SOUTH WAYNE - Black Hawk senior Heath Butler scored a game-high 36 points, but he had plenty of help as the Warriors rolled to a 69-53 win over Madison Abundant Life/St. Ambrose in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal game Friday.
Black Hawk (14-10) outscored Abundant Life 22-7 in the third quarter. Black Hawk senior Shawn Woodruff scored 10 points and junior Jacob Quinn and senior Troy Wellnitz each added nine points.
Woodruff scored on two drives to the basket in the first half to spark the Warriors, who trailed 30-27 at the half.
"Early on, it (Woodruff's two drives) got us going," Black Hawk coach Charlie Anderson said. "Shawn kind of carried us."
With the win, Black Hawk advances to play at top-seeded Williams Bay in a regional championship game at 7 p.m. today.
In the second half, the Warriors pounded the ball down low to Butler.
"In the second half, we rode Heath Butler and he took us home," Anderson said. "We did a much better job of executing and getting Heath touches down low."
Wellnitz also had the challenge of guarding Abundant Life's top player - Spencer Wright who scored a team-high 18 points.
Anderson is looking forward to playing for a regional title and a sectional berth.
"I said before this that anyone in our regional could win it," he said. "It will be tough. Williams Bay has some size. They are seeded No. 1 for a reason."
Pecatonica 72, Potosi 63
BLANCHARDVILLE - Pecatonica senior Drew Schliem and sophomore A.J. Hendrickson combined to score 48 points to propel the Vikings to a 72-63 win over Potosi in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal game.
Schliem scored a game-high 26 points and Hendrickson added 22 points. Schliem scored 23 of his points in the first half and made seven of the Vikings' nine 3-pointers. Pecatonica (109-5) jumped out to a 22-13 lead in the first quarter. The Vikings led by 13-points at the half. However, Potosi outscored the Vikings 33-29 in the second half. The Vikings made just 17 of 32 from the free-throw line.
"We shot the ball well in the first half," Pecatonica assistant coach Larry Schliem said. "They were playing a box-and-1 on Drew and we would go to the hot hand and we were capitalizing."
With Potosi down by double digits in the second half, the Chieftains looked to foul to extend the game.
"They (Potosi) really battled," Larry Schliem said. "Nothing was easy. The main thing is we got to Saturday."
Pecatonica will play for a regional championship at 7 p.m. at Shullsburg today. The game will pit Shullsburg (22-2), ranked No. 4 in Division 5 and the Six Rivers West Conference champion against Pecatonica, the Six Rivers East Conference champion.
"They (Shullsburg) are well disciplined," Schliem said. "We need to make sure we play better defense this time. We can score. We need to be able to defend. We need to have our defense on top of our game."
Potosi was led by Brent Curtis who scored 21 points and Kyle Kaiser who added 18 points.
Cuba City 43, Darlington 41
DARLINGTON - With three of the state's top ranked Division 4 teams in the same regional, the rubber game between Darlington and Cuba City went to the Cubans who held on to clip the Redbirds 43-41 in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal.
Cuba City never trailed and jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Redbirds didn't make a field goal in the second quarter and trailed 18-12 at the half. The Cubans played a box-and-1 defense to shut down Darlington senior leading scorer Cole McDonald. The box-and-1 featured one player guarding McDonald one-on-one and the other players playing a zone.
"It wasn't a surprise at all," Darlington coach Mike Hopkins said. "They played a box-and-1 last Thursday when we played them. It was a little disappointing we got off to a slow start because it's something we practiced. We didn't have the other players execute the way we wanted them."
Darlington sophomore Hunter Johnson scored a game-high 21 points. Darlington's Chad Golackson knocked down a big 3-pointer in the second half. A pass from Johnson to senior Ben Muhlstein went through Muhlstein's hands with 3 seconds to go in the fourth quarter and the Cubans survived to win.
With the win, Cuba City (19-5) will play at No. 3-ranked Mineral Point (23-0) at 7 p.m. today in a regional championship game.
"Chad Golackson stepped up in the second half," Hopkins said. "We really needed some other guys to step up."
With three of the state's top Division 4 teams in the same regional, both Hopkins and Cuba City coach Jerry Petitgoue are pushing to have the basketball tournament seeded the first two rounds like the football playoffs are seeded by coaches after the WIAA assigns teams to groupings - even if it means a longer drive.
"I think all of the top teams in each sectional should be seeded and then you look at geographic areas," Hopkins said. "I think we need to have more balance. To have the top four teams in one conference play each other in the second round is unfair. We need to reward the regular season. That is why you play the games in the regular season. Travel has something to do with it."
Hopkins said when the WIAA uses some factors like not playing a conference team in the first round of the playoffs in some sports like football, the equity for seeding should be shared between each sport.
"It's not just our sport," he said. "It's wrestling too."
Williams Bay 65, Albany 58
WILLIAMS BAY - The Albany boys basketball team's upset bid of top-seeded Williams Bay came up just short as the Bulldogs hung on for a 65-58 win in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal game.
Williams Bay's John Higgins scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs. Williams Bay's Cory Shea added 13 points. Albany (10-14) entered the fourth quarter trailing 44-40. Williams Bay outscored the Comets 21-18 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The Comets shot 16 of 22 from the free-throw line.
Albany's Mitchell Trow scored a team-high 16 points and junior teammate Tyler Dahl added 13 points. Albany's Devin Deegan scored 10 points and Brock Gilkes chipped in nine points. Albany hit eight 3-pointers led by Trow and Gilkes who each had three 3-pointers.
