MADISON — The Glarner Knights went toe-to-toe with the top seed. Unfortunately for New Glarus, the host Crusaders received the game-deciding whistle, as Edgewood won 63-62 in a WIAA Division 3 regional championship March 4.
“A great high school basketball game if you’re a sports fan — I just would have rather been on the other end of it,” said New Glarus head coach Travis Sysko.
The Badger West regular season champion Crusaders (17-9) went on a 22-9 run in the first half that saw six 3-pointers drop. New Glarus (18-8) continued pumping the ball inside and never let itself get down by more than seven.
“They got going in the first half and hit those five threes on us, and it pulled us out of our zone (defense),” Sysko said. “I thought our guys did a great job of battling back to stay in it. I thought we did a great job of getting to the rim and finishing.”
For a brief moment before halftime, the Knights went ahead 29-28 with 1:34 to play, its first lead in nearly nine minutes of game play. By halftime, Edgewood led 32-31. AC Strok led NG with 13 points, while Max Parman had six. Hunter Dobrinksy paced Edgewood with 14 points, including four 3s.
“We knew they had a really athletic player in Al Deang, and we knew they had another athletic guard and some shooters. We came out in a 2-3 (zone), and they started knocking down some shots, so we switched to man,” Strok said.
The intense back-and-forth battle continued in the second half, where the teams traded the lead seven times and were tied up four more times.
Trailing by five points at 58-53, Strok capped his career with a highlight reel crossover and pull-up three with 4:13 left that brought the crowd to their feet. After an Edgewood miss, Strok found Breckin Thompson for a triple to give the Knights a 59-58 advantage with 3:36 left in regulation.
Then the confusion began to set in.
With less than 2:20 to play, a Crusader 3-pointer bricked off the iron, and Edgewood senior Lucas Shulla Cose lept from behind Stroke on the rebound, and pounded the ball into Parman’s arms for the rebound. A whistle from the baseline was universally thought to be a foul on Shulla Cose, which would have been his fourth. Instead, the official gave it to Strok, the man in position for the rebound. It was also Strok’s fourth foul.
Shulla Cose knocked down both double-bonus free throws to put his team ahead 60-59. Moments later, Edgewood senior Al Deang poked the ball out of Strok’s grasp, and in transition, Strok reached from behind to pop the ball out, instead getting called for his fifth foul, knocking him out of the game with 1:56 to play. He walked back to the bench for the final time in his high school career.
“Walking off that court for the last time, I just remembered the team dinners, the practices, the early mornings and the late nights – everything that went into it,” Strok said. “It’s hard, because I’m never going to play another game for New Glarus.”
Deang made 1 of 2 bonus throws to make it a two-point margin. Without Strok, their main ballhandler, the Knights looked discombobulated, turning the ball over twice during the next 30 seconds. The Crusaders went just 1-for-4 on free throws, leaving a sliver of hope for the Knights.
With 18 seconds left, Thompson pulled up from NBA-range and calmly knocked down the game-tying bucket, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“Huge shot for a sophomore. He got it and he knew it was going up. You’re going to see Breckin knock down some big shots for us these next couple of years,” Sysko said.
Shulla Cose let the clock wind down while dribbling near his bench. He then dribbled across the front of the key, almost double-dribbling before putting up an off-balance jumper from the left elbow. The shot missed, but the Knights’ rebound was nullified as the official again called a foul on Jake Roth, stunning the away crowd. Shulla Cose knocked down one free throw, and a half-court prayer by the Knights was off the mark. Shulla Cose then smiled and waved goodbye to the New Glarus bench and fan base.
Strok led all scorers with 25 points. Thompson hit three 3s and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the line for 12 points. Parman added 10 points and nine boards, and Max Marty chipped in with eight points and seven boards.
“Playing for Sysko these past couple of years, I’ve learned so much and he’s helped me so much. It’s been such an honor to play for New Glarus – the community, my teammates; I can’t appreciate them more,” said Strok, who led the Capitol South in scoring at more than 19 ppg.
Dobrinksy had just one basked in the second half – the first out of the break – and led his team with 16 total. Shulla Cose finished with 13, Deang 11 and Rex Lamb 10.
The difference in the game was turnovers, as New Glarus had 15 to Edgewood’s six. Otherwise, the Knights led in efficiency the rest of the way, including rebounds (27-20), 3-point shooting (6x13, 46% to 7x20, 35%), free throw shooting (12x19, 63% to 10x22, 45%), and field goals (22x41, 53% to 23x48, 47%).
New Glarus graduates six seniors: Strok, Parman, Ethan Friedrich, Jack Douma, Ja’Kodey Strahm and Emery Johnson.
“I thought we had a week of practice leading into this. We have six seniors that were fighting to keep this thing alive. Everybody was all in,” Sysko said. “I think our seniors set a good example this year of buying in and playing for each other. We didn’t have any egos on the team; no drama. These guys just showed up and worked every day to set an example for the underclassmen to follow.”
New Glarus 59, Dodgeville 33
NEW GLARUS — A night before the Edgewood loss, the Knights found the working ingredients to knock off Dodgeville (16-10) in the regional semifinal at home.
The Dodgers turn their offense – and defense – to Chandler Batchelor, a 7-foot-1 senior. To counter his height, the coaching staff challenged Parm (6-foot-5) to body him up, and extend him outside on defense. Batchelor finished the game with 13 points, but was the only Dodger in double figures.
“I just tried to push him out as far out in the paint as I could, because that’s where he gets his points,” Parman said. “It was a battle.”
Meanwhile, Parman had 14 points, including four 3s. His ability to hit the deep shot brought Batchelor away from the post, which in turn led to AC Stroke and Max Marty free range to cut to the hoop.
“I’m a catch-and-shoot guy, so if I get my feet down, it’s going up. I was shooting with a lot of confidence. I just took it when it came to me and I converted,” Parman said.
At halftime, the Knights led 29-22. To open the second half, New Glarus burned off an 11-2 run over the first 2:08 to go ahead by 16.
The biggest reason for the hot start? The deep ball. Friedrich splashed two of his five triples in the half in the opening minutes, and Parman added another, with Strok scoring on a drive to the basket. By the halfway mark of the second half, it was 46-28 after yet another Friedrich splashdown from distance. With 4:06 to play, Strok assisted on Thompson on a three to put the hosts ahead 57-32 with 4:06 left. The Dodgers never mounted a comeback from there.
“Coach told us to keep shooting, and once I get hot, I get hot,” Friedrich said.
In all, the Knights hit 12 3-pointers in the game to just 10 2-pointers. They were also 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Eight of the 12 threes came in the second half.
“The threes started dropping there in the second half, and that kind of broke it up. Ethan got going, and it was contagious then for everybody,” Sysko said.
