The travel distance was long but the girls' postseason tournament run for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn proved to be a short one. Despite coming back to tie the score in the third quarter, the Hawks lost to West Bend-Mallard, 50-39, in a 1A regional first round game Feb. 11 at West Bend.

West Bend-Mallard took a four-point lead during a low scoring first quarter. H-M-S twice got to within one point in the second quarter and trailed 24-20 at half time.

"The girls got it close and made a few threes," said Hawk coach Lester Tessum. "We got ourselves back in the game."

A pair of baskets by Darby Mastbergen to open the second half tied the score, but West Bend-Mallard answered with 10 straight points. Once the Wolverines' lead reached 11 points in the fourth quarter, H-M-S could only trade scores the rest of the game.

"We didn't make critical shots we would have needed to put us over the hump," Tessum acknowledged.

H-M-S switched to a man-to-man defense against West Bend-Mallard's spread offense. That allowed the Wolverines to make backdoor cuts to the basket or get fouled. They made 10-of-15 free throws in the final period to seal the win.

Tessum felt the Wolverines' quickness created problems on both ends of the floor.

"They are a very quick team. I knew it would be a real challenge to stick with them," he said. "There were a few times when our passes were a little late but you have to give them credit. Their aggressiveness and quickness were something we were not used to."

Mastbergen led H-M-S with 14 points. Jasmine Lux scored eight points, Olivia Grooters and Taya Mason scored six, Elise Haack made a three-pointer and Lydia Harders added two points. The Hawks made 14-of-49 shots from the floor and 8-of-10 at the foul line.

H-M-S won the battle on the boards (31-24), with Mastbergen grabbing eight rebounds, Grooters having six, and Harders, Lux and Mason all finishing with five. Grooters also had two steals.

'Small wins' during season

A last-second win over South O'Brien prior to the holiday break gave H-M-S some momentum going into January. They started 2021 by winning two of their first four games but then lost eight straight.

Tessum credited the leadership of seniors Paige Gehrke, Olivia Grooters, Darby Mastbergen and Taya Mason with keeping the Hawks upbeat through tough times.

"Anytime you go through a streak when you're not getting wins is tough," he said. "I was very happy with how our seniors and especially our captains [Grooters and Mason] kept everyone positive. When you play the kind of schedule we play, that can be difficult."

While H-M-S's final record was 5-17, Tessum said the program measures success in other ways.

"You focus on small wins throughout the season," he said. "You give the girls obtainable goals so they have something to look forward to."

He feels the Hawks improved their ability to break opposing teams' defensive pressure and played well enough on defense to stay in most games.

During the offseason the Hawks will be focusing on developing their ball handling, dribbling and shooting skills.