As an opposing coach, you never know who to key in on when going into a game against Pius XI.
The Lady Popes seem to like assists just as much as points and that showed as five girls scored in double figures in their 70-61 win over Racine Case in the WIAA State Tournament Super Tuesday game at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
“Our leading scorer averages 12 and the next person is 10,” Pius head coach Scott Herrick said. “It’s been a different person every game. That’s one thing about this team; they are so unselfish. I can’t get over how nobody cares who gets the press, who gets the points…they’re so happy when we win and that’s all that matters.
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“As long as they win they’re happy.”
While five girls hit double digits for points, the most important of those came from senior Nikki Nellen.
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The 5’6” guard took what was a close game at halftime and cracked it wide open as she hit four threes in the third quarter, the final of which gave Pius a 49-32 lead with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
“They all felt good,” Nellen said about the shots she took in that third quarter. “When the ball left my hands I knew it was going in.”
Case made run after run on the Lady Popes, but every time they would string together four or six-straight points, Pius always seemed to have an answer.
“Pius (is) No. 1,” Case head coach Willie Maryland said. “We knew coming in here that they were a great team because, hey listen, they’re the (defending) state champs. They going to come in here and they’re going to play that way as state champs. We knew that coming in and to be at that level you’ve got to beat the best and at that point, being the state champs they were the best.”
While Pius’ ability to distribute the ball evenly and hit their open shots, including eight three-pointers, the most telling stat came from the free throw line.
Pius finished 24-32 (75 percent) from the charity stripe compared to the Eagles’ 2-7 (28.6).
“Obviously there’s a big discrepancy for both teams when it comes to playing a total of 32 minutes,” Maryland said. “For us, it’s a struggle to figure out why that was or what happened but it is what it is and you’ve got to find a way to play through it.”
Senior guard Samantha Logic led the Eagles with 23 points while Jameeka Bouie added 19 despite suffering an ankle injury in the first half.
The loss ends the dreams of returning to Madison for the Eagles and puts a wrap on another special season that saw the team finish 22-3.
“To have a record like we had this season, to play some of the competition we did this season, I think it was a remarkable feat that we only lost two games,” Maryland said. “If you take a look at the whole process…I think we represented ourself real well and our community with how hard we played today.”
Box score:
Pius XI: 15-14-24-17---70
Racine Case: 10-12-14-25---61
Pius XI: (fgm-fga, ftm-fta, pts) Terri Bender 4-8 11-12 19, Tierra Bender 3-8 3-4 10, Borsari 2-6, 5-8 11, Golomski 0-2 0-0 0, Matkovich 6-17 1-1 14, Nellen 4-8 4-7 16, Stawicki 0-1 0-0 0.
Racine Case: Bouie 9-16 0-0 19, Carter 2-4 0-0 4, Collum 1-1 0-0 2, French 0-3 0-0 0, Brette Logic 1-5 0-0 2, Samantha Logic 11-15 1-3 23, Moore 3-7 0-0 6, Mosley 1-1 1-2 3, Randle El 1-3 0-0 2, Woods 0-2 0-2 0.
Three pointers: Pius – Tierra Bender, Borsari (2), Matkovich, Nellen (4). Case - Bouie