Knights oust Belleville to reach state games
New Glarus beats rival by 25, punches ticket to first state trip since 1932
By Derek Hoesly
For the Times
MIDDLETON — On a cold blustery night, the New Glarus faithful came out in droves to witness history. The Glarner Knights beat rival Belleville 65-40 in the WIAA Division 4 Middleton sectional final March 9 to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
The special moment was 87 years in the making, as the program will embark on its fourth trip to state, its first since 1932.
“I’m just so happy for these kids right now and for this community. They have been behind us the whole way and to be able to experience this is just unbelievable. Hard to put into words,” New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said. “I wasn’t around in 1932, so I don’t remember that one, but we’re going to cherish the heck out of this and enjoy the win here and see what next week brings.”
Senior Jaden Kreklow said it hadn’t sunk in that his team would be playing in the Kohl Center March 14.
“Man, a little bit but not completely. It’s been quite a ride. It’s finally happening. I’m enjoying it,” Kreklow said. “It’s been awhile, so big news for New Glarus. I’m glad to bring it to the city.”
Kreklow’s cousin, Zach Feller, is a senior captain and said he’s spent much of his life building to this moment.
“It’s a crazy feeling. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a young kid, put in a lot of hours to this game, and for it to finally pay off it feels great,” Feller said. “It’s been an 87-year drought. We talked about this season — just leave a legacy, leave a mark for the kids coming up, for the community. And that’s exactly what we did. It feels great.”
The seventh-ranked Glarner Knights (24-2) raced out to a 17-6 lead six minutes into the game. New Glarus used a full-court press to generate turnovers and uncontested lay ins. Junior Connor Siegenthaler buried a corner three during the early blitz to force a Belleville timeout.
“We were able to get off to a quick start. We got some turnovers that led to some points for us. The offense stalled a little bit there at end of the first half, but the boys found a way to keep doing it,” Sysko said.
Kreklow drove down the middle of the lane for a layup and converted a fast break lay in after he pickpocketed a Wildcat. That was just the start of his big night and the Glarner Knights fans were up and rowdy.
“We knew we wanted to come out hot — wanted to put a lot of pressure on defense. We got up full-court. We were able to get some steals, get some easy layups to start it and when we get easy layups to start the game our whole offense flows better,” Feller said.
Late in the opening half, Belleville (12-12) went on an 8-4 run to cut the deficit to 30-20. Senior Dylan Gratz converted a three-point play on a slash to the rim and freshman Trevor Syse knocked down a top-of-the-key three to fuel the run.
NG pushed to the limits by Fennimore
Siegenthaler’s hot hand, Kreklow’s iced veins keep Knights alive
By Adam Krebs
akrebs@themonroetimes.net
REEDSBURG — Before knocking off rival Belleville to punch their first ticket to state in 87 years, New Glarus won its sectional semifinal in a 45-42 comeback against Fennimore March 7.
The field the Glarner Knights had to climb through to make it to the sectional final was perhaps the toughest in the state. It included four teams ranked in the top 15 nearly all season — New Glarus, Fennimore, Mineral Point and Darlington. As the Knights held off Mineral Point in a regional final, Fennimore topped Darlington by two points to win the other regional final.
The Golden Eagles (20-4) are known for their height and defensive prowess, and those attributes were on full display against New Glarus.
Fennimore’s first bucket came nearly four minutes into the game, but New Glarus spent the first five minutes scoreless until Trevor Gassman found Kreklow for a 3-pointer. Moments later, Mason Martinson stole a ball in the post and Kreklow fed Zach Feller for a three-pointer to make it 6-2. The lead reached 8-2 with 10:50 to play in the first, but then Fennimore would come roaring back.
In the middle of a 1-3-1 zone stood 6-foot-8 Adam Larson, who used his height to disrupt New Glarus’ dribble-drive offensive scheme, forcing the Knights to shoot more shots from distance earlier than they wanted.
“It was a real defensive battle in that first half,” Kreklow said. “We were getting pretty good looks in the first half, we just weren’t knocking them down.”
Larson finished with six blocks. Fennimore’s offense struggled mightily as well, as the Knights kept man-to-man defensive pressure at a high intensity level all evening. Fennimore scored just two points in the first 13 minutes of the game, but then Larson took off, scoring nine points in less than three minutes to give his team a 14-11 lead with 2:27 left in the half. At the same time, New Glarus went scoreless for more than seven minutes. The Eagles led 16-13 at the break.
“We were playing great defense, too, in the first half. There was a lot of positive things to talk about in the locker room about what we were doing well. We kind of kept their big three in check, but Adam (Larson) got it going a little bit there at the end,” New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said.
New Glarus needed a spark on offense in the second half, and it came from junior Connor Siegenthaler, who would hit three of his four three-pointers in the final 17 minutes of action. A triple from Siegenthaler tied the game at 18 just 72 seconds into the half, and another 3 brought New Glarus to within a point at 29-28 with 9:20 left.
“My teammates and my coaches told me, ‘We need you. Shoot the ball if you’re open.’ I took their advice and started feeling good after that,” Siegenthaler said.
The Knights couldn’t seem to re-take the lead throughout much of the second half. Fennimore kept finding ways to stay ahead, and a 7-0 run midway through the second half put the Eagles up 36-28 with 7:03 left to play.
New Glarus didn’t let the game get out of hand, however, and used a quick 8-0 run to tie the game at 36-36 with 5:14 left after Siegenthaler’s fourth triple in the game. Fennimore’s Reid Larson scored off a hook shot to give his team back the lead, but then Gassman found Martinson in the post to tie the score. Ninety seconds later, after a New Glarus turnover, Reid Larson found Warren Adam underneath to again take a two-point advantage.
