NEW GLARUS - With a packed standing-room only crowd, New Glarus junior Jaden Kreklow scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Glarner Knights to a 85-62 win over rival Belleville in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal Friday.
New Glarus (23-0), ranked No. 1 in the Division 4 Associated Press state poll, got off to a rocky start. The Knights were 0-for-7 shooting in the first 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Belleville senior Drew Shrader returned from a broken hand injury and had a monster game, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
New Glarus was called for two technical fouls late in the first half that led to a six-point possession by the Wildcats. Shrader sparked the Wildcats scoring 18 points in the first half and the Knights led just by five-points at the break, 41-36.
"I think a lot of guys were just a little too heated and the crowd was really into it," Kreklow said. "We settled down at halftime and got back to our normal game."
The Glarner Knights switched to a halfcourt trapping defense and went on a 19-4 run to start the second half to put the game away.
"We wanted to get out and run," Kreklow said. "In the second half, we got a lot of steals and that led to us getting a lot of baskets. That was huge."
Kreklow was excited to see a packed and boisterous crowd.
"It was great to see a full crowd and play in an atmosphere like this with a full crowd," he said. "The crowd was all behind us. It just gave us more motivation."
Kreklow had plenty of help. Junior teammate Zach Feller scored 20 points, had seven rebounds and four steals, while senior Disahwn Gale added 19 off the bench to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Senior teammate Cullen Brooks chipped in 7 points and had a team-high 12 rebounds.
"It was a typical Belleville-New Glarus game," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said. "Everyone comes out with a lot of emotions."
Belleville coach Scott Noll liked the way his team was attacking the basket and being aggressive in the first half. The Wildcats were dealt a blow when senior Dalton Fahey injured his ankle late in the first half and was carried off the court.
"Dalton Fahey's injury really killed us," Noll said. "He was really setting a good tempo in the first half. In the second half, hats off to New Glarus. They came out and executed. There's a reason why they are ranked No. 1 in the state."
The Knights wanted to force the tempo with a pressure defense in the second half. It worked to perfection as they were able to score more in transition.
"We thought we could turn them over in the second half if we got some good traps," Sysko said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of getting our hands up and not fouling in the second half."
Feller drilled a 3-pointer to start the Knights' big surge in the second half. Gale had three layups during the spurt and Kreklow had a conventional three-point play. Gale scored on a layup after a slashing drive to the basket that gave the Knights a 20-point lead, 60-40 with 11 minutes left.
The lead snowballed to 25-points after Feller knocked down a 3 to give New Glarus a 67-42 lead with 8:30 left. Gale scored on a layup to give the Knights their biggest lead of 28-points, 80-52 with 2:46 to go.
Despite a cold shooting first half as a team, Gale didn't lose confidence. He knew it was just a matter of time before he and his teammates would heat up.
"We just had to keep shooting," Gale said. "We knew our shots would eventually start falling."
Gale is happy to contribute after missing several games earlier this season.
"I worked hard in practice to make sure we were all ready to go when I got back," he said.
The Knights relied on Gale to guard Shrader in the second half.
"I thought it was his best game of the year," Sysko said of Gale. "We had a couple players with three fouls so we decided to start Dishawn in the second half. I thought he did a really good job of guarding Shrader. We limited his touches."
New Glarus (23-0), ranked No. 1 in the Division 4 Associated Press state poll, got off to a rocky start. The Knights were 0-for-7 shooting in the first 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Belleville senior Drew Shrader returned from a broken hand injury and had a monster game, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
New Glarus was called for two technical fouls late in the first half that led to a six-point possession by the Wildcats. Shrader sparked the Wildcats scoring 18 points in the first half and the Knights led just by five-points at the break, 41-36.
"I think a lot of guys were just a little too heated and the crowd was really into it," Kreklow said. "We settled down at halftime and got back to our normal game."
The Glarner Knights switched to a halfcourt trapping defense and went on a 19-4 run to start the second half to put the game away.
"We wanted to get out and run," Kreklow said. "In the second half, we got a lot of steals and that led to us getting a lot of baskets. That was huge."
Kreklow was excited to see a packed and boisterous crowd.
"It was great to see a full crowd and play in an atmosphere like this with a full crowd," he said. "The crowd was all behind us. It just gave us more motivation."
Kreklow had plenty of help. Junior teammate Zach Feller scored 20 points, had seven rebounds and four steals, while senior Disahwn Gale added 19 off the bench to go along with five rebounds and two steals. Senior teammate Cullen Brooks chipped in 7 points and had a team-high 12 rebounds.
"It was a typical Belleville-New Glarus game," New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said. "Everyone comes out with a lot of emotions."
Belleville coach Scott Noll liked the way his team was attacking the basket and being aggressive in the first half. The Wildcats were dealt a blow when senior Dalton Fahey injured his ankle late in the first half and was carried off the court.
"Dalton Fahey's injury really killed us," Noll said. "He was really setting a good tempo in the first half. In the second half, hats off to New Glarus. They came out and executed. There's a reason why they are ranked No. 1 in the state."
The Knights wanted to force the tempo with a pressure defense in the second half. It worked to perfection as they were able to score more in transition.
"We thought we could turn them over in the second half if we got some good traps," Sysko said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of getting our hands up and not fouling in the second half."
Feller drilled a 3-pointer to start the Knights' big surge in the second half. Gale had three layups during the spurt and Kreklow had a conventional three-point play. Gale scored on a layup after a slashing drive to the basket that gave the Knights a 20-point lead, 60-40 with 11 minutes left.
The lead snowballed to 25-points after Feller knocked down a 3 to give New Glarus a 67-42 lead with 8:30 left. Gale scored on a layup to give the Knights their biggest lead of 28-points, 80-52 with 2:46 to go.
Despite a cold shooting first half as a team, Gale didn't lose confidence. He knew it was just a matter of time before he and his teammates would heat up.
"We just had to keep shooting," Gale said. "We knew our shots would eventually start falling."
Gale is happy to contribute after missing several games earlier this season.
"I worked hard in practice to make sure we were all ready to go when I got back," he said.
The Knights relied on Gale to guard Shrader in the second half.
"I thought it was his best game of the year," Sysko said of Gale. "We had a couple players with three fouls so we decided to start Dishawn in the second half. I thought he did a really good job of guarding Shrader. We limited his touches."
