and a huge contribution came from Kennedy Retherford with 14 including several big baskets in the second half. The Pirates capped their first championship season with a record of 28-1. Despite settling for silver in each of the past two tournaments, Pewaukee has gone 3-1 against the mighty Tritons.
Just how good was the Notre Dame four year run? They won 115 games and lost only 5 with seniors Gracie Grzesk, Trista Fayta and Sydney Whitehouse in the program. Three gold balls in a row. Fayta, Whitehouse and Head Coach Sara Rhode were asked after the game if it was a shock to see gold turned into silver.
Fayta led the Tritons with 13 points, Kaia Waldrop battled foul trouble all night and finsihed with 11 inside, Whitehouse and Peyton Musial each had 10. Grzesk, headed to the University of Wisconsin next year, finished with just five points on 1 of 5 shooting.
The trophy case might not show it but Rhode thought this year’s team was the best of the four that played in the final game of the season every time.
It was Pewaukee’s turn.
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