Hortonville Polar Bears ready for challenge with defending Division 1 state champion Kettle Moraine

HORTONVILLE − Overcoming obstacles is something the Hortonville girls basketball team has done consistently this season.

Whether it was transitioning to a first-year head coach, traversing a loaded Fox Valley Association or bouncing back from a season-ending injury to a critical player, the Polar Bears have answered the bell time and time again.

Another challenge awaits Friday as Hortonville (25-3) faces defending WIAA Division 1 state champion Kettle Moraine (26-1) in a state semifinal at the Resch Center. Tip-off is expected approximately 8:15 p.m.

Brookfield East (26-2) and Germantown (23-5) play in the other D1 semifinal. The championship game is set for 8:15 p.m. Saturday.

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The second-seeded Polar Bears are battle-tested and know the third-seeded Lasers will be a formidable opponent. They also believe the game will come down to what they can do on the court.

"It’s about us," Hortonville senior Trinity Mocadlo said. "Every team that’s going into state − and they’re all amazing teams − it really comes down to who is going to perform and who is going to be themselves and play their game and execute. For us, that’s what we’re focusing on and focusing on staying together as a team and executing as well as we can and playing the best defense that we can as well."

Perhaps no situation was more imposing for the Polar Bears this season than losing one of their top players, Kallie Peppler, to a season-ending knee injury in January.

Peppler, a 6-foot junior and UW-Milwaukee recruit, was second on the team in scoring, a key rebounder and tough defender who could also run the floor.

"It was very sad, I think we can all agree," Mocadlo said of Peppler's injury. "It hindered our goals of what we thought we were going to get because she had just a big role on our team. And we were almost thinking in the back of our minds that we couldn’t do it without her. But that’s what made us push so much harder, was that we wanted it so bad for her and just to do it for all of our teammates in general."

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Hortonville coach A.C. Clouthier said he told the team to not think of it as one player having to step in and fill Peppler's absence, but rather several players "doing one more thing."

"We never looked at it like, 'Oh boy, what are we going to do now?' " Clouthier said. "We just said, 'OK, Rainey (Welson), I need a couple more points from you. Trinity, I'm going to need a couple more points and some more steals from you. Mikayla (Werner), we're going to need some more rebounds.'

"We didn't replace her with one person. We replaced her with four or five other athletes doing one more thing."

Welson, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard and the team's leading scorer at 19 points a game, was sensational in the Polar Bears' 71-54 victory over Neenah in Saturday's sectional final. She finished with 41 points, including 16-for-17 from the free throw line.

Mocadlo (10.5 points) is one of the state's top defenders and her intensity sets the tempo for the team. Werner provides a presence in the paint and is a force on the class (7.9 rebounds), and the team has also seen steady production in recent weeks from starters Kyra Funk (4.9 ppg) and Paige Lillie (4.5 ppg) along with top reserve Jada Stuewer (6.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg).

Kettle Moraine returns only two starters from last season's team, but they are all-state caliber players in Grace Grocholski, a West Virginia commit, and Braelyn Torres, a Northern Michigan commit.

Grocholski, a 5-10 senior, leads the Lasers in scoring (24.8), rebounds (9.4) and is second in assists (4.3). The 5-8 Torres averages 16.2 points and leads the team in assists (5.4) and, like Mocadlo, is regarded as one of the state's best defenders.

"We lost three starters and our top two reserves," Kettle Moraine coach Todd Hansen said. "Coming into the year, I knew we'd be good just because of Grace and Braelyn but we had to replace a lot. We have three girls that also start and they played last year, but not a ton of minutes. And everyone coming off the bench were all JV last year.

"Our team is just continuing to get better throughout the year. The young kids have been inconsistent at times but are playing more consistent now. And Grace and Braelyn are phenomenal young ladies and players and they've been leaders all year and are great captains. It's been a whole team effort."

It will be Hortonville's first trip to the state tournament since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the tournament after only a few games.

"It’s about who gets locked in first," Welson said. "It's going to be a whole different area and more fans than ever and if you can get comfortable first, I think that will definitely give you an advantage because you’re going to lock back into your team and get back to stuff and execute your stuff and I think that will be key."

Added Funk: "It’s a new environment for us. We know they’ve been there before, but it’s ultimately about who’s going to execute and who‘s going to be locked in and focused and not worrying about the outside surroundings that we’re going to have there."

• IF YOU GO

• What: WIAA Division 1 state girls basketball semifinal

• Where: Resch Center, Ashwaubenon

• Who: Hortonville (25-3) vs. Kettle Moraine (26-1)

• Tickets: Prices are $11 per session when purchased at the Resch Center. Tickets can also be purchased online on the Ticket Star website or by calling Ticket Star at 800-895-0071

• Starting lineups: Hortonville - Rainey Welson, so., 5-10, guard; Trinity Mocadlo, sr., 5-9, guard; Paige Lillie, jr., 5-8, guard; Kyra Funk, 5-7, sr., guard; MiKayla Werner, jr., 6-0, forward. Kettle Moraine - Maddie Schopf, jr., 5-6, guard; Braelyn Torres, sr., 5-8, guard; Grace Grocholski, sr., 5-10, forward; Briana Binagi, jr., 5-11, forward; Claire Vosburg, jr., 6-0, forward.

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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Hortonville Polar Bears ready for Division 1 girls basketball semifinal