Racine St. Catherine’s adds another trophy
OSHKOSH - The plan was hatched almost two years ago to the date.
On March 7, 2019, Racine St. Catherine's season ended at the hands of Martin Luther, the eventual state champion, in a sectional semifinal. The Angels brought back nearly everyone from that team the following season, resulting in lofty expectations both internal and external.
With a talented core back for more, it was title or bust.
Only a pandemic could stop the Angels. Even then, it could only keep them down for one season.
“Going through that last year, having to tell my group of four seniors that their high school careers were over and it was no fault of their own and we couldn't do anything about it,” Racine St. Catherine's head coach Nick Bennett said. “That was probably the hardest thing I've had to do as a coach.”
On Friday night, the Angels made good – and gold.
Led by a stalwart all-around effort by senior guard Kamari McGee, St. Catherine's defeated Lake Country Lutheran, 68-49, to win the Division 3 state title, its sixth WIAA championship and first since 2010.
“I can't even put it into words,” McGee said. “I'm going to get emotional. Just to get back in here with the guys and play hard, we kept playing for one another. I love these guys to death. I'll miss them.”
McGee, part of the Angels' senior class big three that includes Tyrese Hunter and Jameer Barker that progressed together over the years, took over in the second half. He scored 22 of his game-high 26 points while shooting 10 of 11 from the field, building St. Catherine's lead to double digits in the early going and never turning back.
“Honestly I don't know what came over me,” McGee said. “I realized I was getting to my spots easy, so I was taking advantage of it. If (LCL) would have helped even more, I would have dumped it off, but they didn't. I just kept going. “I didn't take my foot off the gas.” Barker scored 10 of the first 15 points of the game for the Angels and finished with 14. Barker and senior guard Calvin Hunter combined to hit the first 5 threepoint attempts for the game.
Senior forward Marcel Tyler also added 14 points while making all but one field-goal attempt.
Hunter, the school's all-time leading scorer, was playing at less than 100% due to a previous ankle injury and cramps. The Iowa State recruit scored just two points but never forced the issue, taking only four shots while playing a critical role in St. Cat's holding the Lightning to .845 points per possession and well below its season scoring average.
“I'm going to say for the viewers out there, I hope they know how special Tyrese Hunter is,” Bennett said. “For the casual viewer, go on YouTube and watch some Tyrese Hunter highlights if you want to have a good 10 minutes. But I have always said that we're more than one player.”
After scoring just four points in the first half, McGee, a UW-Green Bay recruit, scored 16 of the Angels' first 20 points coming out of halftime. As the Lightning switched to a 1-3-1 zone, McGee was able to penetrate into the paint at will, leading to clean floater and layup looks.
For as efficient as McGee was offensively, he was as much of a thorn in Lutheran's side on defense.
Matched up against one another all night, McGee never let Lightning leading scorer and first team all-state selection Luke Haertle breathe when he had the ball. Haertle was forced into difficult looks and finished with 16 points, down from his season average of over 25, on 7-of-16 shooting to go along with seven turnovers.
“We asked (McGee) to guard the toughest assignment every game,” Bennett said. “We tell him, ‘This kid's averaging 22 a game, this kid's averaging 25 a game,' and we ask him that he can't take plays off. And he doesn't.”
The Angels weren't able to pull off an undefeated campaign as they did a year ago when the season was canceled prior to sectional finals due to COVID-19. St. Cat's was 24-0 at the time and the undisputed best team in its division.
Four seniors graduated from that team – Elijah Sabala, Caleb Chernouski, Elijah Lambert and Brock Naidl – and the Angels made it a point this season to make sure they were playing to complete what that class couldn't finish.
“It made it really special,” McGee said.