Top-seeded Eleva-Strum struggled early on, but would eventually pull away from fourth-seeded Fall River for a 70-54 victory in a WIAA Girls Basketball Division 5 state semi-final contest at the Resch Center on Friday morning.

Both teams dealt with turnovers and missed opportunities at the rim to begin the game, taking a while to get settled in. In the first half alone, Fall River accounted for 12 turnovers and shot just 35.7%, while Eleva-Strum wasn’t much better at 10 turnovers and 39.5% shooting.

However, Avery Glenz and Aliza Kulig were able to convert as the half went along, accounting for 25 of the team’s 36 points before halftime.

The full-court press of Fall River bothered Eleva-Strum, and led to several baskets for the Pirates. However, Fall River had its own troubles with the turnover bug, and Eleva-Strum converted 14 points from Pirates miscues in the first half.

Leading 36-23 at halftime, Eleva-Strum would extend its lead to 21 points less than three minutes into the second half, and the game was never really in doubt the rest of the way.

Eleva-Strum finished at 43.5% overall from the field, also doing damage on the offensive boards with 19 in the game.

Five players reached double figures for Eleva-Strum, led by 19 points from junior Avery Glenz. Maddea Brown added 13, Aliza Kulig scored 12, Avery Spangberg chipped in 11, and Avaya Zwiefelhofer finished with 10 points.

Natalie Fietz had an excellent game for Fall River, scoring a game-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. Emma Sampson added nine points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.

Eleva-Strum advances to its first state title game in just its second trip to the state tournament.

Pacelli was efficient shooting the ball all day and finally stopped shooting itself in the foot enough to take down Barneveld 49-40 in a WIAA Girls Basketball State Semi-Final in Division 5.

The Cardinals shot it at a higher rate in the first half, connecting on 56.3% of their shots. However, they also turned it over 12 times, which allowed Barneveld to hang around despite shooting just 23.8%. Pacelli went into halftime with a 23-20 advantage.

Ella Van Order did most of the damage in that first half for Pacelli, scoring 13 points, while Haylee Cisewski added eight. Jaedyn Zdroik, the team’s leading scorer coming in, struggled, missing all three field goal attempts and turning it over eight times before the break.

Izabel Durst did all she could to keep Barneveld in it, scoring 13 points in the first half, connecting on all three, three-point attempts.

Pacelli cooled down from the field in the second half, shooting 36.4%, but got to the foul line and significantly cut down on their turnovers. That allowed the Cardinals to hold off any Barnveld charge, though the Golden Eagles’ shooting woes continued in the second half to the tune of 22.7%, and just 23.3% overall. The lead reached double-digits in the closing minutes, as Pacelli was able to close things out.

Ella Van Order continued her strong play into the second half, finishing with a game-high 25 points, making nine-of-14 attempts from the field. Jaedyn Zdroik played much better in the second half, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Haylee Cisewski had a double-double as well with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Barneveld senior Izabel Durst finished her illustrious career with a 19-point effort, adding four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. She was the only Barneveld player to reach double digits.

Pacelli advances to the Division 5 state title game in its first WIAA State Tournament appearance. The Cardinals will take on undefeated Eleva-Strum for the Division 5 crown on Saturday at 11:05 am.