MADISON (WKOW) — Five girls basketball teams from our viewing area will play for a gold ball this weekend in Green Bay.
For one, the bond between two communities drives them toward their dreams.
The team practiced Tuesday at Beloit College to prepare for the college-length court at the Resch Center.
But they’re no strangers to the Resch, having played and won a gold ball there in 2024.
“We moved up to Division 4, so we didn’t know how we’d compete at this level,” Albany/Monticello senior guard Molly Olson said, “but to see that we can excel even a level up and make it all the way back to State, which is the goal, is really cool.”
The Albany/Monticello Space Stallions are back in the State girls basketball tournament for the second time in three years, despite moving up a division.
This year, a new challenge. On their own, Albany and Monticello High Schools each have less than 90 students. In total, it’s 176 between the two. But because of their success, the WIAA elevated the co-op team to Division 4, even though all other schools with less than 196 students play in Division 5.
“Being from a small school, there’s only 20 kids in your class,” Olson said. “Well, now you just made 10 more friends [being on the team], and it’s really nice to expand our little community.”
Of the ten girls on the team, three live under the same roof. It’s the one high school season that three Olson sisters, all three-sport athletes at Monticello, will share.
“I’ve always, thought about playing with my sisters,” freshman guard Annie Olson said, “and I’ve always wanted to do it. Being able to do it now, it’s so fun. I love doing it.”
“We’ve always played together,” sophomore guard Heidi Olson said. “It’s always like, one-on-one in our driveway. It’s my favorite.”
Molly Olson played on the 2024 state title team. But Albany/Monticello lost in the sectional finals in 2025, and lost six seniors after that.
In 2026, despite all the obstacles and suffering two conference losses, they’re back on the big stage. With a balanced roster with three players that average double-figure scoring, the team feels dangerous.
“I bet during the playoffs, everyone looked at like, ‘oh, Albany/Monticello, we’ll beat them,'” freshman forward Emersen Butts said. “But then this little scrappy school comes and beats them, and I think they were all surprised, because we just out-hustle everyone, and we’ll give it everything we got.”
Now in just the third year of the co-op between the Albany Comets and Monticello Ponies, the Space Stallions — as they’re lovingly known by both communities — reeled off six wins in a row to reach the state semifinals yet again.
“It’s no longer an Albany thing or a Monticello thing, it’s an Albany/Monticello thing, and it’s pretty neat,” head coach Derik Doescher said. “It’s special. […] It’s been strong from day one, and it just continues that way.”
This is the third State appearance in four years for Albany High School, as the team made it to the Resch in 2023 before the co-op with Monticello began in 2023-24. Before 2023, the only other State appearance between the two was Monticello in 1991.
The Space Stallions are joined in Green Bay this weekend by fellow Six Rivers-East conference member Barneveld, which is in Division 4, plus Fall River also in D5, Beaver Dam in D2, and Wisconsin Dells in D3.
You can watch all their games this weekend on WKOW.