North Butler’s defense took over in the second quarter and it led the Bearcats to a state championship. Tailing 10-9 at the end of the first quarter the Bearcats outscored Battle Creek-Ida Grove 21-4 enroute to a 40-27 victory in the 2A championship. “Our defense has been huge for us all year and our defense got ’em again tonight,” says North Butler player Erin Brocka. “That’s what wins us our championship.” Brocka finished with ten points and seven rebounds. “We have nine seniors walking away this year and what a great way to walk out is with a state championship,” she says. “A lot of tears but tears of joy and that’s what we wanted.” Battle Creek-Ida Grove trailed by as many as 20 before fighting back in the fourth quarter to get within 11. “We lost a little bit of patience on the offensive end and they forced us to do some things we didn’t want to do,” says Falcon’s coach Patrick Miller. “We did recover a little bit but not soon enough.”
