Home » Sports » Hortonville Sports » Hortonville girls’ basketball comes up short

Hortonville girls’ basketball comes up short

Morgan Draheim tries to dribble past Beaver Dam defenders. Erik Buchinger photo GBBWEB2 GBBWEB3 GBBWEB4 GBBWEB5 GBBWEB6 Macy McGlone eyes the rim before putting up a jumper. Erik Buchinger photo GBBWEB8 GBBWEB9 GBBWEB10
<
>
Hortonville's lone senior Emily Nelson is announced during the starting lineup introductions prior to the game. Erik Buchinger photo

Polar Bears’ season ends in state semifinal

By Erik Buchinger


The Hortonville girls’ basketball team was defeated by Beaver Dam 68-48 in the state semifinals at the Resch Center on Friday, March 8.

The Polar Bears have advanced to state in all three years under head coach Celeste Ratka, and she praised the Beaver Dam team during the postgame press conference.

“They’ve got a tremendous team, coached really well and they play really hard,” Hortonville head coach Celeste Ratka said. “Defensively they’re pretty special. They’ve got a ton of weapons, and I give them a lot of credit. They made a lot of plays and hit a lot of shots from multiple people. They made it extremely difficult for us to sustain that high level of energy, and it wore us down a little bit.”

Beaver Dam went on to win the state championship for the third consecutive season. The Golden Beavers defeated Hortonville at state last year.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how this sparks something in some of our kids,” Ratka said. “This is the measuring stick. This is who you have to compete against. They are not going anywhere, so hopefully this fuels their drive and kids take it really seriously this offseason because that’s the measuring stick right there.”

Hortonville’s leading scorer Macy McGlone scored 10 points on 5 of 13 shooting from the floor.

“They play really good defense,” McGlone said. “Watching them on film they pass the ball really well. I’m not sure what exactly separates them from everyone else overall, but they’re just good and play really hard.”

Beaver Dam jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, leading to an early timeout for the Polar Bears.

Hortonville cut the lead to 8-4 after two free throws from Morgan Draheim, but that was as close as the Polar Bears would get the rest of the game as Beaver Dam continued to extend its lead.

Hortonville went into halftime trailing 36-21, and Beaver Dam started the second half with a 14-6 run to make it a 50-27 score.

The Beavers’ largest lead was 31 points in the second half, as the Polar Bears’ season came to an end with a 20-point loss.

Hortonville’s Kammy Peppler and Lexi Day led the team with 12 points.

“I’m really proud of our kids with the year they had,” Ratka said. “They battled through a ton of adversity all season. I’m really proud of their, effort and it’s going to be tough to say goodbye to [Emily Nelson].”

The Polar Bears’ lone senior Emily Nelson knocked down a pair of 3-pointers late in the game and exited the floor to a standing ovation and was embraced by Ratka and teammates on the bench.

“This young lady means a lot to me,” Ratka said. “She’s poured her heart and soul into this program, and I was basically thanking her for her time and effort and trust in me. It hasn’t always been easy. I’ve been extremely hard on her to get the most out of her, and there’s a lot of trust between us. I don’t think I could stretch every single kid on our team as much as I’ve been able to push Emily, and it’s because I trust the kid, I trust who she is as a person as a competitor and I just wanted to say thank you for everything she has given.

“As much as any kid I’ve coached here at Hortonville, she created the culture. She has put Hortonville where it is because of who she is as a person and as a player. Every single kid in that locker room has been impacted by Emily Nelson. Every single kid in this program feels like home because of Emily Nelson. We’ve had a lot of young kids have to step up and play for us that would not have had the season they’ve had because Emily made it OK for them. Emily said everybody is welcomed here, and that’s what she does. She brings people together, and I’m so proud to be her coach and gotten the opportunity to coaching her these past three years.”

Nelson said she is grateful for her experiences with the Hortonville girls’ basketball program.

“I just feel extremely blessed for everything that Hortonville basketball has given me,” Nelson said. “As you can see from Coach talking before how much she cares about every single one of us. Our whole coaching staff is probably one of the most dedicated coaching staffs for any high school basketball team. This is my family – I know a lot of people say that, but I really mean that because these are my best friends. I’m so thankful for all of them. As much as you may think I made an impact on them, they’ve made such an impact on me. I just feel really blessed I’ve been able to spend the past four years playing basketball with such great people.”

With only one senior leaving, Hortonville will return a talented roster next season.

“Obviously as a competitor, it drives you,” Ratka said. “For me, I’m already thinking about how we need to improve and get better. But I also think it’s important these guys take a second to reflect. That’s what I tried to do with them in the locker room – just reflect on what a great season we’ve had with all the accomplishments and highs and lows throughout the season. I think you have to appreciate those things. I know we have kids who are competitive and hungry, and I’m sure they are ready to go back to work.”

McGlone will be a senior next season before playing college basketball at UW-Milwaukee.

“I think there will be a lot of girls who are going to be super fired up for next season,” McGlone said. “I know a lot of them do AAU, and we’re definitely going to miss Emily. Everyone is excited to be able to play with each other again. We might take a week off, but then I’ll be in the gym again shooting.”

Scroll to Top