The Kewaunee Storm held on to win a regional championship Friday night, avenging last season’s playoff loss to the Valders Vikings with a thrilling 49-46 win at home.

After both teams' slow starts, the Storm led most of the first half, taking their largest lead, 24-13, into halftime on a layup by Braelyn Chevalier.

The second half got really interesting when the Storm took a 14-point lead on a three-pointer by Lexie Hanrahan before the Vikings went on a huge run to take the lead midway through the final period behind Megan Hockkammer who got hot in the second half.

The Storm regained the lead with Jade Kroll scoring five straight to take a four-point lead.

Valders would keep it close and cut the lead to 47-46 on a three-pointer by Anna Olson with 6.9 left.

After a foul with 4.1 seconds left, Kewaunee’s Breanna Riha hit two free throws, and a half-court desperation shot by Hockhammer came up short. 

 

 

Kroll led the Storm in scoring with 19 points while Lexie Hanrahan added 11 more points.

Hockhammer finished with 19 points for Valders, scoring all her points in the second half, while Zoey Siders added 14 points.

 

#2 Kewaunee (21-4) will now travel to Kohler to take on the #1 seeded Manitowoc Lutheran Lancers on Thursday night. Pregame on 104.1 WRLU will start at 6:45 p.m., with tip-off at 7:00 p.m. Paul Schmitt and Eric Fischer will have the call, and the game will also be streamed online at NEW Radio Sports Network.