DE PERE (NBC 26) — From sitting in the stands at the WIAA state girls basketball tournament as kids to taking the court in their senior year, the West De Pere girls basketball team’s dream has come true. But they know the job isn’t finished yet.
“We’re not just going there to feel good,” Phantoms head coach Chris Abaray said. “We feel like we have a really good team. Our goal wasn’t just to make it—it’s to win a state championship. So the focus has to be there this week. Having a big senior class helps, too. You have those kids who have that mentality of ‘We don’t want to let this thing go.’”
The Phantoms are led by seven seniors who have been playing together since they were young. Living so close to the Resch Center, they’ve attended many state tournaments as fans.
“I get my Snapchat memories and all these pictures from watching the games, but now we’re on the court,” Phantoms senior Ella Francois said. “I think that’s crazy. We have all these pictures in the stands, but now we’re going to be on the court, which is awesome.”
Teammate Madisyn Berggren agreed.
“I can’t even explain how excited we are,” Berggren said. “We’ve been wanting to do this since we were in third grade, and it just means so much to have our community behind us and to be able to do it with these girls that I love playing with.”
West De Pere is facing No. 2-seeded Wauwatosa East, which has only one loss this season. Head coach Chris Abaray knows they’re going to get everybody’s best at this point.
“I know Wauwatosa East,” Abaray said. “They’re well-coached, and they come at you with a high level of intensity. We have to handle it.”
The Phantoms have already made history, becoming the first West De Pere girls basketball team to reach state since 1978.
“It’s so awesome,” Berggren said. “I mean, we got to school on Monday, and all the teachers and students were saying, ‘Hey, congrats.’ The fact that we haven’t done this in about 50 years is crazy. Everyone is so excited for us.”
Francois said she wakes up every morning thinking about practice and gets butterflies thinking about Friday’s game.
“It’s just like basketball, basketball,” Francois said. “And to be honest—sorry, teachers—but school is the last thing on my mind. And I’m guessing it’s the same for most of my teammates. It’s just an awesome opportunity, and we know we have something great in front of us that we can totally take advantage of.”
The Phantoms are one of 12 teams practicing at The Driveway ahead of state. They’ll play in the Division II semifinals at the Resch Center on Friday.
