WIAA D2 SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL: Waterford 53, Monona Grove 51
Seniors spark second straight double-digit comeback
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
JANESVILLE – No lead is safe against the comeback kids, who were at it again Thursday night.
Waterford senior Shauna Malchine capped a 27-14 rally with the go-ahead, breakaway layup with 7 seconds to play, and Monona Grove’s last-second 3-point attempt was short as the Wolverines escaped with a 53-51 victory in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal at Janesville Parker High School.
Top-seeded Waterford improved to 23-2 and will face third-seeded Waunakee (14-12) Saturday in a sectional final at Janesville Craig High School at 1 p.m. Waunakee upset No. 1 seed and state-ranked Madison Edgewood, 40-36, Thursday night.
With a win Saturday, Waterford will advance to its first state tournament since 2006, when the Wolverines were beaten in the Division 1 state championship game.
After the game, Malchine tried to explain the three times in the final frame she was left all alone on the other end of the court. Malchine’s “cherry picking” proved fruitful in the end. Each time, teammate Madison Blair found her downcourt for easy buckets.
“They didn’t guard me a couple times,” said Malchine, who scored 12 points including the game-winner. “I saw them not coming back with me, but usually I’m supposed to help Madison bring the ball up.”
“We always figure out at halftime to play as a team. Grove was really good at defense, and they’re a good team. But we know each other, and we know we’re going to come back when we’re down. We’ve worked as hard as we can since we were young to get to state, and that’s what we’re going for.”
It’s been a postseason ride of improbable fourth-quarter comebacks. Waterford was down double digits to Union Grove in the fourth in the regional final just five days ago, and down 37-26 heading into the final eight minutes against Monona Grove.
Blair, who finished with 16 points to lead Waterford, scored six straight points to spark a 14-0 Waterford run, which was capped by layups from Rylee Chart and Malchine. It only took five minutes, and the Wolverines suddenly had a 40-37 lead.
Monona Grove’s Autumn Ogden’s layup gave the lead back to the Grove at 41-40, but Chart scored off another offensive rebound to make it 42-41 at the 2:42 mark. Waterford never trailed again.
The Wolverines capitalized off full-court pressure and were able to force steals, which turned into easy layups. Despite the frenzy of points, Waterford couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc in the fourth.
With two minutes left, however, Jenna Bouffiou, finally got one to fall and gave Waterford a 45-41 cushion. Waterford then went up 51-46, but the Grove just wouldn’t die. Monona came down and sank a three-pointer then stole the ball before Waterford could get it past half-court. The ensuing layup caromed to a Grove player, who laid it up to tie things at 51-51 with 16 seconds to play.
That’s when Malchine was inexplicably left all alone, and Blair’s baseball pass led to the decisive bucket. The Grove called timeout to draw up a full-court play, but a top-of-the-key triple was contested by two Wolverines and clanked off.
Tiffany Stiewe, who finished with 12 points, corralled the rebound, and the Waterford bench stormed the court in excitement.
Waterford had a very real chance of losing this one, but you simply can’t count these girls out.
“I guess we like to be the comeback kids,” Blair said. “Our shots weren’t falling to start, so we picked it up on the defensive end. We have a lot of seniors, and we didn’t want to go out like that.”
Bouffiou said she had confidence the team would come back, even though things seemed bleak.
“We never quit, and it shows in every game,” she said. “We find a fire in us, and I had no doubt in my mind we were going to win.”
“Everyone likes to say we’re best friends, but we’re family. I go to these girls for everything. We hang out all the time. It’s a second family. We’re all close. We’re the little ducklings, and (head coach Dena) Brechtl is the mother duck. We stay together all the time.”
Monona Grove out-shot Waterford from the field, 43 to 31 percent, and Waterford only made 4-for-22 from long distance. However, the Wolverines were 15-for-20 from the line, while the Grove was a measly 0-2.
Second-chance points were huge as well, as Waterford scored 12 points off second chances compared to the Grove’s two. Waterford dominated the offensive glass.
Chart led the way with seven rebounds, and Hannah Duerst added six.
“I’m on cloud nine,” Stiewe said after the game. “In the locker room, we said, ‘We’ve come back from more.’ This means so much. Being a sixth-grader going to Waterford games and watching Raelynn (D’Alie), you always dreamed to be the person here. We need to start off next game strong and stay under control.”
Chart’s two baskets gave Waterford its first and final leads in the fourth quarter. She was a force in the paint.
“We get all our momentum and energy in the fourth quarter, and we give it our all,” Chart said. “I was in disbelief and was really excited when we won. We always keep hope that we’ll come back.”
“On Saturday, we must stick to our game plan and do what we do. I think we all believe we can win.”
Waterford was down, 27-15, at halftime, and couldn’t make much of anything fall in the first half. Monona Grove cooled down in the second half. Brechtl said the senior leadership on the team is strong, and the girls never divert from their game plan.
“We have proven we are a no-quit team,” she said. “I don’t know if I would’ve told a lot of people that last year. We were a little shell-shocked at the environment in the beginning. When we started getting offensive rebounds, I knew we were OK.”
“We made offensive adjustments at halftime. They shot the three better than they have all season long. We stopped that dribble-drive. We had to. Otherwise, Ogden would’ve taken the game over.”
Ogden led all scorers with 22 points, and Kelsey Stinson added 19 for the Grove. When the Waterford defense turned it on in the fourth, though, Monona didn’t have any other scoring options. A big difference was that Waterford’s five players were threats to score on every possession, and the Wolverines used unselfish team basketball to climb back into the game.
Blair’s hot scoring streak turned into easy assists, and the Wolverines followed their leading scorer’s example.
Blair’s penetration was taken away by the Grove in the first half, so Brechtl decided to spread things out on offense.
“We couldn’t get Madison to the rim any other way,” Brechtl said. “She had some nice takes and got to the free-throw line in the second half. Shauna Malchine ran the floor really well, and she had a big defensive responsibility on Ogden in the second half. The seniors played together to make sure the victory happened.”
Brechtl said Waterford’s big rally is a huge confidence boost for the rest of the postseason.
“We’re so ready,” she added. “We needed that game to say, ‘Full head of steam, here we go.’ We needed that sort of dominance when we got it to find out how we can do it more consistently.”
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