Lady Cardinals Bring Home Another Golden Ball

By Adam Rutz

Though NCHS students were enjoying their spring vacation this past week, there were quite a few students celebrating the two-peat in girls state basketball the weekend before. The Lady Cardinal basketball team capped off a nearly perfect season with their second straight state championship title to bring back to Newman Catholic. Tom Weinkauf’s senior-led squad finished their season with a record of 28-1, going undefeated in conference play.

UW-Green Bay recruit Taylor Thomas lived up to the hype down in Madison as she dropped 26 points on an undefeated Black Hawk team in the semi-final on Thursday. Thomas followed it up with 16 points in the 55-28 win over River Ridge in the Championship, along with assistance from senior Megan Connolly who went 5 for 14 from the field totaling 12 points and 8 rebounds, two boards shy of a double-double.

The extra banner to be hung in the rafters didn’t come as a surprise to many, as the Lady Cardinals only lost one player from last year’s roster. However, this year they started four seniors and will lose a total of six for next season. On the positive side though, next year’s team will return juniors Brianna Jehn and Sarah Connolly who received a significant amount of playing time this season and split time in the starting line-up.

Winning back-to-back state championships gives the girls a taste of success, and a desire to get back to Madison for a third consecutive year. Hopefully, next year’s squad can make another trip back to Madison in March, and with Tom Weinkauf at the helm, anything is possible.