The Buccaneers also hit their last 12 free throws in the game on the way to a 79-68 win at Bresnan Arena in the Section 2A girls’ basketball championship game.

The Knights, the top seed in the North Subsection, finish their season with a 25-3 record.

The Bucs, the top seed in the South Subsection, head to the state tournament next week with a 26-4 record.

Mathiowetz also had 13 rebounds, six steals and two assists for the Knights, while Sydney Windschitl added 8 points and five rebounds. Liz Schwint also had 6 points and five rebounds for the Knights.

WEM was led by Brielle Bartelt’s 29 points, while Ellie Ready had 17, Toryn Richards added 14 and Kylie Pittmann chipped in 12.

After WEM started the second half with a 3 by Ready, the Knights got a 9-0 run to lead 42-41. WEM took the lead back on another 3 by Ready, but Mathiowetz got back-to-back layups to put the Knights in front 46-44.

The Bucs got a 9-0 run late to lead 66-57, with a 3 off the back of the rim dropping in by Ready to end the run. Mathiowetz got a layup and an and-one after that run to have the Knights within 4, 66-62, but WEM was able to force the Knights to start fouling with minutes to play, which led to the Bucs getting their final 13 points on free throws.

The Bucs’ late push and the Knights’ need to be more aggressive late and foul was an area that Knights head coach Bruce Woitas thought was key in the loss.

“The key, I think we were tied [57-57] at one point and then they went up by 6 or 8 around that five-minute mark, and at the time we were sitting with one foul on the board so we had to go after it and put them at the foul line to try to pull it out,” Woitas said. “But our kids played hard and that’s all you can ask. They gutted it out to the end. And [WEM] was hot tonight. We gave up some uncontested shots, but overall I thought we were defending well, they just were hitting shots and they hit a number of free throws, and when they didn’t hit their free throws, they got the rebound a couple times and that hurt a little bit, too.”

Mathiowetz scored 12 of the Knights’ first 14 points to keep St. Mary’s close early in the game after trailing 11-3. Minutes later after WEM pushed its lead to 20-16, Katelyn Rutscher and Schwint each hit a jumper before Mathiowetz got a bucket inside to tie things up at 20.

Reagan Severson then drove to the hoop for a layup to give the Knights their first lead of the game and force a WEM timeout with 7:50 left in the half. After the Knights took that lead, though, the Bucs went on an 18-4 run to lead 38-26, getting four 3s during that run.

St. Mary’s was, however, able to end the half on a nice 6-0 run that included a buzzer-beating bucket inside by Severson to trail 38-33 at halftime.

With no seniors this year and a young group returning next season, Woitas said that he believes his squad will continue to be a team to beat next year and he’s hoping to see them take another step next season.

“Obviously you can never guarantee where you’re going to be [next season], a year’s a long ways away, but this group has been — like I told them after the game, ‘It’s been one of the most enjoyable years I’ve ever had.'” Woitas said. “Great work ethic, great passion for the game of basketball, hard workers, and I see them continuing to do that. I think this group wants to make that next step, and we just have to be back next year ready to battle. This same team [WEM] has got a lot of kids back as well.”