'We gave it all we had': Xavier falls to Madison Edgewood in WIAA Division 3 girls basketball state title game

ASHWAUBENON − Yeah, this one will probably sting for a while.

The Xavier girls basketball team came agonizingly close to securing championship gold, only to fall short in a 55-52 loss to Madison Edgewood in Saturday's WIAA Division 3 state championship game at the Resch Center.

The Hawks (22-7) led for over 31 minutes, but Edgewood took a 50-49 lead with 2:44 left on a pair of free throws by Anna Miller. From there, the Crusaders hit 4 of 5 free throws to ice the game and hold off the Hawks.

Saturday's game was almost a complete flip of the script from Xavier's state semifinal win over Kettle Moraine Lutheran. In that game, the Hawks rallied late to get the win after KML had held the lead for 32 minutes.

"Hats off to Edgewood," Xavier coach Andy Vande Hey said. "We disrupted them in the first half and I like to say we punched them in the mouth and they didn't go down. They hit some great shots and they're a great team and we gave it all we had. In the end, it comes down to who hits shots. We had a lot of heart and they had a lot of heart and I'm super proud of these girls.

"It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but we gave 110% the entire game. And in our program, that's what we're after and whatever happens, happens."

Xavier's defense made things difficult for Edgewood for most of the game, forcing 19 turnovers and recording 10 steals. The Hawks led 29-21 at the half with Joy Krull nailing a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Edgewood chipped away at the lead throughout most of the second half as Xavier couldn't pull away. The Crusaders' Anna Miller was sensational in the second half, scoring 18 of her game-high 20 points in the period − including a pair of layups in transition and a 3-pointer.

Erin Schauer added 14 points and seven rebounds for Edgewood (26-3), which secured the school's second championship and first since 2017.

"I think we got in a little bit of a rut," Vande Hey said. "They were playing great gap defense and that was disruptive to us. We had our opportunities to hit shots and we didn’t and that happens in basketball. That happened (Thursday). The team that gets hot at the end is probably going to come out with the 'W' and they came out with the 'W.' "

Vande Hey reflected on the second half and felt he and the coaching staff could have tweaked a few things.

"The thing about our team is that our girls want to run," he said. "We play our best when we run and when we try to pull them back, we just start missing shots. Today I think we maybe ran a little too much. As a coach I’ll probably be thinking about 20 different things already going through my mind in what we could have done differently. Maybe we would have backed off sooner and hit a few more shots, but that’s on (the coaches) and not on (the players), so those are things that we could have maybe done differently.

"But what happens with this group is you have to just let them go. And I thought we weathered the first storm and then I thought there wouldn't be a second and there was another one and they hit a bunch of shots and made that run there. And we weren’t able to come back."

Carsyn Stempa led Xavier with 16 points and seven rebounds. She went over 1,000 points in her career, becoming the fifth Xavier girls basketball player to reach that milestone.

Freshman Elle Krull had 11 points with senior Kylee Standish adding seven points. Joy Krull also had five assists for the Hawks.

"We worked for this moment and our entire basketball careers and just to get to this spot is just an amazing opportunity," Stempa said. "We worked all season to get here. It’s just a matter of one team wins and one team loses and unfortunately we came up a little short, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t give everything that we could. We played with a bunch of heart and I don’t think we have anything to be disappointed about."

The program graduates four seniors: Stempa, Standish, Molly Martine and Halle Vande Hey.

"We all have an amazing bond with one another," Standish said. "Especially this year, this team has such a good bond and it feels like we’re really family.

"So proud of our whole team and the seniors and just us working hard and preparing the whole season for this game."

Xavier 29 23 - 52

Edgewood 21 34 - 55

Xavier: Vande Hey 5, Martine 4, Joy Krull 5, Stempa 16, Standish 7, Elle Krull 11, Hafner 4. 3-pt: Martine, J. Krull, Stempa 2, Standish. FT: 9-14. Fouls: 13.

Edgewood: Schmoltzer 5, Moschkau 7, Fernandez 2, Schauer 14, Miller 20, Thompson 7. 3-pt: Moschkau, Schauer 2, Miller 2. FT: 12-17. Fouls: 12.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Xavier Hawks fall to Madison Edgewood in state title game