Published: March 21, 2014
A LOOK BACK: PART I OF II
30 years later
East’s girls basketball team won state title in 1984 for
West Bend’s only basketball championship — boys or girls
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
West Bend East had no business being at the 1984 WIAA girls
basketball state tournament.
That’s what the Suns were told at least.
It had the most losses of the eight teams in the tournament
(three) and it came from a community with little history of basketball success.
West Bend was and still is a volleyball and baseball town. That was proven in
the fall of the 1983-84 school year as East’s volleyball team won the state
championship.
All that was why then-coach Rick Riehl got on his knees and
kissed the hardwood of the basketball court upon the team’s arrival at the UW
Fieldhouse in Madison for the basketball state tournament.
So imagine the reaction after the Suns won the state
championship.
Thirty years later, that championship remains the only
basketball state title in West Bend — boys or girls.
“We had no business winning a state championship without all
sorts of things falling into place,” Riehl said.
That they did.
In the state quarterfinal, the Suns played Merrill and
during the warmups, one of Merrill’s top players tripped over a basketball and
sprained her ankle.
In the state semifinal against Oak Creek, the Suns trailed
by 13 points with six minutes to go. The Suns scored the next 14 points to win
the game and the last two points were the most dramatic.
Jody Schriever (nee Dogs), a 28 percent free-throw shooter,
made two free throws with just seconds remaining in the game to give the Suns a
one-point victory.
“I remember that Rick Riehl would always role play with me
at the free-throw line because I was a terrible free-throw shooter,” Schriever
said. “All season, we had to shoot free throws and if we missed, we had to run
sprints. We did a lot of free-throw shooting.”
With a spot in the state championship game resting on her
shoulders, Schriever was ready for the challenge.
“I was pretty nervous, but it was door- die,” she recalled.
In the state championship game, the Suns almost booted it
away. This time, they were the ones up by double digits late against Brookfield
East.
“We gave up all but one point of it away, but we hung on to
win,” Riehl said. “I remember every minute of all three of those games because
they were one possession games.”
Looking at the roster, however, it shouldn’t have been a
surprise the Suns put together a run at a state championship.
They were led by five seniors: Schriever, Denise
Gredzielinek (nee DuKatz), Paulette Mayou (nee Gerner), Renee Staehling (nee
Gross) and Linda Ashburn (nee Reichl).
There were eight juniors and two sophomores as well.
It was a special group of student-athletes.
In the fall of 1983, Ann Dommisse (nee Altschaefl),
Schriever, Gredzielinek, Laurie Finley (nee Fellner), Staehling, Karla Kappler
and Ashburn won the state championship in volleyball. Plus, Dommisse, Pam Hosp
and Kathy Handel (nee Koller) won a conference title and reached the sectional
final in softball.
“We were getting along and liking each other and that was a
key,” Finley said. “Everyone realized that.”
“So many of us were in three sports, which isn’t that common
today at a high level,” Dommisse said. “We spent so much time together, not to
mention we had a couple girls that were really tall and had great coaches.
“It was a great group of athletes,” she added.
Ashburn and Finley were named to the All-Tournament team at
state basketball and the tournament ended what was a painful season as well.
Staehling broke her tibia and fibula, which required
surgery, while celebrating the volleyball state championship.
“When we won the state championship,” she said, “we were
jumping up and down. I came down on my friend’s foot.”
Staehling was one of the leaders on the basketball team, an
inspiration leader at that.
“She was a terrific leader,” Riehl said. “If Renee said it,
that was it.”
It was that way for the whole senior class.
“They were very hard workers, very dedicated,” Dommisse
said. “They led by example.”
Whenever Staehling took advantage of her leadership skills,
the team was all ears.
When the regular season ended, Staehling stood up in front
of the team in the locker room and told the team she “wanted to play seven more
games.”
Seven games were two in the regional, two in the sectional
and three at state. Riehl still remembered the pep talk, which was laden with
some expletives.
“I looked at their faces,” he said. “I could see we had a
chance (at winning state).”
Staehling missed most of the season because of the injury
from volleyball, but returned just in time for the basketball playoffs.
“If you would’ve asked me in September of ’84, I would’ve
said yes,” said Riehl when asked if he believed the Suns were capable of
winning a state basketball title. “When Renee went down, we were going to be
without our power forward.”
“It was very tough,” Staehling said. “I remember going to
all the practices on my crutches. I hated it. I remember my first game back and
not being a starter, which was the worse thing.
“My team was out there and I was hoping I could get right
back in there. It was hard, but when I finally got back into the game, I was a
lot more enthusiastic than I would’ve been otherwise. I was really eager to get
in there.”
Staehling and most of the team members didn’t remember the
pep talk, but Staehling said it sounded like something she would’ve done.
“She just always pulled people together whether things were
good or bad,” said Candace Anderson (nee Kirchner), also known as Candy then.
In the 1982-83 season, the Suns, Riehl believed, had a
better chance at going and winning the state championship than in the 1983-84
season. Unfortunately, sickness hit a couple of members of the team and were
eliminated in the sectional final.
Riehl took over the East job before the 1978-79 school year
and immediately had doubters.
“I was told that we would not have the success because it
was West Bend and West Bend doesn’t succeed in basketball,” Riehl said. “You
remember those kinds of things. I wrote that one down.”
The Suns, like they are today, were in the Wisconsin Little
Ten Conference, which was arguably one of the best conferences in the state.
From 1979-88, Hartford made two appearances at state and
Watertown made five, including the state runner- up in 1981 and three straight
appearances from 1985-87. Wisconsin Lutheran won a WISAA state title in that
span as well.
During Riehl’s tenure, the Suns were 154-65 (70.3 percent).
The state championship victory was Riehl’s 100th at East.
The Suns had the talent part covered, the experience and the
motivation. They also had the inspiration.
There was this small sophomore — Hosp.
In early February 1984, her father died of a heart attack.
He was 51. At the time, it didn’t set in for Hosp.
“That happened when I was 16,” she said. “It took more than
10 years until it really hit me.”
The team rallied for her.
When the final buzzer sounded at state signifying a state
championship, it wasn’t a senior or even a junior that got to get the coveted
gold ball. It was the 5-foot-2 Hosp.
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Hosp said.
Riehl doesn’t remember holding the trophy.
“I wanted the kids to have it,” he said. “I just went along
for the ride. They were such a great group. This was way bigger than me. I just
enjoyed it and appreciated it.”
In the hours and days after state, the team got to have
breakfast with Gov. Anthony S. Earl at the governor’s mansion. Then upon the
team’s arrival in West Bend, a large parade was held through town and ended at
the fieldhouse.
It was like a hero’s welcome.
“I couldn’t believe the turnout from the city,” Handel said.
“We played hard and had fun,” Gredzielinek said.
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