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Prescott (24-3) advances to the Division 3 final Saturday with a 74-67 victory over Lake Mills in the semifinals of the State Basketball Tournament Thursday afternoon at th Kohl Center in Madison. 

The Cardinals overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half, outscoring the L-Catas 26-11 in the final minutes of the game. Prescott shot 66 percent in the half and converted 5-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to secure their lead and earn the victory.

The L-Cats’ largest lead of the first half was seven, leading 13-6 at the 14:33 mark. Prescott fought back with an 18-5 run once they got 7-foot-1 Owen Hamilton involved, who scored 14 of his game-high 33 points in the first half. The teams exchanged leads six times in the first period, and the Cardinals took a 28-27 lead into the locker room at the half.

Petey Brookshaw joined Hamilton in double figures with 14 points for the Cardinals. Hamilton also led all rebounders with 11 boards. Luke Murphy dished out 11 assists, one shy of the Division 3 State Tournament record. 

Alex Ranney led four L-Cats in double figures with 20 points. JT Toepfer scored 17 points; Ben Dunkelberger tossed in 14; and Brady Wagner added 10 points.
 
Prescott will play in the championship final for the first time in their two appearances, and Lake Mills (24-3) ends its season with its first-ever State appearance.

Keaton Stremick, a junior from Waukesha South, won the second year of the boys’ 3-Point Challenge held Saturday at the Kohl Center in conjunction with the 2016 State Boys Basketball Tournament.

Stremick was one of 10 participants in the contest. He scored 19 points in the final round to win the contest. Adam Cherek of Iola-Scandinavia and Henry Noone of Lourdes Academy were tied for second with 18 points in the final round.

Stremick scored 17 points to advance to the semifinals from the opening round and scored 21 in the semifinals. Cherek opened with 19 points and followed with 24 in the semifinals. Noone advanced to the semifinals with 21 points in the opening round and tied Cherek in the semifinals to move onto the finals. Points do not carry over from the previous rounds. Jordan Johnson of Cedarburg also advanced to the semifinals with 16 points in the opening round.

Other participants were Terrence Lewis of Milwaukee Riverside, Cody Birr of Pulaski, Carter Voelker of Kiel, Ethan Anderson of Black River Falls, Quinn Cushman of Belmont and Luke Reader of Bangor. 

The top two players per division were selected for the contest based on the best 3-point field goal percentage with a minimum of 75 attempts during the regular season.