Greg Bates, Leader Correspondent
As the time wound down on the game clock, tears started to trickle down the faces of some of the Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School girls basketball players.
It was a realization that their season was over and they would not reach one of their goals — making it to state.
This season had the feel that the Chargers could make their first appearance in the state tournament.
No. 1-seeded Wittenberg-Birnamwood held a two-point lead at halftime of its WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal against No. 2-seeded Xavier, but the Hawks came out gunning in the second half and used a 25-4 run to pull away. The Chargers made a late push, but Xavier scored a 58-40 victory at Freedom on Thursday night.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood, which had won 11 of its last 12 games, finishes the year 22-3.
“It was a great season,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Mike Balliett said. “It was a surprise, because I didn’t think losing Micah (Nier) the first half of the year we could do as well as we did. I didn’t envision we’d have one loss when she came back. … That’s kind of been our trademark, our kids never give up and they always play hard.”
The Wittenberg-Birnamwood players certainly didn’t give up against a strong Xavier (22-4) squad.
The Chargers led 22-20 at halftime, but hit just one field goal in a span of 10 minutes, 47 seconds that stretched into the fourth quarter. Xavier, on the other hand, was 8 for 12 in the third quarter and built a 20-point cushion, 49-29, midway through the final quarter.
The swing in the score and the momentum was in large part to a strong effort on the defensive end by Xavier.
“We have to win that intensity battle and we didn’t get to in that first half. That’s disappointing and our kids usually do,” Xavier coach C.J. Clouthier said. “But that’s why Wittenberg-Birnamwood is a No. 1 seed. They play with a lot of passion and intensity.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s leading scorer on the season, Micah Nier (15.7 points per game), was held to just four points. She hit two shots in the fourth quarter as the Chargers cut their deficit to 13 with under two minutes remaining in the game.
“We made a little bit of a mini run there, but for all intents and purposes the game was probably over by the time we started making that mini run anyway,” Balliett said.
The Chargers’ second leading scorer, Siri Zeinert (11.5), had just five points. Corrissa Konkol was the team’s top scorer on the night with 10 points.
The Chargers hit 37 percent of their shots on the night. The Hawks were 50 percent from the floor.
In a slow first quarter, Wittenberg-Birnamwood led 4-2 before Xavier went up 6-5 going into the second.
The Hawks upped their advantage to 11-7 before the Chargers answered with an 8-3 run fueled by a three-point play from Erika Alwes and a 3-pointer by Taylor Nier to put Wittenberg-Birnamwood up 15-14. Xavier took a three-point lead late in the half, but Wittenberg-Birnamwood closed the half on a 5-0 spurt to make it 22-20.
Xavier, which will play Valders, 43-32 winner over Denmark, in a sectional championship Saturday, took a 39-28 lead going into the fourth. The game was still in striking distance, but a 12-3 run all but ended the game as the Hawks went up 20.
Xavier had four players score nine or more points. Rachel Siciliano, who averaged seven points per game in the regular season, tallied a game-high 15 points.
“They just plain, flat out made plays and we’re not used to seeing that many players with the ability to make plays,” Balliett said.
The loss marked the final game for six Wittenberg-Birnamwood seniors — Micah Nier, Ericka Alwes, Kaitlyn Mahan, Emmi Nievinski, Erica White Eagle and Anna Hartman — who finished 40-9 in their final two seasons.
“Every group of kids that goes through, you hate to lose them,” Balliett said. “You’ve got kids that have just really busted all year long and it’s sad for them, it’s sad for me. I know I’ve got next year and they don’t. I feel sorry for them, but I applaud everything they’ve given to us and the hard work they put into our program.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood: 5 17 6 12 — 40
Xavier: 6 14 19 19 — 58