Green Bay Notre Dame set to begin march to girls basketball history as they seek fourth straight state title

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Notre Dame girls basketball team found itself in a situation against Hortonville on Tuesday that hasn’t happened often this season, or really much at all in the recent past.

The Tritons were in a competitive game late against the Polar Bears rather than having to figure out a way to not crush their opponent any worse than they often do.

Notre Dame still won, of course, this time a 55-52 victory over one of the top Division 1 teams in the state while improving to 22-1 with one game remaining in the regular season.

A march to potential history will start Feb. 23 with regional play.

The Tritons have won each of the last three WIAA D2 state titles and can become the first team in any division to win four straight since the state tournament started in 1976.

There has been plenty of talent to come and go during the championship run, many who have played a huge part in the wins.

But this might be the best team of any of those three title winners while being led by an eventual Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach in Sara Rohde.

Notre Dame throws out a future college team every night, with two NCAA Division I recruits in Gracie Grzesk (Wisconsin) and Trista Fayta (Illinois State), a DII recruit in Sydney Whitehouse (Northern Michigan), a DI talent in junior Peyton Musial and another promising prospect in sophomore forward Kaia Waldrop.

All five are averaging double figures.

Notre Dame has scored 100 or more points six times this season after accomplishing the feat three times combined the previous three seasons.

It is averaging 85 points per game, which is 4.6 points more than last season, 15.5 points more than 2021-22 and 11 points more than 2020-21.

Sure, there might be some people who cringe when a team is beating other teams by an average of 52.6 points like Notre Dame is this season.

The 122-6 win over Sheboygan South probably raised some eyebrows. Or the 82-point win over Bay Port, the 79-point and 74-point wins over Green Bay Preble and the 73-point victory over Green Bay Southwest.

But for some of the coaches of those teams that got beat, they didn’t have a problem with how the Tritons played against them.

Lopsided scores don’t always indicate disrespect or poor sportsmanship.

Sometimes greatness is just greatness.

“She just has a really good group,” Southwest coach Corey Girdaukas said. “She has been nothing but classy toward me. They are going to press the living heck out of you in the first half. They have got five girls that just get it.

“Unless you are Pewaukee or maybe Monona Grove, good luck.”

What about De Pere, which has proven to be the second-best team in the FRCC this season but lost by 21 the first meeting and 35 in the second?

“My take is her job is to get her team ready for the end of the year,” De Pere coach Jeremy Boileau said. “If you are taking the dogs out, you are not doing what you need to prepare them when you need the dogs in.

“That’s a tough balance right there. Your job is to coach and get your kids ready, and she does a great job of that. But I also feel like she understands that you have to continue to push kids from an endurance standpoint and a physical standpoint. Let’s face it, you get to the Resch (at state), it’s a college court. It’s a huge difference.”

But what about a young Sheboygan South squad, which got it the worst of any team this season?

The Redwings not only lost by 116 to the Tritons in the second meeting, but by 80 in the first.

“I’ve never had an issue with their approach to games,” South coach Garrett Renzelmann said. “Their players play hard and are respectful, on and off the court. They’re extremely talented.”

How to defeat Green Bay Notre Dame

Pewaukee is the only team to defeat the Tritons the last two seasons, beating them early in 2022-23 and again to start this season, although Notre Dame got revenge in the state title game rematch last year.

It can be easier to come up with a plan to beat the Tritons than to execute it.

Southwest went to a zone in the second meeting and dared them to shoot from beyond the arc.

“Then they come out and shoot 50% from 3,” Girdaukas said. “You are like, ‘OK.’ Seriously, what are you going to do? I came from Sheboygan Lutheran (boys team) and we always use a matchup 1-2-2 a lot just to switch things up. I came out in a 1-2-2 and made them work a little bit. Then, all of a sudden, Fayta hits three 3s. Whitehouse hits a 3.

“It’s inevitable. It’s one of those things where you can’t stop it. When it’s going to happen, it happens. You take it and you move on.”

Notre Dame’s transition offense is also elite. The Tritons get a steal or a rebound and push it up the floor. If an opposing player relaxes for even one second, it’s over.

A team not only must attempt to slow the game down but needs to somehow limit mistakes against a defense that excels at forcing them.

Notre Dame is great at speeding teams up, resulting in bad decisions and even worse passes.

One turnover can quickly turn to two and then three. A close game early gets out of hand in the blink of an eye.

But don’t take a break when the Tritons are on offense, either. That’s just as bad.

There were a couple times when De Pere forced Notre Dame to miss shots, only to watch the Tritons grab an offensive rebound, kick it out and drill a 3-pointer.

It’s all just so relentless. Everything.

“You have got to go into that game, your turnovers have to be single digits,” Boileau said. “You have to win the rebounding battle and be willing to make them work on defense in the half court. You have to beat the full court first. If you do that, yup, that’s a win. Now break them down.”

Don’t forget about their passing ability. It can be mesmerizing.

“They move the ball so well,” Girdaukas said. “First or second possession, it was like a pinball game. It was bing, bing, bing, skip, 3, boom.”

Notre Dame is one of the best programs in state history

There have been plenty of great girls programs in the past four decades, and Notre Dame already has staked claim as one of the best.

It is one of six schools to win three straight state championships and is coming off a state tournament in 2023 in which it set the D2 record for the most points scored and the most assists in the two-game tournament.

Notre Dame is tied with Barneveld for the second-most state titles with six. Only Cuba City has more with 11.

This Tritons group still must win a championship to put themselves in the conversation for one of the best individual teams ever, but if they do, they will have a good argument.

Girdaukas is in his first year at Southwest but watched Notre Dame a few years ago. He was impressed then, but not like he is now.

When he saw them warming up before a game against his Trojans this season, he was almost speechless. They just looked different than other teams. They looked the part of a group that planned to beat his by 50 and dared him to stop it.

“It’s fun to talk about,” Girdaukas said. “You may never see this again. Maybe you will, a team that goes for a four-peat. It’s fun. It’s fun to talk about. It’s fun to see a girls team put up 80-some a game. They are that good.”

So good, they are on the cusp of history. The only question now is, will the Tritons pull it off?

“Yeah, they have lost pieces, but those three seniors have been part of the freshman year all the way to where they are now,” Boileau said. “Nobody has the experience in the state they do, regardless of division. You can’t replace that. They have been through that. They were challenged earlier in the year.

“Pewaukee is really good. Like, really good. … I feel like (Notre Dame) is on a roll. I think there is no stopping them. Good luck to teams that will, but they have got a tough task on hand. That’s for sure.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Notre Dame girls basketball seeks historic state four-peat