OCONOMOWOC - After opening the season with 24 straight wins, the New Glarus boys basketball team's dream season came crashing down Thursday night.
The top-ranked Glarner Knights (24-1) led by 6 points with about 8 ½ minutes to play before Pardeeville's Duncan Fleiner took over and led the Bulldogs to a 74-68 win in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal.
"Credit to (Fleiner), he played really well, about the best I've seen him play all year," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said.
Fleiner scored 10 of his team's first 12 points in the second half and then collected a foul by New Glarus senior Cullen Brooks, which turned out to be the turning point in the contest. It was Brooks' fourth foul of the game, and the Knights led by 1 with just 5:38 remaining.
"It was a tough break," Sysko said of Brooks' fourth foul. "He had to come out for a couple of minutes."
Immediately after the stoppage of play, Fleiner, a 6-foot-6 forward, scored in the post and after some free throws, Pardeeville had swung the score into the opposite direction, taking a 61-57 lead.
With 3:30 left in the game, Nicholas Henke drilled a 3-pointer to put Pardeeville up by 7. Henke was the conference player of the year in the Trailways West after averaging 15.3 points per game.
"They made some shots down the stretch," Sysko said.
The Knights had pulled off big upsets throughout this season, including an 18-point comeback against defending Division 5 state champion Barneveld Dec. 28.
"All those comebacks, the other teams started missing some shots and we would start hitting some of our own," Sysko said. "Pardeeville just made their free throws down the stretch."
New Glarus junior Trevor Gassman hit a 3-pointer with 2:19 left that brought to score to within 4, showing once again that the Knights weren't about to quit. But Pardeeville would hit its free throws when they mattered the most - seven of eight in the final two minutes - to seal the game. The Bulldogs finished 20-of-22 from the charity stripe in the game.
Henke's 23 points paced all players, and Fleiner ended the night with 22 points.
Gassman led New Glarus with 16 points. Zach Feller was five of 13 from beyond the arc, scoring 15 for the Knights; Brooks had 11 and was five-of-seven from the field; and junior Jaden Kreklow ended the season with a 14-point game on six-of-seven shooting from 2-point range and zero-of-four from 3.
"The tempo wasn't in our favor," Sysko said. Pardeeville used its size and slow offense to limit the number of possessions the high-octane Knights are used to running.
Dishawn Gale helped spark New Glarus in the first half. With Gassman and Feller both on the bench with two fouls apiece, the senior Gale came off the bench and scored 9 points, including a putback at the buzzer that sent New Glarus into the locker room at halftime with a 38-33 lead. Earlier in the half, Gale had scored on a basket and a foul, making the free throw and capping a 7-0 Knights run that broke a 25-25 tie and gave his squad a 32-25 lead with five minutes to play in the first.
"Dishawn played really well in the first half," Sysko said. "We went into the locker room feeling pretty good."
New Glarus forced 10 Pardeeville turnovers in the first half and scored 8 second-chance points. In the second half, however, the Bulldogs committed just three turnovers.
Brooks, standing at 6-foot-5, had just 2 points in the first half but scored 7 of his team's first 9 points in the second, eventually leading New Glarus to its largest lead of the game at 47-39. Brooks finished his career 86 points shy of 1,000.
Sysko was proud of the way his team competed all season, which included gaining a No. 1 ranking in the state in the Associated Press Division 4 poll for the final few weeks of the regular season.
"I'm real proud of the boys and the season we put together. We had 15 guys that all bought into what we were trying to do," Sysko said. "I could not be more proud of the way they played all year. These are memories that they will remember for a long time."
Pardeeville (22-3) advances to the sectional final to take on Mineral Point (21-4), which beat La Crosse Aquinas 82-69 Wednesday. Mineral Point lost to New Glarus 83-77 on Jan. 8. The sectional championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Baraboo with the winner advancing to the state semifinal to be played March 15 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
The top-ranked Glarner Knights (24-1) led by 6 points with about 8 ½ minutes to play before Pardeeville's Duncan Fleiner took over and led the Bulldogs to a 74-68 win in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal.
"Credit to (Fleiner), he played really well, about the best I've seen him play all year," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said.
Fleiner scored 10 of his team's first 12 points in the second half and then collected a foul by New Glarus senior Cullen Brooks, which turned out to be the turning point in the contest. It was Brooks' fourth foul of the game, and the Knights led by 1 with just 5:38 remaining.
"It was a tough break," Sysko said of Brooks' fourth foul. "He had to come out for a couple of minutes."
Immediately after the stoppage of play, Fleiner, a 6-foot-6 forward, scored in the post and after some free throws, Pardeeville had swung the score into the opposite direction, taking a 61-57 lead.
With 3:30 left in the game, Nicholas Henke drilled a 3-pointer to put Pardeeville up by 7. Henke was the conference player of the year in the Trailways West after averaging 15.3 points per game.
"They made some shots down the stretch," Sysko said.
The Knights had pulled off big upsets throughout this season, including an 18-point comeback against defending Division 5 state champion Barneveld Dec. 28.
"All those comebacks, the other teams started missing some shots and we would start hitting some of our own," Sysko said. "Pardeeville just made their free throws down the stretch."
New Glarus junior Trevor Gassman hit a 3-pointer with 2:19 left that brought to score to within 4, showing once again that the Knights weren't about to quit. But Pardeeville would hit its free throws when they mattered the most - seven of eight in the final two minutes - to seal the game. The Bulldogs finished 20-of-22 from the charity stripe in the game.
Henke's 23 points paced all players, and Fleiner ended the night with 22 points.
Gassman led New Glarus with 16 points. Zach Feller was five of 13 from beyond the arc, scoring 15 for the Knights; Brooks had 11 and was five-of-seven from the field; and junior Jaden Kreklow ended the season with a 14-point game on six-of-seven shooting from 2-point range and zero-of-four from 3.
"The tempo wasn't in our favor," Sysko said. Pardeeville used its size and slow offense to limit the number of possessions the high-octane Knights are used to running.
Dishawn Gale helped spark New Glarus in the first half. With Gassman and Feller both on the bench with two fouls apiece, the senior Gale came off the bench and scored 9 points, including a putback at the buzzer that sent New Glarus into the locker room at halftime with a 38-33 lead. Earlier in the half, Gale had scored on a basket and a foul, making the free throw and capping a 7-0 Knights run that broke a 25-25 tie and gave his squad a 32-25 lead with five minutes to play in the first.
"Dishawn played really well in the first half," Sysko said. "We went into the locker room feeling pretty good."
New Glarus forced 10 Pardeeville turnovers in the first half and scored 8 second-chance points. In the second half, however, the Bulldogs committed just three turnovers.
Brooks, standing at 6-foot-5, had just 2 points in the first half but scored 7 of his team's first 9 points in the second, eventually leading New Glarus to its largest lead of the game at 47-39. Brooks finished his career 86 points shy of 1,000.
Sysko was proud of the way his team competed all season, which included gaining a No. 1 ranking in the state in the Associated Press Division 4 poll for the final few weeks of the regular season.
"I'm real proud of the boys and the season we put together. We had 15 guys that all bought into what we were trying to do," Sysko said. "I could not be more proud of the way they played all year. These are memories that they will remember for a long time."
Pardeeville (22-3) advances to the sectional final to take on Mineral Point (21-4), which beat La Crosse Aquinas 82-69 Wednesday. Mineral Point lost to New Glarus 83-77 on Jan. 8. The sectional championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Baraboo with the winner advancing to the state semifinal to be played March 15 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
