Elk Mound girls conclude season with loss to Xavier in WIAA state semifinals

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

GREEN BAY — The Elk Mound girls’ basketball team was the number 1 seed in the WIAA Division 3 division after posting a 26-1 record heading into the state tournament held Thursday, March 13 at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Their opponent, the Appleton Xavier Hawks were the number 4 seed with an 18-10 record, playing in the Bay Conference where they finished third with a 9-3 record.

State tournament experience by the Hawks along with the inability of the Mounders to score points consistently led to a 45-35 win for Xavier in the semifinal matchup. Xavier went on to lose the championship game to Oostburg 49-36.

Although their records were quite different, the teams looked pretty even on paper. The Mounders averaged 59 points per game this season while the Hawks were scoring 54 points a game. Elk Mound had three players who averaged in double digits in the scoring column including Allie Robel with 12.7, Ellie Schiszik with 11.8 and Allie Robel with 11.5. The Hawks, however, had just one player,  Brynn Krull, who averaged in double digits at 12.3 points a game. The Mounders had several players with the ability to drill three-point shots as they connected on more than 150 during the season, but were just 2-for-15 in this game. Xavier was making a return to the state tournament after losing in the state championship game to Edgewood 55-52 last year.

The Mounders scored first on a Robel layup but a Joy Krull triple changed the lead for the first of seven times in the contest. Hailey Meyer scored on another layup for Elk Mound but once again Joy Krull scored on a shot in the paint, and after a couple of Hawk free throws it was 6-4 for the Hawks. Roder drove through the lane for a bucket after a Schiszik steal, and after a Schiszik shot from close range, the Mounders led 8-6.

A triple by Xavier put them up 9-8 and it was a long time before the Mounders would score again Although their defense was very solid, holding the Hawks scoreless, the Mounders went  almost five minutes before Robel scored on a deuce for a 10-9 advantage. Kendra Garnett increased the lead with a three pointer and after a couple of Hawk free tosses, it was another three and a half minutes before either team would add points when Robel knocked down two free throws. Belle Kongshaug scored in the paint along with Meyer and it was 19-11 for the Mounders.

The Hawks tacked on three free shots from the charity stripe, and when Schiszik drove in for a layup, the teams went into the locker room with the Mounders up 21-13.

The lights may have dimmed on the Mounders side of the court as they struggled to put the ball in the hoop to start the second half. They failed to connect on seven shots taken and turned the ball over a few times, allowing the Hawks to use an eight-point run to knot the game at 21-21.

At the 10:46 mark of the game, Robel finally scored in the paint to regain the lead for Elk Mound. A Hawk bucket tied it again, but Robel  took the lead back with a bucket. Four Hawk free throws, two by Brynn Krull and two from Chloe Pfefferie along with two more Hawk close range shots allowed Xavier to pull ahead 31-25.

Robel broke the streak with a shot in the lane and drew the foul, making the free throw. Garnett dropped in another shot in the paint and the Mounders were down 31-30 with 3:58 to go.

The Hawks picked a great time to start hitting from long range as they connected on back-to-back triples to give them a 37-31 advantage.

Roder responded with her own three pointer and with a Schiszik free toss, Elk Mound was behind 40-35 with 1:40 showing on the clock. Needing a couple of big shots, the lights got a little dimmer as the Mounders were off the mark on a three-point attempt and  on a floater in the lane while the Hawks finished the game off on five shots from the charity stripe, the final two by Joy Krull.

Robel led the Mounders with 13 points on 5-of-9 shots in the paint and 3-of-3 on free throws. Roder scored six points with one of the Mounders’ triples, Schiszik and Garnett both tallied five points as Garnett had the other Mounder triple and Meyer tacked on four points with two from Kongshaug.

Elk Mound was 14-for-41 in the shooting department and were 5-for-7 at the foul line. The Hawks were not much better at 12-46 from the floor, but they knocked down 14-of-16 free throws. Joy Krull scored 11 points to lead her team while Brynn was held under her average with five.

Xavier was not afraid to launch three pointers as they put up 30 attempts but made just seven in the contest and were just 2-for-15 in the opening half.

Roder pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Mounders as the team finished with 28 compared to 33 for the Hawks.

Six seniors ended their high school careers for Elk Mound including Schiszik, Meyer, Roder, Claire Roff, Jaidynn Sarauer and Teagan Mayer.

During the press conference after the game, coach Jordan Kongshaug commented: 

“I thought defensively we were very solid,” he stated. “We just had a stretch to start that second half where we had good looks but the shots didn’t go in and unfortunately, that’s part of basketball. I give all the credit in the world to Xavier because they made some plays down the stretch and that’s what good teams do. It hurts, but when you play your last game here at state, you just have to be proud.”

“We stressed all week limiting Xavier’s ability to get in the lane because I know they have the ability to make shots,” he continued. “I think in the second half we did, but they hit shots and we didn’t. I know it was a significant stretch of time where we got good looks but we didn’t finish them. They made plays and that was the difference. That’s the way it goes sometime,” he concluded.

Junior Allie Robel was in the interview room and was asked how it felt to finish her career at the Resch Center. 

“Well, I’m only a junior so I didn’t finish mine,” she replied. “We made history with the first trip to state in 37 years and our whole community was behind us. It was pretty great to end our season here even though it didn’t go the way we wanted. We still accomplished a lot and hopefully a lot of other teams from a small town know it is possible if you just work hard,” she added.

Senior Ellie Schiszik, who will play college ball at UW-La Crosse next year, was also interviewed. 

“For me it is a dream come true to play at state,” she said. “I’ve been watching games here for a long time, and now to be able to play here is awesome. Hopefully we have inspired some of the younger girls from our school to work hard in the off season, so we don’t have to wait another 37 years to come back and watch them play,” she added.  

The last time the Elk Mound girls qualified for the state tournament was 1988 when they played in Class C. There were a lot of similarities in both games as Elk Mound was coached by Ted Heimstead, who had the honor of coaching his daughter Colleen  who just happened to score her 2,000th career point in the game. Before fouling out, she added two more and became the Mounder’s all time leading scorer. Elk Mound coach Jordan Kongshaug also coached his own daughter, junior Belle, and was the four-year coach for Ellie Schiszik who became the school’s second leading scorer with 1,511 points.

Unfortunately, the final result in the 1988 game was the same as the 2025 final game as the Mounders lost to Fall Creek who went on to beat Owen-Withee for the state championship.