MONTICELLO — There are certain qualities in a basketball player you just can’t teach. Size and length are two of those qualities.

The Ponies saw their season come to an end Feb. 27 in the sectional championship, one game away from state. Monticello struggled to adjust to the freakish size differential of Hustisford’s back line, and in the end fell 70-43.

“We knew coming in that there was a really tight game plan that we had to stick really tight to in order to beat a team like that,” Monticello coach Mark Olson said. “There’s just certain parts of your game that are going to be different because of their length and athleticism. For moments I thought we did well — but there were not enough moments to tie together a closer game.”

The Falcons (16-3), ranked No. 1, seeded second in the sectional, bring athleticism, basketball IQ and height to the table. Leading scorer Dylan Kuehl, a senior, is 6-6, but is dwarfed inside by 6-9 senior Alex Eggleston. The pair combined for 13 blocks in the game — including 7 in the first six minutes of the contest.

“We knew they were going to be there. There are ways to finish that play and make that adjustment. While we worked on it, sometimes it doesn’t translate, and in a big moment that’s OK,” Olson said. “The guys were playing hard and they were trying and they were going after it. It’s hard to simulate, so unless you play teams with that length regularly, you don’t understand exactly how quick and tall that they can be.”

Monticello (17-4), ranked second in the state in Division 5 and seeded first, even opened on a 5-0 run to start the game, and held a 9-8 lead with 11:09 left in the first half. From that point on, it was all about the Falcons, which outscored the Ponies 62-34 the rest of the way.

“That’s just a great team. They are hard to defend. They’ve got everything there and their greatness doesn’t show up on the team film,” senior Rudy Wicker said. “We tried our hardest and gave it our all.”

Foreshadowing the second half, Kuehl and Eggleston closed the opening frame with back-to-back feed and slams to each other in the final 38 seconds. Kuehl had six drives to the rim than finished in highlight-reel dunks. Eggelston had just one more, but it was an emphatic one-handed slam over Monticello senior Peter Gustafson.

“It’s not really embarrassing — we were talking about in practice that if anyone gets dunked on in a sectional final it doesn’t count. We made it this far, and it’s just awesome that we’re able to experience playing in this game,” Gustafson said. “Looking back, we could have done some more, but they are just so good at finding the guy off a double team. They are a great team.”

Kuehl finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks on the night. Eggleston had 20 points, 6 boards, 2 assists and 9 blocked shots. Gavin Thimm added 13 points. 

“We knew coming in they had a 6-9 guy, but we kind of underestimated him. He kind of ate us alive,” Gustafson said. “(Kuehl), he’s good. He really opens up the floor for them offensively.

For Monticello, Gustafson led the way with 24 points, including an 11-for-13 mark from the free throw line. Owen Ace was the next top scorer, with 6. 

“As much as it hurts, I told them in the locker room they’ve accomplished so much that they should be incredibly proud of themselves. It has been a good year for us, and I think that they’ll remember this for a long time, and it’s something our community will remember for a long time,” Olson said.

WIAA Division 5 Sectional Semifinal

Monticello 59, Shullsburg 55, OT

To get to Hustisford, the Six Rivers East-champion Ponies had to fend off Six Rivers West champion Shullsburg. 

In the first half there were eight lead changes, and the Miners closed the half on a 13-7 run to put them ahead 28-27 at intermission.

In the second half, the game remained tight. There were seven ties, and Shullsburg led 49-46 after a Brandon Hoppman 3-pointer with 4:07 to play. Gustafson fouled out with 2:51 remaining, but a basket by Owen Ace, a putback on a missed free throw by Wicker, and a free throw by Lucas Heiser gave the Ponies a 52-49 advantage with just 50.3 seconds left in regulation. Shullsburg’s Brendan Kudronowicz tied it with a 3 with just 29 seconds to go to force overtime.

In the extra sessions, Shullsburg went ahead by a bucket with just 2:38 remaining, but Monticello’s Blake Klitzke tied it with 1:16 to go, then buried a 3 with 36 seconds remaining to give the Ponies the lead. Wicker and Logan Blum hit free throws down the stretch to extend the lead and seal the victory.

Hoppman led Shullsburg with 19 points, while Kudronowicz had 14 and Chandler Kelly 12. Gustafson led Monticello with 20, while Klitzke had 10. Wicker, Ace and Blum each had 7. 

Legacies built

Last year, the Ponies lost in the sectional semifinal round on what was the final day of the regular season, as the WIAA shut down the postseason due to the COVID-19 outbreak hours after the game.

Several high-profile seniors graduated from that squad, including co-conference player of the year Reece Rufer. The Ponies then had to navigate the limited summer schedule with safer-at-home orders. Monticello found itself ranked early on in the season, and after the WIAA adjusted the playoff assignments in January, leapt up to No. 2 in the rankings behind Hustisford. 

The team ended up winning the Six Rivers East for the second year in a row — unbeaten.

In the final weeks of the postseason, the Ponies hit their own COVID-19 pause and were shut down for two weeks. Monticello had just one game to get their legs back before the playoffs, and that turned out to be a nonconference loss to Brodhead. 

“I think our mentality just changed. Playoffs is always a different season and you’ve got to bring your best, because every game you might be going home,” Wicker said. “It was a tough year and eventually we just had a spark that went for us. I felt like our senior group of guys, we know each other so well and it just relates back on the court. I just love my guys so much. 

The Ponies rebounded in the playoffs, beating Faith Christian by 23, then fending off conference rival Barneveld by 14 in the regional final. The win over Shullsburg put Monticello within reaching distance of its first trip to the WIAA state tournament since 1926 — 95 years prior.

The Ponies used a starting lineup of seniors much of the year, and Gustafson, one of the state’s top scorers, led the charge. The group ended their careers together going 40-6 over the last two seasons.

“They are a great senior class. I know people think about Peter quite a bit — and Peter is a fantastic basketball player — but there’s a lot of other really good kids that helped get us here, and you can look no further back than the Shullsburg game to see what kind of a team effort it takes to be successful in these games,” Olson said. “I’m very proud of them. I will certainly miss them, and the team will miss them, but that’s just how it goes. Kids grow up and they go graduate, and you’ve got to make the most of the moments you have with them, and I think this group has done that.”

Gustafson finished his career with 1,491 total points, which is fourth all-time in Ponies history. He averaged 21.3 points per game in three years on varsity, including a 26.4 mark as a senior. Twice he scored 39 points in a game. Gustafson will take his talents across the Mississippi River to play for Loras College next fall.

“I’ll never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience. There’s not another team I would have wanted to have this journey with, so I am forever grateful,” Gustafson said.