Oostburg girls basketball wins state-ranked battle, clinches 5th-straight conference title
OOSTBURG — Since the Big East conference split into two divisions, North and South, starting in the 2019-20 season the Oostburg Flying Dutchmen girls basketball team has been the rulers of the South.
Oostburg clinched a fifth-straight championship on Tuesday, defeating the Sheboygan Lutheran Crusaders 68-60 and ensured, for at least one more season, no other team will wear the division crown.
“Kind of being alone at the top is fun for us,” Flying Dutchman coach Isaiah Ketterhagen said with a smile. “These seniors are walking out with conference champ four years in a row, that’s pretty cool for them and pretty cool for the program.”
Oostburg is currently ranked No. 3 in Division 3 in the latest Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association poll while Sheboygan Lutheran is No. 6 in Division 4.
Senior Brynn Wisse, who hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers late in the game, says Oostburg merely did what they intended to all season.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win conference,” Wisse said.
Wisse finished with 15 points while sophomores Ady and Riley Ketterhagen, twin daughters of coach Isaiah Ketterhagen, finished with 23 and 20, respectively.
Oostburg has just one conference game remaining and by sweeping Sheboygan Lutheran ensured a two-game lead in the division.
“This game meant everything, to win (the championship) or not,” Riley said.
The Flying Dutchmen led for the entire game but with just under six minutes left the Crusaders got within three points and that’s when Wisse, one of just three seniors on the team, answered.
Ady Verhagen had just hit a big 3-pointer on the opposite end for Sheboygan Lutheran when Wisse hit a spot up shot from beyond the arc to calm the nerves of Oostburg.
“Brynn in the corner is a really good shot for us, to see her knock down both of those was a huge relief for us,” Isaiah said.
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Wisse understood what the first shot meant for the team.
“I feel like that shot got all of us going,” Wisse said.
The senior ended up with three 3-pointers in the second half so Riley says the team knew it could rely on her when it mattered most.
“Brynn was on so we just looked to her,” Riley said.
Sheboygan Lutheran had four players in double figures — Faith Pape, Alex Stricker, Taylor Brigham and Verhagen — with Pape’s 15 leading the way.
Despite that, Riley says because the Crusaders were playing from behind nearly the entire game it made things easier down the stretch for the Flying Dutchmen.
“That was important because they were trailing and they were desperate,” Riley said. “We just needed to keep scoring.”
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After a sluggish start, Oostburg was able to build a 33-24 advantage heading into halftime which played a big part in the Flying Dutchmen holding on in the end.
“We started out slow but eventually played as a team and got things to go our way,” Ady said.
Even still, Isaiah realizes there is things to clean up on the defensive sides of things.
“Not really excited about our defense because we gave them bunny after bunny,” Isaiah said. “Our defense broke down too early and too often so that’s something we need to shore up and look at.”
Riley adds defensive intensity translates directly into offense.
“I think that’s where our energy comes from, you want to win those 50-50 balls,” Riley said of the defense. “I think those jump balls can mean an extra possession so you want those.”
Isaiah says he didn’t expect anything less between two teams which circle each other on the schedule before the first practice tips off.
“It was a good ol’ battle,” Isaiah said.
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Oostburg tops Sheboygan Lutheran in state-ranked girls basketball clash
