A tough ending to a storybook season; Bulldogs fall to Central/NYA 52-46

The Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton girls’ basketball team was primed for a season that was a plot to a sports movie. The 6-0 start, the tough part of the schedule teaching them about adversity, the bounce back after narrowly missing the conference championship…all of that led to a moment where they could have a shot at the state tournament to complete the story arc. And with #1 seed St. Clair (the only team to beat them in Section 2AA play) out, the path was clear with them as the highest seed remaining.

However, #3 seed Central/Norwood Young America was persistent against JWP in the Section 2AA semifinals at the MSU Mankato Taylor Center on Monday, March 2. And despite the Lady Dawgs leading most of the game, they just couldn’t put the Raiders away, and it slipped away from them as NYA took the game with a 52-46 win.

Like the TCU game, it felt like a tale of two halves, but in a different way. Both teams struggled to find the basket in the first half. In fact, senior Nevaeh Weimert and freshman Ashlynn Wolff were the only ones on JWP’s side to provide consistent offense throughout the game. Weimert had 12 of the team’s 24 points in the first half, while Wolff had six. Weimert was frustrating the Raiders as she seemed to make three-pointer after three-pointer. The Bulldogs had a 24-17 halftime lead.

They came out of the gate in the second half, with senior Katie Olson hitting the opening two and 7th-grader Jacelynn Mulder getting the two-and-one. At two points in the game, the Bulldogs had nearly hit double-digit leads. But credit to Central/NYA for never giving up. Eventually, they shut down the Bulldog offense in the paint in the second half. And whenever it seemed like JWP had a multi-score lead, they found their way back into it with a clutch three or by drawing fouls.

JWP had everything going their way in the first few minutes of the second half. NYA had already drawn ten fouls near the halfway point of the second; they had multi-score leads, and it seemed like all they had to do was keep attacking like they were in the first half.

Now, there are two ways to argue about the change in momentum in the second half. To Head Coach Brandon Goebel, it was when Wolff fouled out in the second half. She had already run into foul trouble early in the opening minutes, drawing her fourth and prompting Goebel to pull her out of the game earlier than he would have liked. Then, when the team had a five-point lead, she ended up fouling out as the defense struggled to get back in time to stop a Raiders scoring opportunity.

“She’s been a huge part of our offense all year,” Goebel explained. “Without her, it took us away from a lot of the things that we can do as far as spacing a floor and having a low-post presence. When she went out, it changed a lot for us.”

But to the three captains – Nevaeh Weimert, Katie Olson, and Kwynn Krause – it was how they dealt with some adversity, namely the calls not going their way. Krause was called for a foul after tumbling down on the court, and a Raiders player tripped over her while trying to get the ball. There was another instance where it seemed like it should have been JWP’s ball, but the refs gave it to Central/NYA. And suddenly, it seemed like the Lady Dawgs went from getting the Raiders to foul at will to not drawing a foul at all.

“We had the mentality of going into this game and putting our foot on the gas the whole way,” Weimert started. “I felt like we had our chances. I just don’t think shots went our way…they some calls didn’t go our way…and we ended up making some dumb mistakes, too.”

Krause agreed. “We had good spurts. Then it felt like there were a lot of bad things happening at once. The calls…we didn’t have the greatest attitude towards that. I feel like that had a big influence.”

Olson echoed what Krause said. “We didn’t handle calls that went our way the best. We didn’t fight through adversity like we usually do.”

It was later found out that part of that adversity was trying to keep Olson a hundred percent throughout the whole game. She had the flu over the weekend and was just getting over it.

In a nutshell, it wasn’t a good game for them. Even if they won, the team would have probably thought this. “We should have been better, and the girls know it,” Goebel said. “We didn’t play how we needed to play. We played well the past three weeks, and tonight, we just didn’t show up.”

The future of JWP girls’ basketball looks bright on all levels. And it’s in part due to the fantastic leadership of this year’s seniors: Captains Krause, Olson, and Weimert; and Aubrey Adams, Ellie Morsching, and Mikayla Wheelock. This group set the tone with their example. Olson became the first player in JWP history to reach 2,000 points, while Weimert etched her name in the history books by reaching 1,000 points in the same game that Olson became the all-time scorer in the girls’ basketball program. Wheelock’s set records for her three-point shooting, taking the record for career 3’s and most threes in a game this season. Krause has shown leadership as a captain by being a clutch player when called upon. And whether they were on the court or on the bench, Morsching and Adams always brought a positive attitude.

“They’ve been great,” Goebel said. “I’m really going to miss them. You can never really replace players. You hope that you find players to step up in their place. It’s never a quick fix. They’ve done so much for us. They’re great people. And I’m going to miss seeing them every day.”

They will be leaving behind a great legacy and an even better basketball program. “Our goal as freshmen was to leave the team program better than it was in the past. And I feel we’ve done that. I hope they continue to grow.”

“They have a bright future with a lot of talent coming up,” Olson added. “I’ll be back to watch for sure.”

Krause’s thoughts were a mix of what her fellow captains said. “They have a bright future. I think we’ve done a lot of good things as a senior class for this program.”

All three captains’ favorite memory was winning the Gopher Conference championship against Triton. It was the first time in many years that the JWP girls’ basketball team won a conference title. Olson added that the bond that the team created together was something she will cherish for a long time.

We asked what advice they’d give to their underclassmen. Here are their responses.

Weimert: “Keep working and show up every day.”

Olson: “Work hard during practice, especially when no one’s watching.”

Krause: “Work hard and enjoy it.”

With that, the team ended the season 21-8. It will be difficult for everyone involved to move on from this season. There is some uncertainty about what the roster will look like next season with such a long-tenured group of seniors leaving. But one thing is for sure: things are looking great for JWP girls’ basketball. Players like Ashlynn Wolff and Jacie Mulder, who began their first year on varsity this season and have already made an impact, are proof of that.

With that, the 2026 JWP girls’ basketball season ends. Here’s to the next one.