By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
GREEN BAY — Head coach Sara Rohde and the Notre Dame Academy girls’ basketball team ran into a juggernaut in Beaver Dam in the WIAA Division 2 sectional finals to end their 2019 season.
“We had some hard-fought wins against Ashwaubenon, Pulaski and Luxemburg-Casco [LC] to get to the final game before state,” said Rohde, whose team finished 16-10. “Beaver Dam’s experience and talent showed after the first 5-10 minutes of the game.”
Notre Dame started the game on a 9-2 run, but Beaver Dam eventually pulled away in a 68-40 victory.
The Golden Beavers went on to win the state championship.
With a lot of newcomers, the season started slow for Notre Dame.
The Tritons lost four of their first five games but won nine of their final 11, including wins over Green Bay Preble, De Pere and LC.
“The start to the season wasn’t good last year,” Rohde said. “We didn’t play defense early on, averaged around 20 turnovers a game and had a tough schedule. As the season wore on, the girls bought in, had fewer mistakes and showed improvement on both sides of the floor.”
Led by a strong junior class, Notre Dame returns seven of its top eight scorers from last season, including Sammy Opichka and Georgia Gregoire, who averaged 14.2 and 12.6 points per game, respectively.
“Our team is nearly the same player-wise, but we will be better with a year of experience,” said Opichka. “As a junior, I want to be the best teammate I can on the floor with my leadership and do more during practices.”
Charley Apple led the team at point guard, and by the end of the season, freshman Sarah Hardwick was playing big minutes at the forward spot.
Rohde said the Tritons will continue to push the ball in transition and play pressure defense after made baskets.
“We have a year under our belt where we played lots of sophomores and a freshman in our rotation,” Rohde said. “We struggled a bit in tight games last year. I hope the added strength will help with ball control, give us some high-low touches and provide us with stronger inside touches.”
Additional contributors from last year could include Emily Cribben, Ashley Lemens, Maggie Gallagher and Hope Barrington.
“Emily and Ashley bring special intangibles to the team as seniors,” said Rohde. “There isn’t any drama, and they work hard to accomplish what we want on game day.”
As a former basketball star at Rapid River High School in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and former UW-Green Bay standout, Rohde has enjoyed success as a player and coach.
“The main thing is to convey what I struggled with as a player mentally/physically at the high school level and relay the message to the players at Notre Dame,” Rohde said. “It has to be fun for the girls, but they also need the confidence and strategy from me to do well and win games.”
Notre Dame Academy girls’ basketball schedule
12/2 – Luxemburg-Casco
12/6 – Sheboygan North
12/10 – @ Green Bay Preble
12/12 – @ Green Bay Southwest
12/17 – Ashwaubenon
12/27 – @ Middleton – 7:15 p.m.
12/28 – @ Watertown – 5:45 p.m.
1/3 – @ Sheboygan North
1/7 – Pulaski
1/10 – @ Bay Port
1/14 – @ De Pere
1/16 – Manitowoc Lincoln
1/18 – Green Bay Southwest
1/21 – @ Sheboygan South
1/28 – Sheboygan North
1/31 – Preble
2/4 – @ Ashwaubenon
2/7 – @ Pulaski
2/11 – Bay Port
2/14 – De Pere
2/20 – @ Manitowoc
Editor’s note: All games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.