NEW GLARUS — The fifth-seeded Glarner Knights opened the WIAA Division 4 playoffs on March 1 with a 79-48 win over Waterloo, but it wasn’t all smiles the entire night in the win-or-go-home contest. 

An overall strong first half had New Glarus ahead 36-15 by halftime, but the coaching staff warned the players in the locker room not to get complacent when play resumed.

“I told them to come out and start the second half well,” Sysko said. “That’s what we wanted to do. We didn’t want to make a whole lot of adjustments because I liked how we finished the first half.”

The Pirates came out with more energy in the second half, and thanks in part to a bevy of turnovers, the Knights (15-9) let Waterloo (3-21) back into the game over the course of just a few minutes.

“But then we came out and I thought we were a bit careless with the basketball. We only got a couple of shots off in the first half because of the turnovers. We gave the momentum back to them because they knocked a few shots down,” Sysko said.

A 12-2 run over the first five minutes of the half cut the score down to just five points. Sysko called two timeouts in the stretch, with his voice getting audibly louder each time.

“He basically said that we have to push it into full gear; we have to be consistent, and that’s what we did,” said senior big man Dain Walter.

“We got off track a little bit, so coach had to get on us,” said junior guard AC Strok, who finished with 25 points. “We knew we had to step it up. It’s a playoff ball game, so if you lose, you can’t play with these seniors again.”

Junior Max Parman entered the game for his brother, senior Jack Parman, and immediately made an impact by burying a 3-pointer with 12:34 left in regulation. The basket livened up the home crowd and the players on the court. 

“That was a huge motivator for us,” said Walter, who himself then knocked down back-to-back baskets in the paint, including one off a rebound. The 7-0 run over just 66 seconds of play had Waterloo burning a timeout of their own.

Ian Ritter hit a 3-pointer moments later to bring Waterloo’s deficit back to nine, but it was the last time the score would be within single digits. Max Parman nailed another 3 and then AC Strok drove to the dish on the next drive, making it 50-36. Ninety seconds later, Strok capped a long offensive possession, in which New Glarus had two rebounds, by knocking down a pullup 3-pointer. Walter then scored off a Max Parman pass down in the post, and a minute later Walter grabbed a defensive rebound and chucked a home run pass to Strok in transition for a quick bucket, making it a 16-point game. 

With 6:21 left in regulation, sharpshooter Carter Siegenthaler ended a drought from the floor when he buried a corner 3. He hit another triple with 4:06 to play to put his team up 72-47, and lit up the roaring crowd with a glowing smile.

“We’re just a triple threat team when we’re going — with Carter hitting 3s, Dain in the low post and me driving and distributing the ball,” Strok said.

Walter finished the night with 29 points and 15 rebounds — including six on the offensive glass. Strok had 25 points and six rebounds. 

“They didn’t really have an answer for Dain in the middle, and I think Dain did a great job getting some second chance points in there too. Obviously AC had a heck of a night; he knocked down a couple of 3s and he does such a great job getting to the basket that it’s hard to keep him in front of you,” Sysko said.

New Glarus shot 23 of 34 (61%) from the field in the game, including a 7-for-21 mark from 3. However, in the second half, the Knights were 6 of 12 from deep. New Glarus committed 11 to Waterloo’s 12, and the Knights outrebounded the Pirates 31-16. New Glarus had 11 offensive rebounds — two more than Waterloo on defense.

“I wasn’t thrilled with the to the second half, but I was real happy with how we closed out the game. Max hit a couple of big 3s for us, and Carter knocked a couple of shots down,” Sysko said. “I feel like these guys have really played some unselfish basketball lately, and the way things are going, we look really good. We just have to avoid those little lapses. Going forward here, those 2, 3, 4-minute lapses here in the tournament can cost you the game.”

Up next for the Knights is Deerfield (18-5) on March 4, which finished unbeaten in the Trailways South. The Demons lost to the Knights Dec. 27 in the New Glarus Tournament by 16 points. The winner will face either Belleville (19-5) or Cambridge (11-14) in the regional final March 5.

“We got a low seed, but we’re basically going to show them who New Glarus is,” Walter said.