News

La Crosse Central 55, Cedarburg 53

La Crosse Central (26-2) edged Cedarburg 55-53 to win the Division 2 championship of the 2017 State Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

The first half featured five lead changes, three ties and no lead that exceeded five points. The Red Raiders had the advantage inside the lane in the first period, outscoring the Bulldogs 12-0 in the half. Cedarburg shot-4-of-5 from beyond the arc keep within three at halftime, 21-18.

 The Red Raiders built a double-digit lead in the second half at 38-28 with 12:33 remaining in the game. A John Diener three-pointer sparked a Bulldog rally over a eight-minute span that put Cedarburg in the lead at 50-49 with 2:55 on the clock. Kobe King hit a jump shot and Bailey Kale scored on layup to La Crosse to give the lead back to the Red Raiders. They hung for the win despite misfiring on four free throws in the final 23 seconds.

 The Red Raiders held a significant advantage around the basket, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-4 in the paint and outrebounding Cedarburg 30-21, which led to a 14-2 edge in second-chance points in the game. The Bulldogs relied on their marksmanship from beyond the arc for their offensive catalyst, converting 11-of-18 three-pointers.

 King led all scorers with 28 points and nine rebounds for the Red Raiders. Bailey Kale also scored in double figures with 15. Diener paced the Bulldogs with 25 points, and Jordan Johnson and Matthew Barber added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

 In its 16th State appearance, La Crosse Central wins its second State championship and its first since 1925. Cedarburg finishes runner-up in its third State Tournament experience.

Destiny 77, Darlington 55

Destiny (25-1) captured the Division 4 championship with a 76-55 win over previously undefeated Darlington in the final of the State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Saturday afternoon.

The score was not indicative of much of the game. Darlington led only briefly in the first half, but the Eagles were unable to put the Redbirds away until the waning minutes of the second half. 

Destiny led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Redbirds whittled their deficit to seven by halftime at 34-27. Darlington didn’t go away throughout most of the second half. Trailing by 11 at the 10:55 mark, the Redbirds outscored the Eagles 17-8 to cut the lead to 55-53 with 5:37 remaining. The Eagles sealed their destiny with 18-2 run to end the game.

Terrance Banyard led all scorers with 22 points and added a team-high four steals for the Eagles. Sarion McGee contributed a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards. The Redbirds were led by Will Schwartz and Ryan Glendenning with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Destiny’s bench also contributed to the victory, outscoring the Darlington bench by a remarkable 27-0.

The Eagles win the championship in their first-ever appearance in the State Tournament, becoming the 37th program to accomplish that feat. Darlington (27-1) finishes runner-up in its second State experience.

Austin Martin, a senior from Random Lake, won the 2017 boys 3-Point Challenge held Saturday morning at the Kohl Center in conjunction with the State Boys Basketball Tournament.

Martin, representing Division 4,  was one of 10 participants in the 3-Point Challenge, which was held for the third time. He scored 18 points in the final round to win the contest. Senior Keaton of Waukesha South, last year's champion, was second with 17 points in the final round.

Martin scored 17 points in the opening round and 18 in the semifinals. Stremick opened with 22 points and followed with a 18 in the semifinals. Senior Bryce Te Kulve of Luxemburg-Casco and senior Neal Cerveny of Gresham also advanced to the semifinals with first-round totals of 21 and 17, respectively.  

Other participants were Nicholas Brozek of Fall River, Colton Groholski of Amherst, Zach Borden of Kenosha Bradford, Eric Carl of Kaukauna, Caleb Gracyalny of Clinton and Reid Larson of Fennimore.