NEW GLARUS - Cullen Brooks was built for this moment. The 6-3 senior forward is used to getting hacked and bumped in the post, grabbing rebounds and finding his sharpshooting guards for 3-pointers. But with his team struggling at home to St. Mary's Springs in a WIAA Division 4 regional championship Saturday, Brooks, wearing the No. 1 jersey, put his team and a capacity crowd onto his shoulders like Atlas and carried the Knights to a 76-73 win.
"I just thought to myself, 'This could be our last game, and I'm not going out like this,'" Brooks said. "So, I just took over the game. Whatever it took, I was getting us back in it."
With less than 14 minutes left in the game, New Glarus (24-0, No. 1 in the AP Division 4 poll) trailed the Ledgers 46-38 and looked noticeably fatigued. Then Brooks got a bucket in the post and added a block, steal and coast-to-coast layup combination to add some life to the robust crowd. Minutes later after a turnover, Brooks hit a deep 3 off a pass from Trevor Gassman. Another score in the paint and a free throw made it 8 straight points for Brooks, bringing the deficit back to 5.
"We've got to know that it's do-or-die time," Brooks said.
After a Dishawn Gale drive for a bucket, Brooks went on another 7-point run for the Knights, opening up a 15-0 team run that would take New Glarus from down 8 to up 7 in just five minutes. In the six-minute stretch, Brooks scored 19 of the Knight's 23 points.
"We kept calling his name, and he kept answering," New Glarus head coach Travis Sysko said. "It's fun to see when a guy gets going like that and can take over a game. I thought him and Jaden (Kreklow) were a heck of a one-two punch."
After Brooks' burst, Kreklow got into the action. The junior guard who picked up three fouls in the first half, used his ballhandling skills and quick feet to drive to the hoop and draw foul after foul.
"I had to play real timid on defense and couldn't go for as many steals," Kreklow said, before adding that extra practice time at the charity stripe has paid off. "Midway through the season, I wasn't doing real great on (free throws), but I was in here (in the gym) a lot outside of practice and it paid off."
Kreklow would hit eight free throws in as many attempts and add two other baskets in the final four minutes to give New Glarus control of the scoreboard.
"They had trouble keeping Jaden in front of them, and he was getting to the paint," Sysko said.
Despite the free throws for New Glarus, St. Mary's Springs (14-11) wouldn't go away. The Ledgers hit nine 3s in the game, including one by Mitch Waechter (23 points) with 22 seconds left on the clock that made it 74-73. Kreklow buried a pair of free throws eight seconds later, and two contested 3s by the Ledgers were off target in the final seconds, giving the Knights an earned win.
"They had a lot of fight in them. I will give them a lot of credit and all my respect, because they were a good team," Brooks said of St. Mary's Springs.
The two teams battled in the first half, with neither squad taking more than a two-possession lead. By the break, the score was all knotted up at 35.
"Coach told us to keep our heads," said junior guard Zach Feller, who also had three fouls in the first half. "We were in foul trouble a little bit, but he said to stick to our game plan, our shots were going to start to fall, and keep playing defense."
The Ledgers opened the second half on an 11-3 run to go up 8 just four minutes in. That set the stage for Brooks' takeover.
"We can count on anyone on our team. Cullen helped us out a lot, and Jaden made those free throws," Feller said. "Coach preaches in practice that we need to get stops and then we can get going on runs. We did that a couple of times this year, being down 19 points, and we were able to get some stops and go on a run. We've been in situations like this before."
Brooks' 27 paced all players, and Kreklow finished with 24 for New Glarus. Feller and Gassman each scored 8, and Gale had 6. For the Ledgers, Waechter hit three 3s, Cade Christianson hit five 3s and scored 21, and Zach Austin had a 3 and 12 total points.
"We knew they had two studs, and they lived up to everything we thought they would," Sysko said. "It was a great high school basketball game. I thought our guys kept their composure down the stretch and did what they needed to do to win. I'm really proud of them right now."
