LA CROSSE — The streak will continue, but Aquinas High School girls basketball coach Dave Donarski is just happy it won’t have to discussed again until next winter.
The Blugolds were supposed to be challenged in their effort to win a 126th consecutive MVC game on Thursday, but they didn’t let that happen at the Reinhart Athletic Complex.
Aquinas used an early 17-point run to create separation from second-place Central before cruising the rest of the way in a surprising 76-38 victory.
The Blugolds (22-2, 12-0 conference) — ranked fifth in Division 2 for this week’s Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — pressured and ran the RiverHawks (18-6, 9-3) into early trouble and never let up during a physical rematch that closed out the regular season for each team.
Central senior Chloe Ackerman hit a runner in the lane with 12 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first half to get the RiverHawks within 8-5, but that’s where everything fell apart.
Aquinas, which won its 10th straight conference title, scored the next 17 points — sophomore reserve Ella Hargrove scored the final eight — and had a 25-5 lead with 8:13 on the clock.
That field goal was Central’s last of the first half, which ended on a Liv Dickinson banked 3-pointer that gave the Blugolds a 39-11 advantage.
“I feel like we definitely made a statement tonight with what we did out there,” Aquinas senior Sammy Davis said. “We had high intensity and beat them in every part of the game tonight.”
Davis scored 29 points and added 11 rebounds and five steals as the Aquinas dominated a Division 2 team that was ranked among the state’s top 10 for most of the season. The Blugolds wanted to build on what they did in beating Central by five points earlier this season and did just that.
Davis made 11 of 14 shots and the only 3-pointer she attempted. She finished with power and finesse even put in an alley-oop — not a dunk — in one catch-and-finish move a pass from Fernholz in the second half.
“You don’t see that anywhere,” Aquinas coach Dave Donarski said. “That was remarkable. She spun and found it. That was so special, and I’m so happy for her because she’s had some tougher games.
“She puts so much pressure on herself, and she knows the impact she needs to make.”
Central senior Alahnna Simpson picked up her second foul with 13:32 left in the first half and her third with 9:19 left in the first. The RiverHawks faced a 20-5 deficit when she went to the bench for the remainder of the half.
“That really hurt them because she controls so much of what they do offensively,” Donarski said. “That was us doing exactly what we wanted, and that doesn’t happen very often.”
Aquinas senior Alaina Elias, Davis and juniors Ava Fernholz and Eva Willenbring trapped Central into oblivion, and Elias turned many of those into turnovers and baskets at the other end of the floor.
Elias finished with 11 points, and Dickinson took care of good perimeter looks with four 3-pointers and 14 points for the Blugolds.
Simpson, who averages 18.9 points per game, led the RiverHawks with 10 points.
The performance provides plenty of momentum entering the postseason for Aquinas, which has a No. 1 seed and quarterfinal bye. The Blugolds will host either eighth-seeded Amherst or ninth-seeded Westby in a regional semifinal on Feb. 27.
“It sounds crazy to say this, but that was a must win for us,” Donarski said. “If you want to go deep in the playoffs and dump a game like that.
“That would have been a tough ‘How do we get these kids back?’ It’s the truth. I told everybody outside of the girls that we had to win this game. I didn’t know if would be like that. (The RiverHawks) are really good.”
