GREEN BAY − Stevens Point Pacelli’s first-ever trip to the WIAA state girls basketball tournament ended with championship gold, and Jaedyn Zdroik’s historic performance helped lead the way.
The Pacelli junior guard recorded a triple-double for the Cardinals in their 70-40 victory over Eleva-Strum in the WIAA D5 state championship game at the Resch Center.
Zdroik finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in a superb performance that allowed the Cardinals (25-4) to upset top-seed and previously undefeated Eleva-Strum (30-1). It was only the second time in WIAA state tournament history for a player to record a triple-double.
“I couldn’t have done it without the help from my team,” Zdroik said. “I’ve been playing with these girls since middle school and it’s just really good to end our season with a win.”
Zdroik’s 10 assists also set the D5 record for single-game assists while her 19 rebounds tied the D5 mark. Ella Van Order also had 19 points and five rebounds for Pacelli with Haylee Cisewski adding 14 points and seven rebounds.
Pacelli was dominant throughout the game and finished with a 52-37 rebounding advantage and also outscored Eleva-Strum 34-12 in the paint.
Avery Glenz had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Eleva-Strum, which also got 11 points from Aliza Kulig.
Pacelli had a 16-3 run over a span of 6 minutes to take control in the second half and led by as many as 32 points (67-35) at one point in the second half.
Eleva-Strum had an icy stretch to start the second half − hitting only 1 of 19 shots. Eleva-Strum had entered the game averaging 65 points a game.
It was Eleva-Strum’s second state appearance and first since 2008. The Cardinals beat Webster 64-44 in a sectional final to advance.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jaedyn Zdroik’s historic game lifts Pacelli to WIAA D5 basketball title