The Beaver Dam High School girls basketball team brought home the state runner-up Silver Ball after dropping a thrilling 64-63 decision to Whitefish Bay in the WIAA Division 2 State Championship Game on Saturday night at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
Beaver Dam fell behind 5-0 early, but a 17-7 run over the next 4:40 gave the Golden Beavers a 17-12 lead. Whitefish Bay responded with a 26-13 run of its own, highlighted by seven three-pointers, including a banked-in triple by junior Modonna Helf at the first-half buzzer. That pushed the Blue Dukes’ lead to 38-30 at the break.
Whitefish Bay knocked down 9-of-17 shots from three-point range in the first half, while Beaver Dam hit 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the opening 18 minutes.
The Blue Dukes scored the first nine points of the second half to open a 47-30 advantage, extending a 16-0 run that began with 3:03 left in the first half.
Beaver Dam answered with a surge of its own. Back-to-back three-pointers by Lailah Linzenmeyer and Jolee Drzonek cut the deficit to 47-36. Nataya Donaldson followed with a steal and basket, and Lucy Gonzalez converted an old-fashioned three-point play to trim the lead to 47-41 with 12:10 remaining.
Sheamarie Ashley added a basket and free throw to pull Beaver Dam within 47-44 with 10:37 left in the game.
Whitefish Bay’s Sage Miskel stopped the 14-0 Beaver Dam run with a layup at the 9:45 mark to give the Blue Dukes a 49-45 lead. The next 45 seconds were packed with action. Drzonek hit a three-pointer, and Emma Julka scored a layup off a turnover to tie the game at 49. Miskel answered with a basket for Whitefish Bay, but Julka buried a wing three to give Beaver Dam its first lead since the 7:31 mark of the first half, 52-51.
Whitefish Bay responded with six straight points, including a Carrington Balthasar three-point play and a three-pointer by Madaline Volpe, to take a 57-52 lead.
The Golden Beavers countered with a 9-0 run. Ashley knocked down three of four free throws, Julka added a layup, Donaldson scored on a putback, and Drzonek converted another layup to give Beaver Dam a 61-57 lead with 3:29 left.
Helf scored to pull Whitefish Bay within two at 61-59 with 2:33 remaining, and Balthasar split a pair of free throws to make it 61-60. Donaldson answered with a putback in the paint to push Beaver Dam ahead 63-60 with 1:44 left.
Just eight seconds later, Miskel drove to the hoop for a layup to cut the lead to one at 63-62.
After a Beaver Dam miss, Rowan Counsell was fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Miskel grabbed the offensive rebound and scored, giving the Blue Dukes a 64-63 lead with 43 seconds remaining.
Beaver Dam had a layup attempt rim out with 22 seconds left. Counsell again missed the front end of a one-and-one with 19 seconds to go, giving the Golden Beavers one final chance. After a timeout, Beaver Dam got a good look, but Whitefish Bay came up with the defensive stop as time expired to secure the one-point victory.
Drzonek led Beaver Dam with 19 points, including 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range. Donaldson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Julka added 13 points.
Miskel led Whitefish Bay with 18 points. Volpe added 13, while Counsell and Balthasar each scored 10.
Whitefish Bay set a Division 2 state tournament record by making 11 three-pointers on 28 attempts, breaking the previous record of 10 set by New Berlin Eisenhower in 2018.
Beaver Dam finishes the season at 23-7. In seven appearances at the WIAA Girls State Basketball Tournament, the Golden Beavers have won three state titles (2017, 2018, 2019), finished runner-up twice (1991, 2026), fell in the semifinals in 2010 and qualified for the 2020 tournament, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
Whitefish Bay ends the season at 26-4 and captures its first state championship in nine tournament appearances.
Click the link below to hear the Beaver Dam post game press conference with coach TJ Julka, Joelee Drzonek and Nataya Donaldson
Click the link below to hear the 1430 ESPN Beaver Dam radio call of the Division Two State Championship Game.
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