Aquinas High School basketball coach Dave Donarski has kept the team from Wisconsin Dells on his radar all season.
If things progressed the way he thought they could for the Blugolds, a meeting with the Chiefs would be inevitable once the WIAA Division 3 postseason began.
What Donarski and his staff have come up with to combat the things Wisconsin Dells has done to win every game it has played will be put to the test Thursday night in Reedsburg.
That’s where Aquinas (24-2) — ranked fifth in the final Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — meets the third-ranked Chiefs (26-0) in a 7 p.m. sectional semifinal.
“They have three or four kids averaging between 13 and 20 (points per game), so, as always, we’ll have to be really good defensively,” Donarski said. “We’ll have to pressure without fouling and force them to take rushed shots or limit their easy looks.”
The top priority is 5-foot-10 senior Natalie Backhaus, who averages 20.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and will play in the NSIC for the University of Sioux Falls after graduation.
The Chiefs also have senior guard Ashiya Hopkins averaging 16.5 points and sophomore Jazlyn Alwin averaging 15.4 points per game. Hopkins has made 77 3-pointers.
Aquinas will have to disrupt offensive flow with its 1-3-1 defense and hit the boards. The Chiefs average 14.5 offensive rebounds per game.
“(Backhaus) is a downhill attacker from the elbow all the way to the rim,” Donarski said. “We need to deny those touches. If we do that, I think we have a chance to be successful.”
Aquinas senior Sammy Davis will have something to do with that as the team’s top rebounder (8.1 per game). She also averages 23.2 points per game and is the program’s career scoring leader.
The Blugolds have excelled defensively all season and turn their pressure and trapping into nearly 19 steals per game. Just five opponents have scored at least 50 points against Aquinas, which has won its past six games by an average of 45 points.
Davis has averaged 24.3 points and made 40 of 55 shots over the past four games. Junior Liv Dickinson has averaged 14.8 points and made 17 3-pointers during that same stretch.
The winner plays either Edgerton (24-2) or Lancaster (23-3) in a 1:30 tipoff at Portage on Saturday.
DIVISION 2
Central (20-6) vs. Rice Lake (23-3) at Chippewa Falls, 7 p.m.
The second-seeded RiverHawks have their work cut out against a team that has won four games in a row and 14 of its past 15.
The Warriors are led by 6-3 guard Adaline Sheplee, who will continue her basketball career at the University of Wisconsin. Sheplee averages 28.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Rice Lake, which qualified for the Division 2 state semifinals a year ago, also has 6-2 junior Addison Schmidt and her per-game averages of 18.3 points and 14.9 rebounds.
Central needs a big game from senior Alahnna Simpson to stop the Warriors. She is averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Freshman teammate Ellie Apuan is adding 13.8 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds to go with her 63 made 3-pointers.
The winner plays either Shawano (17-9) or Rhinelander (16-10) at Stevens Point at 4 p.m. Saturday with the sectional championship on the line.
DIVISION 4
Luther (17-9) vs. Pardeeville (25-1) at Baraboo, 7 p.m.
The Knights put together a performance that produced their first regional championship in 12 years, but the Bulldogs have held 10 opponents to less than 30 points this season.
Pardeeville is led by seniors Bronte Hulberg and Ava Wagner. The 5-10 Hulberg averages 19.6 points and 7.5 rebounds and the 6-foot Wagner 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds.
Luther has four players averaging between 8 and 10 points per game with sophomore Natalie Hackbarth’s 10.0 topping the team. Sophomore Cara Unke adds 9.3 points, sophomore Brinley Schmitz 8.9 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds and sophomore Jaeyda Livingston 8.0 points.
The winner plays either Deerfield () or Albany/Monticello () at 1 p.m. Saturday in Middleton.
