On the final scheduled regular-season date in girls basketball in the area, several area teams clinched conference championships as the season turns now towards the playoffs.
A handful of games are yet to be played due to weather delays, but in the Madison area, the three largest conferences all crowned outright champions on Thursday night.
Middleton came back and clamped down on defense in their 53-45 win over Sun Prairie to claim the Big 8 title. In the Badger North, Beaver Dam demolished Mount Horeb 55-10 to win their fifth straight conference championship without a league loss. Beaver Dam had long ago clinched the Badger North championship. Finally, in the Badger South, Monona Grove breezed past Edgewood 88-54 to clinch the conference title outright, one game in front of Monroe, who also won on Thursday night over Milton. Monona Grove-Edgewood was The Big 1070's Game of the Week, which you can read more on below.
The Capitol North had co-champs, with Lodi and Lake Mills sharing the honor. For Lake Mills, it's their first-ever girls basketball conference title. Defending D3 champ Marshall has already clinched the Capitol South with a handful of games remaining (due to weather postponements). McFarland will end up as the Rock Valley champs when the season ends this week.
Monona Grove shoots past Edgewood 88-54 to claim Badger South championship outright
Monona Grove entered Thursday night's conference finale against Edgewood needing a win to guarantee the outright conference title, as the Silver Eagles remained one game ahead of Monroe in the conference standings entering play and remained a game in front after all was said and done in Badger South play.
The Crusaders kept it close early, holding the Silver Eagles within a possession through the midway point of the first half, 15-12. However, Monona Grove's offense erupted, burying 11 of their 16 threes in the first half en route to a 49-27 halftime lead and a final winning margin of 34 points on Edgewood's Senior Night.
Monona Grove's McKenna Warnock led the Silver Eagles in scoring with 26 points, all while battling illness. "She didn't practice yesterday because she was sick," said Monona Grove coach Tyler Kuehl after the game. "She said it was like being in a dream or something."
Warnock also had four of the Silver Eagles' three-point baskets. Junior Jenny Gorton had five to pace the Silver Eagles, and finished with 17 points. Kaylee Kellogg also had three made long-range shots, and finished with 13 points. All 11 Monona Grove players on varsity scored at least one point in the contest.
Edgewood managed to get both Sarah Lazar and Amber Grosse into double figures with 10 points, while Baluck Deang added eight, but it wasn't enough to slow down the hot-shooting Silver Eagles on Thursday night.
MONONA GROVE - 49|39=88
EDGEWOOD - 27|27=54
Monona Grove Scoring: McKenna Warnock 26, Jenny Gorton 17, Kaylee Kellogg 13, Peyton Blang 8, Peighton Nelson 7, Julia Bruns 6, Seanna Curran 5, Jadee Christiansen 2, Kayleigh Zank 2, Daryan Johnson 1, Emma Goke 1.
Edgewood Scoring: Sarah Lazar 10, Amber Grosse 10, Baluck Deang 8, Madison Moore 6, Truely Wallhaus 5, Emily Schauer 4, Liz Cook 4, Amanda Olson 2, Ellie Iglar 2, Lindsey Langlois 2, Sydney Olson 1.