The Owen-Withee girls basketball team claimed a WIAA Regional Championship Saturday night with a 47-25 win over rival Gilman in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Owen-Withee was the top seed in its regional and it made the title game by coasting through its first two games, beating Bayfield and Prentice to set up the game against Gilman, the five-seed, which upset Washburn on the road for the right to take on the Blackhawks.
Owen-Withee is preparing this week for its opening game in WIAA Sectionals, Thursday at 7 p.m. against Rib Lake in Prentice. Rib Lake is a six seed in regional play and upset Winter and South Shore to make it to sectional play. The winner of the Owen-Withee – Prentice game will take on the winner of the Solon Springs – Chetek Weyerhaeuser game for a spot at the WIAA State Tournament next week. The sectional final game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in Superior.
With the win, the Blackhawks’ record is 23-4 overall after finishing in second place in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference with an 11-3 record.
The Blackhawks were on the attack from the get-go against Gilman, with Madi Mueller taking it to the hoop for a basket five seconds into the game. The closest Kendall Weiler got the first of her game-high 19 points shortly after, and another Mueller bucket made it 6-1 O-W two minutes in. The closest the Pirates got after that point was when Allie Olynick completed an old-fashioned three-point play, hitting her free throw to draw the Pirates to within two.
From that point on, it was all Blackhawks.
Blackhawk senior guard Geneva Capetillo disrupted the Pirate offense with a few steals, and Weiler had the hot hand. By halftime, the Blackhawks had built a 29-10 lead.
Capetillo put the exclamation marks on the victory, with two free throws with 36 seconds in the game to provide the margin of victory. The Owen-Withee fans erupted in applause and gave the team a standing ovation when the final buzzer sounded.
Weiler and Capetillo accepted the WIAA Regional Championship plaque and were mobbed by teammates. The squad then took turns cutting off a piece of the net as a souvenir of the victory.
In addition to Weiler’s 19 points, Mueller, Adelyn Petersen and Capetillo each contributed six points, while Addie Hatlestad and Kayla Rasmussen had four each, and Kendall Mueller added two.
Gilman’s season ended with a 13-13 overall record, 6-8 in the Eastern Cloverbelt. The Pirates were led in the game by Reece Weir’s seven points, while Olynick and Kayleigh James had five apiece and Raygen Soper had three.