DENMARK (WLUK) — For the first time since 1997 the Denmark girls basketball team has won a conference title.
With their win Thursday night the Vikings clinched the outright North Eastern Conference championship. For a program thirsting for a title this was a big deal.
“That’s something we thought we were going to have last year, didn’t happen,” senior Paige Vogel said. “And this year we have a brand new team. We have five of us that played together before so it’s huge that we all 10 of us can come together and make that happen this year.”
“It took building each of the four years,” coach Garett Vander Loop said. “A lot of these kids were with us for three or four years now. The progress each year, and then to end up their senior year on top, I think that means a lot to them and I give them a lot of credit for that sticking with it.”
Not only has Denmark secured a conference championship for the first time in a real long time, it is seeded No. 1 in a Division 3 postseason bracket and that marks the first time since 2015 the Vikings are seeded higher than No. 6 in the postseason. No question They are excited about the opportunity.
“Surprised myself watching it, but we’re going to look at it as an opportunity to do something that’s not been done in a long time,” Vogel said.
Denmark won its first conference title since 1997. (WLUK)
“We’re going to put together a good week of preparation and we’re going to do the best we can and let the chips fall where they may,” Vander Loop said.
Denmark hasn’t been to the state tournament since 1982 and 1983, the only times in the program’s history it has played on the sport’s biggest stage, but it’s not thinking about state right now. With a conference title already locked up, the next step is making a sectional for the first time since 2015. With two postseason wins next week that drought would be over and that would be a really big deal.
“Lay it all on the floor and help the underclassmen understand that these things are not promised,” Vogel said. “Each season is very different from the last so taking it all in and I think that would be a really big deal.”
Vander Loop likes the idea of stretching the season to place the Vikings haven’t been to in quite a while.
“We had a great regular season, so lets of put together a strong postseason, too,” he said. “Like you said, just make a statement.”
So far this season that’s what the Vikings have done.
Follow Doug Ritchay on X @dougritchay