February 18, 2021 – Germantown, WI – Germantown defense suffocates Beaver Dam’s offense en route to WIAA Sectional Finals.
With both Germantown and Beaver Dam impressive in their respective WIAA regional brackets, it was going to require an extraordinary effort from one key unit to decide this game.
Such a role just happened to go to Germantown’s defense, which stymied so many of Beaver Dam’s offense charges through steals and rebounds, it made it very difficult to believe the outcome would not be a Germantown victory.
Stopping Beaver Dam’s ball movement was the best facet of the Warhawks overall game, and they used it to gain several fast break opportunities that the Beavers had no real answer for.
The electricity from a mostly jam-packed Germantown Field House definitely didn’t make matters any easier for the Beavers and it showed as there were several moments where Beaver Dam looked deflated and out of energy.
However, even with the score 37-21 at the end of the first half in favor of Germantown, the Beavers were building some confidence and momentum heading halftime.
Unfortunately for Beaver Dam, the offense started the second half ice cold, taking four minutes into the period to score their first basket. Then, minutes later, Germantown sophomore Kamorea Arnold scored her 1,000th career point and with that the writing was pretty much on the wall for the Beavers.
The Warhawks would cruise through the reminder of the game to a 74-54 victory and due to an unexpected re-seeding of the tournament brackets by the WIAA, Germantown (as a No. 2 seed) will now travel to No. 1 seeded Kimberly to face off for the Division 1 Sectional 2 championship and the right to travel to La Crosse for the Division 1 WIAA state championship on February 27.
Arnold led the charge for Germantown with 26 points and several game-breaking steals, which helped shift momentum for the Warhawks. Beaver Dam was led by senior Avery Stonewall with 16 points.
Germantown head coach Matt Stuve was proud of his team’s defensive effort. “This group has got a lot of self-belief, especially defensively. It works because they buy into what they want do (defensively) and the game plan.”
Stuve noted, although he has had great defensive teams there is something special about this current group.
Stuve praised Arnold and her ability to wrap her arms around the team.
“It’s amazing that while we have had 1,000-point scorers before, those have all come from players in their senior year, but it’s more than that. The great thing about Keke (a nickname of Arnold’s) is she plays the game of basketball so well, not just individually, but from a team perspective she is always making the right plays consistently, from attacking the rim to finding holes in the defense for her teammates, she is an extraordinary player.”
Stuve said he is looking forward to a rare matchup against Kimberly. “Four years ago, we beat them in the regional finals and it’s the only time we have ever played them in recent history.”
No. 1 seed Kimberly beat No. 4 seed Sheboygan North 82 – 43. Kimberly will host Germantown on Saturday, February 20.