Up next for New Glarus is Pardeeville (21-3), which knocked off Markesan by 12. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Oconomowoc. Tickets will be available at the high school this week.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Sysko said of his team's preparation. "We'll keep doing what we do."
"I just thought to myself, 'This could be our last game, and I'm not going out like this,'" Brooks said. "So, I just took over the game. Whatever it took, I was getting us back in it."
With less than 14 minutes left in the game, New Glarus (24-0, No. 1 in the AP Division 4 poll) trailed the Ledgers 46-38 and looked noticeably fatigued. Then Brooks got a bucket in the post and added a block, steal and coast-to-coast layup combination to add some life to the robust crowd. Minutes later after a turnover, Brooks hit a deep 3 off a pass from Trevor Gassman. Another score in the paint and a free throw made it 8 straight points for Brooks, bringing the deficit back to 5.
"We've got to know that it's do-or-die time," Brooks said.
After a Dishawn Gale drive for a bucket, Brooks went on another 7-point run for the Knights, opening up a 15-0 team run that would take New Glarus from down 8 to up 7 in just five minutes. In the six-minute stretch, Brooks scored 19 of the Knight's 23 points.
"We kept calling his name, and he kept answering," New Glarus head coach Travis Sysko said. "It's fun to see when a guy gets going like that and can take over a game. I thought him and Jaden (Kreklow) were a heck of a one-two punch."
After Brooks' burst, Kreklow got into the action. The junior guard who picked up three fouls in the first half, used his ballhandling skills and quick feet to drive to the hoop and draw foul after foul.
"I had to play real timid on defense and couldn't go for as many steals," Kreklow said, before adding that extra practice time at the charity stripe has paid off. "Midway through the season, I wasn't doing real great on (free throws), but I was in here (in the gym) a lot outside of practice and it paid off."
Kreklow would hit eight free throws in as many attempts and add two other baskets in the final four minutes to give New Glarus control of the scoreboard.
"They had trouble keeping Jaden in front of them, and he was getting to the paint," Sysko said.
Despite the free throws for New Glarus, St. Mary's Springs (14-11) wouldn't go away. The Ledgers hit nine 3s in the game, including one by Mitch Waechter (23 points) with 22 seconds left on the clock that made it 74-73. Kreklow buried a pair of free throws eight seconds later, and two contested 3s by the Ledgers were off target in the final seconds, giving the Knights an earned win.
"They had a lot of fight in them. I will give them a lot of credit and all my respect, because they were a good team," Brooks said of St. Mary's Springs.
The two teams battled in the first half, with neither squad taking more than a two-possession lead. By the break, the score was all knotted up at 35.
"Coach told us to keep our heads," said junior guard Zach Feller, who also had three fouls in the first half. "We were in foul trouble a little bit, but he said to stick to our game plan, our shots were going to start to fall, and keep playing defense."
The Ledgers opened the second half on an 11-3 run to go up 8 just four minutes in. That set the stage for Brooks' takeover.
"We can count on anyone on our team. Cullen helped us out a lot, and Jaden made those free throws," Feller said. "Coach preaches in practice that we need to get stops and then we can get going on runs. We did that a couple of times this year, being down 19 points, and we were able to get some stops and go on a run. We've been in situations like this before."
Brooks' 27 paced all players, and Kreklow finished with 24 for New Glarus. Feller and Gassman each scored 8, and Gale had 6. For the Ledgers, Waechter hit three 3s, Cade Christianson hit five 3s and scored 21, and Zach Austin had a 3 and 12 total points.
"We knew they had two studs, and they lived up to everything we thought they would," Sysko said. "It was a great high school basketball game. I thought our guys kept their composure down the stretch and did what they needed to do to win. I'm really proud of them right now."
Up next for New Glarus is Pardeeville (21-3), which knocked off Markesan by 12. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Oconomowoc. Tickets will be available at the high school this week.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Sysko said of his team's preparation. "We'll keep doing what we do."
