Lady Demons bow out in playoff opener

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

The momentum was shifting.

Slowly but surely, the Burlington girls basketball team was inching its way back into a WIAA Division 1 playoff game in the second half Feb. 26 at Oconomowoc.

Burlington freshman Jessa Burling’s layup cut the Cooney lead to 48-39, and the Demons applied trapping full-court pressure.

Burling stole the ball and advanced it under the hoop to senior Ellen Stang, who drew contact and hit the shot.

And-one. Seven-point ball game. A chance to cut it to six at the line and be down only two possessions.

The referees took a minute to think about the call and quickly changed tune after what looked like complaining from the Oconomowoc coaches and a few players.

A potential 48-42 game turned back into 48-39 with five minutes to play, and it was the fifth and final foul for Stang, who scored 21 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cooney took advantage down low without Burlington’s only big and cruised to a 62-48 victory.

Burlington’s season ends with an 11-12 record.

Stang voiced her displeasure on the call that ended her Demon career after the game.

“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I couldn’t ask for a better team,” she said. “I was upset, but there’s nothing I could do about it. We did a better job executing our plays in the second half. We fought as hard as we could.”

Burlington coach Mary Parker echoed Stang’s frustration.

“That was a big call,” she said. “I was upset, mainly for Ellen knowing it was her fifth foul. It was unfortunate, but I thought it could go either way. But the girls fought until the end. Their shooters got hot.”

Fellow senior Robyn Robers said the team has been known to show resilience all season.

“We always can get ourselves down and come back,” she said. “We thought we could come back again, but it was too much of a deficit.”

Burlington, a No. 11 seed, trailed 33-19 at the half but played evenly in the second half.

The Demons picked up the defensive intensity with traps all over the court to frustrate the Cooney guards.

However, one guard, Bailey Barker, put on a show to lead the Cooney. She canned four triples and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the line, 8-8 in the fourth quarter, to finish with 27 points.

Also, Oconomowoc’s Erin VandeZande added 10 points in the paint, and guard Heidi Tremaine hit another three 3’s for 13 total points.

For the game, the Cooney drained nine 3-pointers.

So how does it feel to have a hard-fought season end abrubtly in the first playoff game?

“Pretty awful,” said Parker. “We got in some early foul trouble, and that hurt us. They were able to get a big lead, and we had to claw back. We had to take ourselves out of our usual style of play.”

“It wasn’t what we wanted to do coming. We got to the basket when we wanted to. We just couldn’t finish.”

Oconomowoc pulled away after Stang fouled out partly because the Demons missed easy layups. A series of botched bunnies coupled with Cooney points put things out of reach.

Burling added 13 points for Burlington.

Goodbye, seniors

Stang finishes her career as the most prolific scoring/rebounding threat in school history.

She scored 352 points this season, good for second all-time and the highest total in 26 years. Also, her 300 or more rebounds last season make her the only Demon ever to have both a 300 point- and 300 rebound-season.

Stang is the second girl in school history with 600 combined rebounds and points in a season.

The walking double-double was the heart, soul and body of a Demon team that started the season slow but won six of nine in the end.

Stang often spent more time hustling for loose balls on the floor than standing upright.

A talented offensive and defensive presence, Stang also out-worked most girls on the court, and not many are better when a shot is in the air.

Stang will miss her sisters.

“I’ll miss seeing them every day, and the tight bond we created this year,” she said. “Our team is younger, and I feel like I connected with them right from the start.”

Senior Emily Winker said it’s been a memorable four years.

“We always had a fun time despite running and drills and all that stuff,” she said. “It was a great year and a great career.”

Robers, who also plays volleyball, said there was a lot of chemistry.

“What I like about having a young team is how immature we are,” she said. “We get along with them and do stupid stuff, and it’s a good time. The basketball program is getting better, and I think the young girls will keep up the tradition.”

Parker went from eight wins in her first year as head coach to 11 this season. The Demons won a playoff game last year, and the team beat SLC powerhouse Wilmot this year and hung with conference champion Waterford and second-place Union Grove.

With Burling and Megan Wallace leading the charge next year, the future is bright.

“We started putting full games together at the end of this year,” Parker said. “We have a very bright future, but it’s hard to say goodbye to these girls.”

“Ellen works her butt off. She cares so much and wants to be so successful. You can see it. Robyn is a gamer, and she makes the clutch play when you need her the most. Winker will do anything you ask her to do. She’ll step up and make a screen. She’s a positive kid, and she’s always doing what she can do to get her team the ‘W.’”

Parker added that the team is starting to expect to win. A winning culture was born in 2015.

“I’m absolutely pleased with our strides,” she said. “We’re not backing down against a good team. They want to win, they’re pushing to win, and it’s great to see, especially from such a young group.”