Northstars bow out in regional final

By JASON JUNO

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Hurley --- Hurley hoped to ride the momentum from Friday night’s big semifinal win over Butternut, but Gilman proved to be much better than the average 9 seed as the Pirates beat No. 5 Hurley 60-44 for a WIAA Division 5 regional championship Saturday night.

The Northstars’ season was like those two days, full of ups and downs. But in the end, they made the regional final and simply lost to a team on a Cinderella run.

“We probably covered every emotion imaginable this season,” Hurley coach Jay Aijala said. “Lots of ups and downs, but when push came to shove, they got together as a team, pulled themselves back in, seniors stepped up and we were playing our best basketball here that last month. You could tell when they checked back in after a couple tough losses, rallied the team together.”

The Northstars faced a tall task Saturday night.

Gilman plays in the tough Cloverbelt East Conference — in fact, they play league foe Owen-Withee Thursday night in a sectional semifinal at Stanley-Boyd. Owen-Withee beat Drummond to win its regional title Saturday night. Conference champion Neillsville is in a Division 4 sectional semifinal.

The Pirates (12-15) won all road games on the way to its regional title — at No. 8 Lake Holcombe and at No. 1 South Shore to give Hurley the Saturday night home game, which Gilman also won despite coming the day after the long trip to Port Wing.

“We have a really tough schedule, it showed,” Gilman coach Nancy Mann said. She’s not their head coach; she went on a 10-day business trip, so Mann will also be coaching the sectional game. “They learned how to play. Even though we had some losses, a lot of them were really close losses. It’s amazing and they just keep growing as players as the season progresses.”

Hurley started the game with the first seven points in front of a big regional final crowd. Gilman, though, took over from there and outscored the Northstars 27-10 the rest of the half for a 27-17 halftime lead. They kept building it in the second half.

A big part of that was Danielle Mann, a 5-10 senior who led all scorers with 28 points. She was also the leading scorer in all of the Cloverbelt East.

“Phenomenal player, probably one of the best we’ve seen this year,” Aijala said. “Not only could she play in the post, she was a threat outside and I don’t think she missed a free throw.”

The Pirates’ defense was also tough to contend with, keeping the Northstars stuck in the 20s deep into the second half.

“They just rattled us,” Aijala said. “Their on-ball pressure, off-ball pressure, they took away our post. At no point did I feel comfortable offensively.”

Coach Mann said they focused on containing Sydney Saari inside.

“We did a really good job,” she said. “We made sure that they anticipated her cuts through the lane so that we could front her so she didn’t get the ball inside.”

Saari still scored 16 points. Jaana Aukee led Hurley with 21 points after scoring 23 in the win over Butternut. She played well in Hurley’s stretch run to the regional final.

“One of those versatile players, she used her speed to her advantage here in the second half of the season and I thought that was a difference maker for us to be able to get here and host a regional,” Aijala said.

The seniors, Aukee, Saari and Kamryn Swartz, had good careers at Hurley, he said.

“For them to be a part of three regional finals and taking one of them home (2022) and being part of three conference titles,” Aijala said.

Hurley finished at 15-12.

“Nobody thought we were going to get here, nobody thought we were going to win 15 games in a season, but they just kept fighting,” Aijala said.

Gilman --- Addy Vick 4, Claire Drier 6, Allie Olynick 9, Kayleigh James 4, Jaylyn Orth 3, Aubrey Steinbach 3,Danielle Mann 28, Chloe Irwin 3. FTs: 13-20. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Orth. 3-pointers: Mann 2, Orth 1, Steinbach 1.

Hurley --- Jaana Aukee 21, Sydney Saari 16, Kamryn Swartz 3, Olivia DiGiorgio 2, Addison Eder 2. FTs: 15-21. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Andi Krall. 3-pointers: Aukee 2, Saari 1.

Gilman 27 60

Hurley 17 44