A LOOK BACK: PART II OF II; Where are they now? East girls became leaders

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 22, 2014

A LOOK BACK: PART II OF II

Where are they now? East girls became leaders

Team features a doctor, a lawyer and 2-time Olympian

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Even after winning the WIAA Class A state championship in girls basketball in 1984, the 15 girls who made up the West Bend East Suns’ team continued to impress after high school.

Among them is a doctor, a lawyer, a two-time Olympian, a business owner and teachers.

“The girls were wonderful and we had great coaches,” said Kathy Handel (nee Koller). “Looking back now as a parent with kids in athletics, I had it pretty good.”

“It was a special group of kids,” said Gary Kraase, one of two assistant coaches on the team. “They certainly had goals in mind and it showed up later on in their lives.”

“At that point in time, they were enthusiastic, worked hard, and had a goal in mind and worked toward that goal,” he added. “The hard work paid off.”

Almost all of the team members — players and coaches — couldn’t believe it’s been 30 years since their triumph over Brookfield East to win the state championship, which remains the lone basketball state title in West Bend history, boys or girls.

“I can’t believe it,” Karla Scott (nee Kappler) said. “It’s been a long time.”

For some, however, each time the girls basketball state tournament comes around or just a state tournament in general, the memories are jarred and they can’t help but smile.

“A lot of times whenever basketball is on TV or when my kids think I’m just a mom,” Ann Dommisse (nee Altschaefl) said when asked how often she thinks about the 1983-84 season. “I think of those years a lot; they were so much fun.”

“It’s such a special moment,” she added. “It’s very rare. You don’t realize that until much later.”

A lot of things fell into perspective after high school for the Suns.

Pam Hosp was a prime example.

Hosp lost her father in February 1984 to a heart attack. He was just 51 years old.

Robert L. Hosp was the executive secretary and a member of the board of directors of West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. The Hosps lived nearby, about a mile away.

“He came home for lunch and had a heart attack,” Hosp recalled. “He was in a coma for two weeks, then passed away.”

At the time, Hosp was 16 years old. It wasn’t until her mid-20s when she let go of her emotions.

“It was almost like a floodgate had opened,” Hosp said. “I was a tough kid. I didn’t show my emotions.”

Hosp had plenty to keep her mind off of her father’s passing as she was on the basketball and softball teams, which won the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference title and made it to the sectional final in 1984.

“It was like a family,” she said.
One of the key players on the Suns’ basketball team that season was sophomore Laurie Finley (nee Fellner).
Coach Rick Riehl called Finley, “the best athlete I ever coached.”
Finley made the All-Tournament at state basketball and went on to play basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In high school, Finley battled through two knee injuries and it happened again to her at UWGB, putting her basketball career in jeopardy.
“The doctors recommended I shouldn’t play,” Finley said. “It was devastating.”
“I was disappointed because it was my first love,” she added.
She quickly found a new love: handball.
A trainer at UWGB started a club handball team. By 1989, Finley was training with the U.S. Olympic program as a goalkeeper.
In 1992, she was a member of the U.S. Olympic team at the Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.
“I fulfilled a childhood dream not once, but twice,” she said, also referring to winning a state championship in basketball.
Four years later, Finley was back in the Olympics, this time on U.S. soil in Atlanta.
The 1996 Olympics were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Security guard Richard Jewell discovered the pipe bomb, then notified law enforcement and helped evacuate as many people as possible from the area before it exploded. Although Jewell’s quick actions are credited for saving many lives, the bombing killed two people and wounded 111 others.
“We couldn’t believe what happened,” Finley said. “There was a lot of questions: Who did it? What was the motive?”
Finley retired from competition after the 1996 games.
“It was a fun, fast-paced game,” Finley said. “Thirty-minute halves, no timeouts and it was physical, and I liked that.”
The team was led by five seniors, all leaders.
“(Former East volleyball coach) Lynn (LaPorte) was such a great help to me. She coached those kids as freshmen and she said to me, ‘This is a special group.’” Linda Ashburn (nee Reichl) was one of the state’s best players in volleyball and basketball, earning a scholarship to play volleyball at Purdue.
She played for the U.S. junior national team after her freshman season at Purdue. Later, she got an invitation to try out for the Olympic team, but turned it down.
“I think I just had enough of volleyball,” she said. “I blew out my knee my junior year and played through pain senior year. I probably should’ve waited (to return).
“I just never got my leg back up. I didn’t want to stay a fifth year (at Purdue).”
The talent was there for this group and so was the dedication, which is why there was no surprise all went on to be successful in something other than sports.
“”You don’t always get a group of kids together with that type of chemistry,” Kraase said. “They were a special kids.”