By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK (WIAA D3 Girls Basketball): Platteville 50, Madison Edgewood 48
Poller hits game-winner with 9.1 seconds left as Platteville rallies to beat Edgewood in D2 regional semis
Lizzie Poller
Platteville senior Lizzie Poller hit this 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to lift the Hillmen to a 50–48 victory over Madison Edgewood in last Friday's WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal.

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Feb. 21–28)
WIAA D3 GIRLS BASKETBALL: Platteville 50, Madison Edgewood 48

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Poller hits game-winning 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left as Platteville rallies to beat Madison Edgewood

PLATTEVILLE — Platteville will get a third shot at Southwest Wisconsin Conference rival Prairie du Chien.

Senior Lizzie Poller hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left to lift the third-seeded Hillmen to a dramatic 50–48 win over sixth-seeded Madison Edgewood in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal.

A night later, Platteville’s defense suffocated second-seeded and third-ranked Edgerton 39–29 to win a D3 regional title. The Crimson Tide entered the regional final averaging 61.7 points per game.

Platteville’s sectional bid nearly came to an end Friday night against Edgewood (14–12).

After a rough first half, the Hillmen began the second half on a 13–2 run, spurred by a pair of interior baskets by senior Ellie Temperly and three 3-pointers by Carl, turning a 21–16 deficit into a 29–23 advantage.

But the lead quickly evaporated when Edgewood junior point guard Taya Fernandez (20 points) scored 11 points on three 3s and a pull-up jumper to spur a 15–4 that gave the Crusaders a 38–33 lead with 8:38 to play.

Edgewood still held a 46–42 lead with less than three minutes to play, but Nies scored on a layup, then drilled a clutch 3-pointer to give the Hillmen a 47–46 lead.

After four-straight empty possessions, Fernandez gave the visitors a 48–47 lead with 48  seconds left on a driving bank shot.

Platteville called a timeout with 38.4 left, then nearly turned it over second later, but Nies drove into the lane, drawing the Edgewood defense before kicking out to an opener Poller, who drilled the eventual game-winning 3 from the left win. Poller had just one other basket in the game before that play.

Edgewood turned to Fernandez to make a play, but bobbled the play and traveled as the final buzzer sounded before even getting a shot off.

“Our team showed a lot of toughness Friday night.  Edgewood kept coming at us all night and our team never flinched,” said Temperly. “We executed down the stretch and the girls made some good reads. Edgewood took away our first play and the girls ran the counter. Camryn drew three girls to the middle and delivered a great pass to Lizzie who buried a big-time three. We defended well again and forced them into a turnover as time ran out. It was a great team win against a tough opponent. I was very proud of our toughness together.”

Saturday night, Edgerton (22–3) led Platteville 27–22 with seven minutes left before a steal by Alyssa Blevins and a 3-pointer by senior Camryn Nies ignited Platteville’s game-winning 17–2 run to end the game.

The Hillmen (20–6) held Edgerton leading scorer Slyvia Fox (16.2 ppg) to just 12 points, and no other player scored more than four points for the Tide.

Meanwhile, Nies — one of the other Platteville heroines from Friday night — had one of the best games of her career with an uber-efficient 24 points on 8 of 14 shooting, including 4 of 7 on 3-pointers. She also made 4 of 5 from the free throw line in the final 90 seconds and fellow senior Maddison Carl made three straight 3-pointers to help seal the win.

“Camryn had a great offensive night and we really needed it,” said Temperly. “We also made more free throws than our opponent attempted. The girls are locked in and competing hard for each other.

Platteville finished 9 of 13 at the free throw line to counter Edgerton’s perfect 8-for-8 line at the line.

Platteville (20–6) advanced to sectionals for the sixth time in eight seasons, but first since going a perfect 26–0 and advancing all the way to the D3 state championship game in 2019–20 before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Platteville will now face three-time defending SWC champion and D3 #5-ranked Prairie du Chien (21–4) in a sectional final Thursday at Lancaster High School at 7 p.m.


WIAA Division 3 Regional Semifinal
No. 3 Platteville 50, No. 6 Edgewood 48
(from Friday, Feb. 24 @ Platteville)
Madison Edgewood 21 27 —  48
Platteville 16 34 —  50
Madison Edgewood (14–12) — Taya Fernandez 20, Erin Schauer 4, Makayla Foley 5, Mya Tomlinson 2, Zhana Gnewuch 9, Maren Schmotzer 6, Grace Nwanko 2. Totals — 20 2-4 48.
Platteville (19–6) — Lizzie Poller 5, Camryn Nies 16, Maddison Carl 11, Alyssa Blevins 7, Ellie Temperly 9, Hailey Weigel 2. Totals — 17 9-12 50.
3-point goals — E: 6 (Fernandez 4, Ma. Foley 1, Gnewuch 1), P: 7 (Poller 1, Nies 2, Carl 3, Temperly 1). Team fouls — E: 11, P: 11. Fouled out — none.