'Higher goals and higher expectations': Hortonville girls basketball team primed for state championship run
HORTONVILLE – The Hortonville girls basketball team has never won a game at the WIAA state tournament.
As hard as that is to believe — especially given how successful the program has been in the last decade — it remains an elusive goal and one the Polar Bears hope to check off this season.
Hortonville made it to the Division 1 state semifinals last season, falling to eventual champion Kettle Moraine 77-67 at the Resch Center.
That loss left Hortonville with an 0-5 record at the state tournament. The Polar Bears also lost in the semifinals in 1987, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
They were the No. 1 seed in Division 2 in 2020 but didn’t get to play a game after the tournament was canceled after the first day because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We haven’t — they haven’t — won a game yet and I don’t know how that happens, so that is our next step,” second-year coach AC Clouthier said. “Not only getting back to the state tournament, but winning a game there, bringing home some hardware. And our athletes understand that and know that.
“But they know it’s not going to come just by rolling the ball out and playing.”
The Polar Bears found out quickly this season what having a target on their back will be like. They were ranked No. 1 in Division 1 in the wissports.net preseason poll, then lost to top-ranked Division 2 Pewaukee 73-56 in the season opener.
They rebounded with back-to-back Fox Valley Association wins over Oshkosh West and Appleton North before losing to Providence Academy, one of the top teams in Minnesota, 95-86 on Saturday night.
“It’s fun to be a team that is a team to beat, with a target on your back,” Clouthier said. “Sometimes it’s harder to stay on top. Everyone’s going to give us their best look. But we talk about it every day. We haven’t proved anything yet.”
Fortunately for the Polar Bears, they welcome back four starters and most of their roster from a team that finished 25-4 overall last season, second in the FVA behind Neenah with a 16-2 record, and then beat the Rockets in the sectional final to advance to state.
Rainey Welson, who was unanimous all-FVA last season and was voted third-team all-state by the Associated Press, is averaging 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season. Mikayla Werner, who was second-team all-FVA last season and will play in college at St. Thomas, is averaging 15.8 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Kallie Peppler, who was also unanimous first-team all-FVA and will play in college at UW-Milwaukee, scored 15 points against Providence in her first game since a knee injury ended her junior season against Kimberly on Jan. 20. Paige Lillie, who will play softball in college at Butler University, is also a returning a starter.
Freshman Kardyn Peppler, who already has several Division I offers including from Marquette, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay, is averaging 13.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
The players say some things have been easier this season because they know what to expect from Clouthier in his second season as Polar Bears coach, but with that also brings greater demands and expectations.
“Obviously we were so close last year, but we want it all this year,” Werner said. “So just kind of leaving this year with no regrets. Yeah, expectations have definitely been higher.”
Added Kallie Peppler: “I think he’s just expecting more. It’s getting harder.”
Neenah took over as the top-ranked team in the state in Division 1 after the Polar Bears’ loss to Pewaukee. Hortonville is No. 2, with Kimberly No. 5 and Appleton East No. 9.
The Polar Bears will play at home against Kimberly on Dec. 8, at Kaukauna on Dec. 15, home against seventh-ranked Homestead in a nonconference game Dec. 16, at home against Appleton East on Dec. 22 and at Neenah on Jan. 2.
“Every game in the FVA is going to be a battle, so we just keep that in mind,” Werner said. “And, yes, we have a target on our back, but we just have so much confidence in each other. We’re such a close-knit team, so that really helps.”
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Clouthier said the Polar Bears talk daily about avoiding distractions and not worrying about state rankings or what their opponents are doing. He also tells the players that he should be the one to worry about those distractions and any pressure that comes with it.
He wants his players to focus on enjoying the game, playing together and competing to the best of their abilities.
“Our team has been battle-tested, but each day is a little bit different here,” he said. “We are on them a little bit more this year. We have to be harder on them. We have to be more disciplined. Last year was really fun, we had a lot of good talent. But this year we have even higher goals and higher expectations.”
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Hortonville Polar Bears girls basketball team talented, confident
