DARLINGTON - The rubber match bounced the way of the Darlington Redbirds behind some great defense, a big night at the free throw line and a clutch performance off the bench junior guard Matthew Douglas.
The fourth-seeded Redbirds (16-7 overall) shot their way into a regional championship game for the third straight season after going 21-of-34 from the foul line on the night to cut down the No. 5-seeded Cuba City Cubans, 59-40, in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal boys' basketball game Friday.
The two SWAL rivals had split their two regular season contests with the Cubans winning 66-45 in Cuba City on Dec. 14, and the Redbirds getting their revenge with a 71-65 win at home on Jan. 30. It was all Darlington in the rubber match.
"It was a great team victory. I give the kids a lot of credit. We prepared hard for them and I think it showed. Even though we were the higher seed, I think a lot of people thought we might lose this one tonight, so it was great to see the kids come out and play incredible defense," said Darlington head coach Tom Uppena after his team held the Cubans to a season-low 40 points.
The Cubans (15-9) attempted to take the air out of the ball early, holding it for long periods nearly the midcourt line and remaining patient on offense. However, once the Redbirds extended their lead to 9-2 on five unanswered points from junior forward Stryker Fitzsimons, the Cubans were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night, but they never got closer than three.
Douglas buried two 3-pointers in the final two and a half minutes of the half to put the Redbirds up 20-13 at the intermission, and the 'Birds pushed the lead to 11 in the opening moments of the second half.
The Cubans cut the Darlington lead down to 29-25 on a breakaway layup by Brady Olson with 12:45 to play, but a three-point play by Carter Lancaster and a trey by Douglas jumped the lead back to 10 at 35-25 just a minute later.
The Cubans answered back with an 8-1 run of the own to get back within three at 36-33 with exactly eight minutes remaining. However, Douglas stepped up again sinking his fourth triple of the night, and then converting an old-fashioned three-point play just 34 seconds later to put the 'Birds back up 42-33 with 6:51 to go.
"Coach throws me in there to get some shots up and hope I catch fire like I did tonight," said Douglas. "To do that against a good Cuba City team coached by Hall of Famer Jerry Petitgoue, I was pretty happy."
Fitzsimons, Lancaster and senior Tony Ruesga combined to go 11-for-12 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory.
"We've been shooting free throws all week because we knew it would come down to free throws. I don't know what was up with Carter and I early missing a few at the line, but they started to fall for us," stated Fitzsimons.
Darlington went 10-of-22 at the line to start the night before ending strong to finish 21-of-34 on their free throws for the game.
"That was our intention to be aggressive, attack the paint and get to the foul line, and we did that. The kids made the ones that matter most down the stretch," commented Uppena.
Fitzsimons went 11-of-14 at the line to finish with 15 points, while Lancaster went 8-of-14 at the line on his way to 14 points. Douglas also netted 15 points after hitting all four of the team's 3-pointers.
Sophomore Jackson Noll tallied seven of his team-high 11 points in the first half for the Cubans, who were held to just 1-of-15 shooting from 3-point range and going just 5-of-8 from the foul line after combining to shoot 44-of-53 from the stripe in the teams' first two meetings.
Darlington has another rubber match in store for them tonight as the head to Mineral Point (19-4) in a D4 regional final game. The Redbirds handed the SWAL champions their only league loss of the season with a 56-53 win in Darlington on Dec. 8, but the Pointers bounced back with an 84-54 drubbing on their home court on Jan. 25.
"It doesn't get much tougher than playing them on their home floor. Our kids will rise to the occasion and we're going to give it everything we got," assured Uppena.
The fourth-seeded Redbirds (16-7 overall) shot their way into a regional championship game for the third straight season after going 21-of-34 from the foul line on the night to cut down the No. 5-seeded Cuba City Cubans, 59-40, in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal boys' basketball game Friday.
The two SWAL rivals had split their two regular season contests with the Cubans winning 66-45 in Cuba City on Dec. 14, and the Redbirds getting their revenge with a 71-65 win at home on Jan. 30. It was all Darlington in the rubber match.
"It was a great team victory. I give the kids a lot of credit. We prepared hard for them and I think it showed. Even though we were the higher seed, I think a lot of people thought we might lose this one tonight, so it was great to see the kids come out and play incredible defense," said Darlington head coach Tom Uppena after his team held the Cubans to a season-low 40 points.
The Cubans (15-9) attempted to take the air out of the ball early, holding it for long periods nearly the midcourt line and remaining patient on offense. However, once the Redbirds extended their lead to 9-2 on five unanswered points from junior forward Stryker Fitzsimons, the Cubans were forced to play catch-up the rest of the night, but they never got closer than three.
Douglas buried two 3-pointers in the final two and a half minutes of the half to put the Redbirds up 20-13 at the intermission, and the 'Birds pushed the lead to 11 in the opening moments of the second half.
The Cubans cut the Darlington lead down to 29-25 on a breakaway layup by Brady Olson with 12:45 to play, but a three-point play by Carter Lancaster and a trey by Douglas jumped the lead back to 10 at 35-25 just a minute later.
The Cubans answered back with an 8-1 run of the own to get back within three at 36-33 with exactly eight minutes remaining. However, Douglas stepped up again sinking his fourth triple of the night, and then converting an old-fashioned three-point play just 34 seconds later to put the 'Birds back up 42-33 with 6:51 to go.
"Coach throws me in there to get some shots up and hope I catch fire like I did tonight," said Douglas. "To do that against a good Cuba City team coached by Hall of Famer Jerry Petitgoue, I was pretty happy."
Fitzsimons, Lancaster and senior Tony Ruesga combined to go 11-for-12 at the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory.
"We've been shooting free throws all week because we knew it would come down to free throws. I don't know what was up with Carter and I early missing a few at the line, but they started to fall for us," stated Fitzsimons.
Darlington went 10-of-22 at the line to start the night before ending strong to finish 21-of-34 on their free throws for the game.
"That was our intention to be aggressive, attack the paint and get to the foul line, and we did that. The kids made the ones that matter most down the stretch," commented Uppena.
Fitzsimons went 11-of-14 at the line to finish with 15 points, while Lancaster went 8-of-14 at the line on his way to 14 points. Douglas also netted 15 points after hitting all four of the team's 3-pointers.
Sophomore Jackson Noll tallied seven of his team-high 11 points in the first half for the Cubans, who were held to just 1-of-15 shooting from 3-point range and going just 5-of-8 from the foul line after combining to shoot 44-of-53 from the stripe in the teams' first two meetings.
Darlington has another rubber match in store for them tonight as the head to Mineral Point (19-4) in a D4 regional final game. The Redbirds handed the SWAL champions their only league loss of the season with a 56-53 win in Darlington on Dec. 8, but the Pointers bounced back with an 84-54 drubbing on their home court on Jan. 25.
"It doesn't get much tougher than playing them on their home floor. Our kids will rise to the occasion and we're going to give it everything we got," assured Uppena.
