NEW GLARUS - For shooters like New Glarus senior Jake Bast, always getting the green light to find a shooting groove can be a lethal weapon.
The New Glarus boys basketball team set a blistering pace by flipping a switch and rolled to a 71-53 win over Darlington in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal Thursday night.
Darlington sophomore Alex Erickson, who scored a game-high 23 points, drilled a jumper to give the Redbirds a 34-33 lead midway through the third quarter. But the Glarner Knights blitzed the Redbirds from there with a 15-2 run to close the third quarter.
New Glarus senior Logan Lockard buried a 3-pointer to give the Knights a 43-34 lead. The Knights' spurt was highlighted by two 3-pointers by Bast and a basket down low by senior Jeremy Langfoss to give the Knights an insurmountable 48-34 edge.
"Our shots started falling and that came from our defense," Bast said. "We clamped down and our offense came."
New Glarus (17-5) now plays Cuba City (21-1) in the WIAA Division 3 Evansville Regional championship at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Cubans, ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Division 3 state poll and ranked No. 1 most of the season, have only lost one game all season, to Darlington at UW-Platteville.
"We are playing with some confidence now," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said. "Cuba City has a great team and the best coach in the state of Wisconsin in Jerry Petitgoue. We will lay all of our chips on the table and see what happens. I can't wait to throw it up and get going."
Bast finished with a team-high 19 points for the Knights. New Glarus junior Ryan Bright scored 12 points and Lockard chipped in 11. Senior Cassidy Flannery scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds and junior Cameron Jeglum added nine points.
"That second half is some of the best basketball we have played all season," Sysko said. "Our seniors stepped up. We got contributions from Ryan Bright and Cameron Jeglum."
Darlington coach Michael Hopkins knew the Knights wouldn't struggle shooting all game. The third-quarter barrage was tough for him to stomach.
"When you have trouble defending inside and outside, it's a whole boatload of problems for you," he said. "They are good at the dribble drive. I'm surprised they went to the swing. They have five players who can handle the ball."
Early on, the regional semifinal had the makings of one that could come down to the wire. The Redbirds raced out to a 12-3 lead behind eight points by Erickson in the first quarter. Erickson scored down low to give the Redbirds a 9-1 lead. Darlington senior Brett Hardyman drilled a 3-pointer to extend the Redbirds' lead to 12-3 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
Darlington junior Tanner Havens scored 11 points, and Hardyman added seven.
New Glarus struggled shooting in the first quarter, going 0-for-6 in the first 4 minutes. The Knights trailed by as many as 10 points in the period before storming back in the second. New Glarus erased a 15-8 deficit by catching fire in the second quarter.
"Certainly, in the first quarter they (New Glarus) were missing a lot of shots," Hopkins said. "We knew they weren't going to keep missing them. We just hoped they were spaced out."
New Glarus senior Matt Felt opened the second quarter by hitting a 3-pointer. Darlington sophomore Tucker Wiegel answered with a 3-pointer to give the Redbirds an 18-13 lead. Lockard drove in for a layup and was fouled. He converted the three-point play at the free throw line and cut the Redbirds' lead to 18-16. Bast then caught fire with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Knights a 24-21 lead.
"I think we were getting good looks in the first quarter, we were just rushing it," Sysko said. "I think we had some jitters to start the game."
After starting the season 1-5, the Redbirds finsihed 12-4 and entered the regional semifinal on a six-game winning streak.
"I told them when they walk out of the locker room, they don't have anything to be ashamed about," Hopkins said.
The New Glarus boys basketball team set a blistering pace by flipping a switch and rolled to a 71-53 win over Darlington in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal Thursday night.
Darlington sophomore Alex Erickson, who scored a game-high 23 points, drilled a jumper to give the Redbirds a 34-33 lead midway through the third quarter. But the Glarner Knights blitzed the Redbirds from there with a 15-2 run to close the third quarter.
New Glarus senior Logan Lockard buried a 3-pointer to give the Knights a 43-34 lead. The Knights' spurt was highlighted by two 3-pointers by Bast and a basket down low by senior Jeremy Langfoss to give the Knights an insurmountable 48-34 edge.
"Our shots started falling and that came from our defense," Bast said. "We clamped down and our offense came."
New Glarus (17-5) now plays Cuba City (21-1) in the WIAA Division 3 Evansville Regional championship at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Cubans, ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Division 3 state poll and ranked No. 1 most of the season, have only lost one game all season, to Darlington at UW-Platteville.
"We are playing with some confidence now," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said. "Cuba City has a great team and the best coach in the state of Wisconsin in Jerry Petitgoue. We will lay all of our chips on the table and see what happens. I can't wait to throw it up and get going."
Bast finished with a team-high 19 points for the Knights. New Glarus junior Ryan Bright scored 12 points and Lockard chipped in 11. Senior Cassidy Flannery scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds and junior Cameron Jeglum added nine points.
"That second half is some of the best basketball we have played all season," Sysko said. "Our seniors stepped up. We got contributions from Ryan Bright and Cameron Jeglum."
Darlington coach Michael Hopkins knew the Knights wouldn't struggle shooting all game. The third-quarter barrage was tough for him to stomach.
"When you have trouble defending inside and outside, it's a whole boatload of problems for you," he said. "They are good at the dribble drive. I'm surprised they went to the swing. They have five players who can handle the ball."
Early on, the regional semifinal had the makings of one that could come down to the wire. The Redbirds raced out to a 12-3 lead behind eight points by Erickson in the first quarter. Erickson scored down low to give the Redbirds a 9-1 lead. Darlington senior Brett Hardyman drilled a 3-pointer to extend the Redbirds' lead to 12-3 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
Darlington junior Tanner Havens scored 11 points, and Hardyman added seven.
New Glarus struggled shooting in the first quarter, going 0-for-6 in the first 4 minutes. The Knights trailed by as many as 10 points in the period before storming back in the second. New Glarus erased a 15-8 deficit by catching fire in the second quarter.
"Certainly, in the first quarter they (New Glarus) were missing a lot of shots," Hopkins said. "We knew they weren't going to keep missing them. We just hoped they were spaced out."
New Glarus senior Matt Felt opened the second quarter by hitting a 3-pointer. Darlington sophomore Tucker Wiegel answered with a 3-pointer to give the Redbirds an 18-13 lead. Lockard drove in for a layup and was fouled. He converted the three-point play at the free throw line and cut the Redbirds' lead to 18-16. Bast then caught fire with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Knights a 24-21 lead.
"I think we were getting good looks in the first quarter, we were just rushing it," Sysko said. "I think we had some jitters to start the game."
After starting the season 1-5, the Redbirds finsihed 12-4 and entered the regional semifinal on a six-game winning streak.
"I told them when they walk out of the locker room, they don't have anything to be ashamed about," Hopkins said.
