GREEN BAY — The (29-1) Kimberly Papermakers girls basketball team are the Wisconsin Division 1 girls basketball state champions.
Their stifling defense was too much for Muskego to handle, as the Papermakers won handily, 47-26.
Muskego made just 3 of their 22 shots from the field in the first half, (13%) and would finish with a shooting percentage of 25%.
"Ive done this for a long time as an assistant and and now as a head coach and I've coached football, I've coached basketball, I've coached boys, I've coached girls, and this is by far the toughest group of kids I've ever been around," head coach David Lepisto said. "They're physically tough. They're mentally tough."
Kimberly sophomore Ava Van Vonderen had a team-high 15 points.
"Honestly I would trade a gold ball for playing another year with this team," Van Vonderen said. "It means the world. It's an overwhelming feel of emotions. I cried a little bit. I can't stop smiling. We did it with our team and this team is special. I keep saying that and I can't say it enough."
Head coach David Lepisto says their success is because of how intelligent this team is on and off the court."
"The best thing about it is one of the things my dad taught me and he was my first coach for basketball — you can only win if you have intelligent players," Lepisto said. "This is an academic all-state team and now we're state champions. That goes hand in hand, absolutely and there's not doubt about that in my mind.
