Angels, Lightning advance to title game
OSHKOSH - Luke Haertle once again led the way, but whenever Lake Country Lutheran needed a play, Ben Lubbers and John Nehls stepped up.
Lubbers and Nehls came through time and time again throughout the Lightning's Division 3 state semifinal against St. Croix Central, fending off each push from the Panthers with timely baskets on their way to a 59-47 win Friday afternoon at the Menominee Nation Arena.
“It was just fantastic,” Lightning head coach Mark Newman said. “This is just a good basketball team. Luke is a magnet out there and every time he catches it he's got three blue jerseys around him. But we've got other players that can make plays and they've been doing that all year.”
Haertle led all scorers with 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals. The junior guard and LCL's leading scorer was his usual consistent presence, especially down the stretch as he scored 15 of his points in the second half.
“He's a solid player,” Central guard Jackson Pettit said. “He rebounds hard, he hit a three, he gets and-ones, he can hit jump shots. He can do it all. He's one of the tougher players I've played all year.”
Haertle's second-half scoring run helped the Lightning claim a 33-26 lead, its biggest to that point, but the Panthers
stormed back to tie the game at 39.
Haertle responded with an offensive rebound and putback to retake the lead. Moments later, Gavin Theis scored on a fastbreak and Nehls delivered a three to extend the lead to seven with eight minutes to play.
Central scored the next six points and had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Nehls came away with a steal in the post and went coast-tocoast for a layup. After a basket by the Panthers, Lubbers stepped out and buried a backbreaking three for a 51-47 lead with three minutes, 12 seconds remaining.
Racine St. Catherine's 53, Wrightstown 44
Defense was the name of the game for Racine St. Catherine's as it opened play at the Division 3 state tournament Friday.
With No. 1 St. Catherine's struggling to score in the second half against No. 4 Wrightstown, it went to its trademark of locking down on the other end.
The Angels kept the Tigers dormant for prolonged stretches and received timely baskets from guard Jameer Barker to move onto the state championship game with a 53-44 victory at Menominee Nation Arena.
“Offense can be fickle sometimes,” St. Catherine's head coach Nick Bennett said. “I would say our constant has to be our defense because there's going to be games like today where we didn't shoot too well. I know we had a bunch of turnovers down the stretch. Regardless of what we're doing on the offensive end, we demand that our defensive standards have got to remain high.”
St. Cat's will play for its first state title since 2010 at 8:30 p.m. Friday against Lake Country Lutheran.
In Barker's game-high scoring output of 22 points, the Angels' depth was on display. The Angels feature two Division I college recruits in the backcourt in Tyrese Hunter and Kamari McGee, but it was Barker, their third-leading scorer who shouldered the load.
“I'll never say he's lived in the shadow, but there has always been Tyrese and Kamari, and Kamari and Tyrese, and rightfully so,” Bennett said. “They're heck of basketball players, they play hard, they play the game the right way, but by no means have we ever been just a two-person team. Jameer has earned the right to be a college basketball player and a highly respected high school basketball player.”
Barker countered Wrightstown's run to start the second half, scoring 10 of the Angels' first 12 points in the second half as their 12-point lead was quickly cut to four points.
“They have the kid (Hunter) going to Iowa State, they've got the kid (McGee) going to UW-Green Bay,” Wrightstown head coach Cory Haese said. “But I said all week that I thought (Barker) was their best player all throughout regionals and sectionals. He had that ability to score at different levels against us.”