Top-ranked Blugolds take on No. 4 Howards Grove on Saturday.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — One more win and the Aquinas High School girls basketball team will be state champions.
In front of 2,400 fans, the No. 1-ranked Blugolds perfect season continued Thursday in the Division 4 state semifinals with a 56-36 win over Shiocton at the Resch Center.
At 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Aquinas will play for its first-ever WIAA state title. The Blugolds (27-0) will take on sixth-ranked Howards Grove (26-1). Listen on WKTY 96.7 FM, 580 AM.
Three scored in double figures for Aquinas (27-0), which was up 26-19 at halftime, led by freshman Lexi Donarski’s 14 points, four assists, three steals three rebounds and two blocks.
Junior Kyah Steiner had 13 points, four steals, while Jessa Peterson added 10 points and two steals.
Shiocton (18-9) had 19 turnovers to Aquinas’ six. Six of those 19 turnovers happened in the first few minutes of the second half, when the Blugolds opened with a 7-0 run.
Up 44-35 with 5:13 remaining, Aquinas ended the game on a 12-1 run.
Neither team shot well. The Chiefs shot 36.1 percent from the field, while the Blugolds shot 35.7.
While this is Aquinas’ first WIAA state tournament, it did win back-to-back WISAA Division 2 titles in 1996 and ’97. The Blugolds also finished runners-up in Class A in 1985 and 1989.
DIVISION 5 SEMIFINAL
BANGOR (24-3) vs. LOYAL (23-4)
10:45 a.m. tipoff
It’s the 20-year anniversary of the Bangor girls basketball team’s 1997 state championship.
The fourth-ranked Cardinals will depend on 6-foot-3 junior Emma Wittmershaus.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recruit is averaging 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. She’s shooting 53.3 percent from the field and is 19-for-50 from beyond the arc this season.
Loyal, ranked 11th in the final poll, is led by seniors Morgan Reinwand’s 17.2 points and 6-footer Karsyn Rueth’s 15.3 points. Rueth is committed to play at UW-Oshkosh next season.
The winner will play either Clayton (27-0) or Milwaukee Academy of Science (22-4) at 11:05 Saturday for the title.