Black Hawk (14-10) outscored Abundant Life 22-7 in the third quarter. Black Hawk senior Shawn Woodruff scored 10 points and junior Jacob Quinn and senior Troy Wellnitz each added nine points.
Woodruff scored on two drives to the basket in the first half to spark the Warriors, who trailed 30-27 at the half.
"Early on, it (Woodruff's two drives) got us going," Black Hawk coach Charlie Anderson said. "Shawn kind of carried us."
With the win, Black Hawk advances to play at top-seeded Williams Bay in a regional championship game at 7 p.m. today.
In the second half, the Warriors pounded the ball down low to Butler.
"In the second half, we rode Heath Butler and he took us home," Anderson said. "We did a much better job of executing and getting Heath touches down low."
Wellnitz also had the challenge of guarding Abundant Life's top player - Spencer Wright who scored a team-high 18 points.
Anderson is looking forward to playing for a regional title and a sectional berth.
"I said before this that anyone in our regional could win it," he said. "It will be tough. Williams Bay has some size. They are seeded No. 1 for a reason."
Pecatonica 72, Potosi 63
BLANCHARDVILLE - Pecatonica senior Drew Schliem and sophomore A.J. Hendrickson combined to score 48 points to propel the Vikings to a 72-63 win over Potosi in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal game.
Schliem scored a game-high 26 points and Hendrickson added 22 points. Schliem scored 23 of his points in the first half and made seven of the Vikings' nine 3-pointers. Pecatonica (109-5) jumped out to a 22-13 lead in the first quarter. The Vikings led by 13-points at the half. However, Potosi outscored the Vikings 33-29 in the second half. The Vikings made just 17 of 32 from the free-throw line.
"We shot the ball well in the first half," Pecatonica assistant coach Larry Schliem said. "They were playing a box-and-1 on Drew and we would go to the hot hand and we were capitalizing."
With Potosi down by double digits in the second half, the Chieftains looked to foul to extend the game.
"They (Potosi) really battled," Larry Schliem said. "Nothing was easy. The main thing is we got to Saturday."
Pecatonica will play for a regional championship at 7 p.m. at Shullsburg today. The game will pit Shullsburg (22-2), ranked No. 4 in Division 5 and the Six Rivers West Conference champion against Pecatonica, the Six Rivers East Conference champion.
"They (Shullsburg) are well disciplined," Schliem said. "We need to make sure we play better defense this time. We can score. We need to be able to defend. We need to have our defense on top of our game."
Potosi was led by Brent Curtis who scored 21 points and Kyle Kaiser who added 18 points.
Cuba City 43, Darlington 41
DARLINGTON - With three of the state's top ranked Division 4 teams in the same regional, the rubber game between Darlington and Cuba City went to the Cubans who held on to clip the Redbirds 43-41 in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal.
Cuba City never trailed and jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Redbirds didn't make a field goal in the second quarter and trailed 18-12 at the half. The Cubans played a box-and-1 defense to shut down Darlington senior leading scorer Cole McDonald. The box-and-1 featured one player guarding McDonald one-on-one and the other players playing a zone.
"It wasn't a surprise at all," Darlington coach Mike Hopkins said. "They played a box-and-1 last Thursday when we played them. It was a little disappointing we got off to a slow start because it's something we practiced. We didn't have the other players execute the way we wanted them."
Darlington sophomore Hunter Johnson scored a game-high 21 points. Darlington's Chad Golackson knocked down a big 3-pointer in the second half. A pass from Johnson to senior Ben Muhlstein went through Muhlstein's hands with 3 seconds to go in the fourth quarter and the Cubans survived to win.
With the win, Cuba City (19-5) will play at No. 3-ranked Mineral Point (23-0) at 7 p.m. today in a regional championship game.
"Chad Golackson stepped up in the second half," Hopkins said. "We really needed some other guys to step up."
With three of the state's top Division 4 teams in the same regional, both Hopkins and Cuba City coach Jerry Petitgoue are pushing to have the basketball tournament seeded the first two rounds like the football playoffs are seeded by coaches after the WIAA assigns teams to groupings - even if it means a longer drive.
"I think all of the top teams in each sectional should be seeded and then you look at geographic areas," Hopkins said. "I think we need to have more balance. To have the top four teams in one conference play each other in the second round is unfair. We need to reward the regular season. That is why you play the games in the regular season. Travel has something to do with it."
Hopkins said when the WIAA uses some factors like not playing a conference team in the first round of the playoffs in some sports like football, the equity for seeding should be shared between each sport.
"It's not just our sport," he said. "It's wrestling too."
Williams Bay 65, Albany 58
WILLIAMS BAY - The Albany boys basketball team's upset bid of top-seeded Williams Bay came up just short as the Bulldogs hung on for a 65-58 win in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal game.
Williams Bay's John Higgins scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs. Williams Bay's Cory Shea added 13 points. Albany (10-14) entered the fourth quarter trailing 44-40. Williams Bay outscored the Comets 21-18 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The Comets shot 16 of 22 from the free-throw line.
Albany's Mitchell Trow scored a team-high 16 points and junior teammate Tyler Dahl added 13 points. Albany's Devin Deegan scored 10 points and Brock Gilkes chipped in nine points. Albany hit eight 3-pointers led by Trow and Gilkes who each had three 3-pointers.
