Buzzer-beater sinks The Prairie School
LA CROSSE – Heartbreaking. That summed up the final seconds of the Division 4 state final for The Prairie School's boys basketball team. The Hawks, who led by as many as 20 points in the first half, couldn't hold off a massive comeback from Oshkosh Lourdes in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state final at the La Crosse Center on Friday night.
Nathan Slater's bucket in the paint just before the buzzer lifted Lourdes to a 43-41 victory. The championship was the school's first WIAA state title in its fifth state appearance and the win gave the team a 25-5 record to finish the year.
The Prairie School, meanwhile, finished 24-4 and missed winning its first title. Hawks senior Antuan Nesbitt finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Asanjai Hunter (11 points) and senior guard Kody Kreklin (10) also finished in double digits for the team.
Slagter, a 6-4 senior forward, finished with just five points for the Knights. Senior guard Preston Ruedinger and senior guard Josh Bauer led the comeback with 13 points each.
Semifinals
Sparked by another productive effort by senior Antuan Nesbitt and a 13-0 run that spanned the first and second halves, the Hawks scored a 61-46 victory over Onalaska Luther in a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
Division 4 semifinal Friday morning at the La Crosse Center.
“It's a great opportunity for us. It's something we've dreamed of coming into high school,” Nesbitt said. “We thought it would be possible, but now that it's right in front of us, it doesn't seem real.”
Nesbitt, a 6-foot-4 wing who entered play averaging 21.5 points in the postseason, hit 8 of 14 shots and scored a game-high 18 points. Junior guard Asanjai Hunter added 13 points on 5for-8 shooting. The Hawks also got 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds from sophomore wing Ashe Oglesby.
The Prairie School shot 49% (25 of 51), scored 42 points in the paint and got 19 points off turnovers. It led by as many as 23 points, taking control during the final 3 minutes of the first half when it scored 11 straight points to turn a 23-22 lead into a 34-22 advantage at the break.
Hunter scored seven straight points during that run. He hit two free throws with 2 minutes 13 seconds left to push the lead to 28-22, converted a threepoint play with 1:17 left and scored a putback at with 45 seconds left to make it 33-22.
A free throw by senior KJ Williams snapped Hunter's streak and gave the Hawks their 12-point lead at the break. A Hunter layup 12 seconds into the second half capped the run, but the Hawks maintained momentum the rest of the game as Onalaska Luther got no closer than 12.
“No matter what we threw at them, they had a response for it," Luther coach Brad Schaper said. "They completely took us out of our offensive set with their great pressure and their great guard play. What a good team."
The Knights were led by junior Gavin Proudfoot, a 6-7 forward who finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Isaiah Schwichtenberg, who at 6-7 was the other half of the team's twin towers, added nine points.
Luther had a clear-cut size advantage, but with Hunter, Williams and anyone else guarding a ball-handler putting on heavy pressure, the Knights' offense eventually withered.
“I thought the ball pressure was enormous,” Prairie School coach Jason Atanasoff
said. “We did not let easy post entry passes, and in the first half especially we did a great job of not fouling. You're rolling the dice a little bit if you want to play defense like that.”
The game ended at 10:30 a.m., giving the Hawks an eight-hour break before the final.
Oshkosh Lourdes 65, Edgar 41: In the second semifinal senior guard Josh Bauer tied a Division 4 tournament single-game tournament record for field goal percentage by hitting eight of nine shots and scoring a game-high 24 points. Senior guard Preston Ruedinger added 18 points for the Knights.