GREEN BAY, Wis. – The 1,000-point club is pretty cool for any high school player.
But if you gain entrance into the “3” club, that’s walking on air kind of stuff.
The Green Bay Notre Dame girls’ basketball team was admitted to that exclusive society Saturday, as it turned back Pewaukee 64-49 for its third consecutive WIAA Division 2 Girls’ Basketball State Tournament championship.
The Lady Tritons join Milwaukee Washington (1994-96), Cuba City (2005-2007), Flambeau (2006-2008), Milwaukee Vincent (2007-2009) and Beaver Dam (2017-2019) as teams who have won three straight state titles.
Over this three-year period, Notre Dame has posted an 86-3 record. The state championship is the Lady Tritons’ sixth overall, tying them for second all-time with Barneveld. Cuba City leads with 11 state titles.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” said junior guard Trista Fayta. “We worked our butts off every single day, every single practice to get to this moment. It’s so surreal.”
After surviving a backyard brawl with McFarland in the semifinals, Notre Dame (29-1) came out and dominated the Pirates.
The Lady Tritons’ ability to cut to the basket, either off the ball or on backdoor cuts, gave Pewaukee fits in the first half as they took a 30-17 into the locker room. The multiple layups enabled Notre Dame to shoot 61% (14-of-23) in the first half. Notre Dame also had 13 assists and a 26-12 advantage in points in the paint.
The Pirates, meanwhile, found few openings in Notre Dame’s matchup zone defense, making only 31% of their shots in the first half on 8-of-26 shooting. They were held without a point the final 4:32 of the half.
Notre Dame then just kept its foot on the gas in the second half, never allowing the Pirates (28-2) to get closer than 12 points.
This against a team that handed Notre Dame its only loss on the season, 68-67 in the season opener.
“It says a lot,” said Notre Dame coach Sara Rohde. “I’m just really proud of how they responded today. I thought our defense was amazing the first and second half. I’m just really proud of them.”
Gracie Grzesk led four Lady Tritons in double figures with 16 points. Fayta added 13 points, Sydney Whitehouse 12 and Peyton Musial 10.
“It’s awesome,” said Grzesk. “We’ve worked all year for this and I’m just so proud of our group to go out there and win the championship.”
Anna Terrian led the Pirates with 19 points while Amy Terrian added 12 and Giselle Janowski 11.
And no one should be surprised if we see this dance once more in the state finals next year, as both Notre Dame and Pewaukee will return four starters.