GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — In the first-ever appearance in the Division 1 state tournament, after dominating Division 2 for years, the FRCC-champions Notre Dame Academy Tritons saw their season end with a hard-fought 62-58 loss to the top seed Wauwatosa East in the state semifinal at the Resch.
“I hope that us making it here motivates my teammates to not settle for (just) making it here,” said Notre Dame senior point guard Destiny Webster. “I hope they know that they can strive for much more than we accomplished this year, and I feel like we accomplished a lot, but I know that they can keep fighting, and I know that they can make it here.”
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The Tritons took an early 7-2 lead but found themselves down by six at halftime. Every time Notre Dame went on a run to get close or even tie it, the Red Raiders responded. Their senior guard Emma Close led the team finishing with a game high 21 points, making five three-pointers.
Notre Dame was down 57-50 near the end of the fourth but charged back, and a Webster bucket made it a two-point game with a minute left, 60-58. They even got the ball back with a chance to take the lead but threw the ball away and had to foul. Red Raiders Mikaia Litza nailed two free throws with five seconds remaining to make it 62-58 and seal the game.
"I'm really proud of them," Notre Dame coach Sara Rohde said of her squad's effort Friday night. "I mean, I thought we came out and we got some good steals at the end, got some jump balls, and we came down and executed, so very proud of them for that. It just obviously didn't go our way tonight."
In her final game for the Tritons, senior forward Kaia Waldrop finished with a double-double, 16 points and 13 rebounds, both team highs.
