Waukon girls basketball team has season ended at every team’s ultimate destination with 45-24 State Tournament loss to second-rated Clear Lake
Season wraps up where every team strives to be ... Members of the Waukon girls basketball team pose with their Class 3A State Tournament Qualifier trophy following their 45-24 loss to second-rated Clear Lake in the opening round of that Class 3A season grand finale Monday, March 1 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Pictured above, left to right: Front row - Maggie Criswell, Margaret Wacker, Ella Hermeier, Annika Headington, Bailey Shafer, Brenna Berns, Paige Hansmeier; Back row - Assistant Coaches Quinn Brennan and Andy Sires, Kaitlyn Krambeer, Emily Bieber, Breckan Stewart, Mackenzie Kaeser, Jayden Knox, Emma Palmer, Grace Stegen, Brinley Jones, Head Coach Ben Rausch. Photo by Diana Davison. View and find out how to purchase this photo and more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
Leads the scoring in final game ... Waukon girls basketball senior Margaret Wacker drives past a Clear Lake defender in the Indians’ 45-24 loss to the second-rated Lions Monday, March 1 in the opening round of the Class 3A State Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Wacker led the Indian scoring with 10 points in her final ballgame, and she also recorded four rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. Photo by Diana Davison. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
A pair of Class 3A State Tournament semifinalist teams from each of the last two seasons took to the court in the opening round of this year’s Class 3A Girls State Tournament Monday, March 1 when the 14th-rated and seventh-seeded Waukon girls basketball team returned to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines following its 2019 semifinals run to take on a second-rated and second-seeded Clear Lake team that was returning from that same result just last season. With remnants of each of those previous squads, along with new supporting cast members, taking the floor against one another vying for a return trip to that same round at this year’s season grand finale, it was the more recent experience of Clear Lake that eventually shined through in a 45-24 Indian defeat.
The loss brings the Indians’ 2020-2021 campaign to a close at a 19-5 season record that includes a 10-2 mark that placed the Indians in second place in the final Northeast Iowa Conference standings. With the opening-round victory, Clear Lake advanced to the semifinal round of the Class 3A State Tournament for the second consecutive season and also had its season brought to a close in that semifinal round for the second consecutive season, this time by third-rated and third-seeded Unity Christian by a 58-42 final result Thursday, March 4. Unity Christian went on to win this season’s Class 3A crown with a 48-31 win over West Lyon in the Saturday, March 11 Class 3A State Championship game.
“We had a great season,” Coach Rausch reflected. “That last loss is always hard, but it doesn’t take anything away from our accomplishments. The ladies worked hard as a team every day. Through hard work and determination, the team performed beyond what was expected, and made some great memories. Their friendships and this experience are the best possible result of high school athletics.”
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