WEST SALEM — The West Salem High School girls basketball team has done a lot of things well while winning 22 games this season and qualifying for the WIAA state tournament the past two with largely the same group of players.
The Panthers will now see how all of that stacks up against a defending state champion as they battle for a spot on the Division 2 state semifinals in a 1 pm. tipoff at Baraboo.
West Salem (22-4) matches up with Madison Edgewood (26-1) after it won the Division 3 title a year ago.
“They are really balanced, and they have three or four kids who can shoot the 3,” West Salem coach Mike Malott said of the Crusaders, who hung a 58-34 loss on Aquinas early this season. “They are also experienced after winning a state title last year and return about three-fourth of those kids.
“From a challenge standpoint, those are the big ones.”
Edgewood has won 53 of its past 57 games and hasn’t lost since opening the season with a 68-66 loss at Division 1 Hartland Arrowhead, which is 24-3.
The Panthers will try to force some mistakes with a 1-3-1 defense and pressure that has served it well and played a key role in Thursday night’s 51-43 semifinal win over DeForest in Portage.
“We had 23 deflections and 19 turnovers created (against the Norskies),” Malott said. “We have to get our hands on the basketball and get people out of sync. You want them to make passes where they think people are open, and we get in there and get some steals or deflections.
“That’s where we hang our hat, and we’re pretty good at that stuff.”
Senior Megan Johnson averages 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Panthers and had 20 points and five rebounds against DeForest. The Winona State commit has averaged 23.6 over her past five games and helped West Salem qualify for state last year with a 40-point sectional final against McFarland.
Having Edgewood in front of them, Johnson said, should excite the Panthers.
“Yeah, for sure,” she said when asked whether the excitement level rises when playing a team the caliber of Edgewood. “This also could be the last basketball game we all play together, and that’s part of it, too.
“There is a lot of motivation for us to play for each other and leave it all on the court.”
Junior Josie Brudos is also scoring 14.4 points per game for West Salem, which has won five straight games since a loss to Wauwatosa East (26-1), which also plays a Division 2 sectional final on Saturday.
The Crusaders have a couple of sophomores as their top scorers in Anna Miller and Beanie Thompson.
Miller, who averages 15.7 points, shoots 52 percent from the floor and already has some Division I offers in her pocket. Thompson averages 14.8 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds.
“Anna Miller can do everything,” Malott said. “She really shoots the ball well. Beanie Thompson is more of a downhill drive kid and wants to get in the lane.
“She shoots it well with a high percentage because she’s in the paint a lot.”