Siegethaler would go 1-and-1 on a pair of free throws with 2:16 left and with Fennimore draining the clock with a stall offense, Knights fans were on edge, down by one. But Feller took a steal coast-to-coast with 1:20 remaining to put the Knights up 41-40.
“We’ve talked all year about defense has got to start our offense, and that certainly got us going that last five minutes of the game,” Sysko said.
Derek Kephart hit a jumper for Fennimore with 44 seconds left to put the spectators on the edges of their seats. Sysko called a timeout with 30.1 seconds left to talk over strategy, and shortly after returning to gameplay Kreklow was bumped while dribbling around the perimeter and sent to the foul line for bonus free throws. The school’s all-time leader in points, Kreklow calmly knocked down both chances to give his team a one-point lead with 19.8 seconds left.
“I just try to have ice in my veins. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life and had to be in situations like that a lot. I just tried to stay calm,” Kreklow said.
As Reid Larson came sprinting up the court with the ball in hand, Feller ran into Warren Adam on a ball screen on the press break, sending both players to the floor. An official whistled Adam for an illegal screen, sending the capacity crowd to its feet with a mix of cheers and jeers.
The crucial turnover gave New Glarus the ball back, and almost immediately after play resumed Kreklow was fouled again and hit both bonus free throws to put the Knights up 45-42. Reid Larson’s game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark, allowing New Glarus to celebrate the grinding victory.
Kreklow led New Glarus with 18 points, while Siegenthaler had 13 and Martinson eight. Feller’s defense shined. The speedy senior guard spent most of the night covering Reid Larson, but switched to Adam Larson in spurts. Adam Larson scored 10 for Fennimore, while Reid Larson had seven. Kellen Kenny led the Eagles with 12 points, and Warren Adam had eight.
“I thought Connor Siegenthaler hit some really big shots tonight for us. They were focusing a lot on Zach and Jaden, and he hit shots when we needed him to,” Sysko said.
New Glarus answered with back-to-back baskets to halt the Wildcats short lived momentum. Feller connected on a three and Kreklow delivered again with a three-point play on a steal and fast break layup. The Knights held a double-digit lead throughout the first half and took a commanding 36-22 halftime lead.
The second half opened just like the beginning of the game with the Glarner Knights capitalizing off of turnovers created by relentless defensive pressure and pushed the lead to 41-22 moments into the half.
Belleville battled back with an 11-2 run to slice the deficit to 43-33 with 13:25 left in regulation.
“I mean it’s a game of runs — that’s what it’s all about. You just have to weather the storm. We knew they were going to hit some shots here and there, but just wanted to buckle down, make sure they couldn’t get it under 10 and just keep building our lead when we could,” Feller said.
Senior Austin Fahey knocked down a right wing three and sophomore Sawyer Fahey broke the press going coast-to-coast for a lay in to ignite the run.
“They attacked our pressure a little bit. They got some good looks. I think they hit a three or two. We did a better job of guarding after that. I thought we picked up the intensity and closed it out,” Sysko said.
The Knights turned to Kreklow, their go-to player, and he delivered as he’s done all season.
Kreklow calmly buried a backbreaking three to halt the Wildcats momentum. On the ensuing possession he drew defenders by driving the lane and found wide-open teammate Patrick Craker underneath for an uncontested bucket.
“I knew that I had to try to create something. We had to get a little offense going and luckily I was able to get a couple points to combat their run,” Kreklow said.
After a defensive stop, Feller attacked the rim for a lay-in to give New Glarus a 50-33 lead with 10:20 on the clock. The Knights quickness caused problems for the Wildcats as New Glarus got into the paint against Belleville’s zone defense.
New Glarus secured their ticket to state closing out the game on a 13-2 run. The Knights’ high-pressure defense forced 21 turnovers, 12 of which came in the opening half.
“We’ve been preaching defense all year and these guys have bought in and they locked down there at the end of the game… We weren’t going to let them get any easy looks,” Sysko said.
“We know defense wins championships, so we buckled down as a team and played great team defense. With that we moved the ball on offense and got some open looks and were able to close it out strong,” Feller said.
New Glarus dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Wildcats 36-16, including 13 offensive rebounds.
Kreklow led the Knights’ offensive attack with a game-high 20 points.
“Jaden’s an unbelievable talent. He made some plays down the stretch when we needed him. That’s what he’s done for the last four years for us,” Sysko said.
Siegenthaler chipped in 11 points for New Glarus, while Feller had nine points and Mason Martinson eight. Senior Trevor Gassman added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Glarner Knights will face top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Roncalli (26-0, 14-0) in a WIAA Division 4 State semifinal at 6:35 p.m. March 14 at the Kohl Center. The winner will face either Oshkosh Lourdes Academy or Osseo-Fairchild at 12:15 p.m. March 16 in the championship.
Box Score
New Glarus 65, Belleville 40
WIAA Division 4 sectional final, March 9
At Middleton
Belleville 22 18 — 40
New Glarus 36 29 — 65
Individual scoring
Belleville: O’Rourke 2, Winkers 2, A. Fahey 9, Syse 3, Schulting 6, S. Fahey 4, Gratz 3
New Glarus: Craker 4, M. Martinson 8, Feller 9, Schuette 3, Kreklow 20, Siegenthaler 11, Gassman 8, Schdewalt 2
New Glarus 45, Fennimore 42
WIAA Division 4 sectional
semifinal, March 7
At Reedsburg
Fennimore 16 26 — 42
New Glarus 13 32 — 45
Individual scoring
Fennimore: A. Larson 10, R. Larson 7, Kenney 12, Adam 8, Kephart 5
New Glarus: M. Martinson 8, Feller 5, Kreklow 18, Siegenthaler 13, Gassman 1
