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Imposing its will for the opening tip until the final horn, Pulaski won its first state basketball championship Saturday evening at the Kohl Center, registering a 48-40 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran in the WIAA Division 2 title game.

The Red Raiders used their swarming 1-3-1 zone defense to cut off driving lanes for the quick Wisconsin Lutheran guards, and Pulaski was patient and highly efficient on the other end of the floor, making a Division 2 title-game record .615 percent of its shots (16 of 26).

The result was a thoroughly convincing victory for  Pulaski program that finishes the season with a 24-4 record under coach Dave Shaw.

“We were able to dictate from the beginning and that was our goal,” Shaw said. “Once we get a few shots to go down and a few stops, we are pretty tough to play when we are ahead.”

Wisconsin Lutheran (22-6) found that out the hard way as the Vikings simply couldn’t get any offensive rhythm and were held to a season-low point total.

“It was frustrating for us on the offensive end because we never got into any game flow,” Wisconsin Lutheran coach Ryan Walz said. “We needed to get into transition and get some easy baskets, but we just never got into our transition game.”

Pulaski was led by senior Cody Wichmann (6-5), a Milwaukee recruit who finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. He made several big plays at opportune times to thwart any potential comeback bid by the Vikings.

Wisconsin Lutheran’s Deiondre Cunningham (6-0) had a game-high 19 points and was the only Viking player to find any sort of consistent offense.

But even Cunningham said trying to score against Pulaski’s suffocating defense was a big-time challenge.

“It was very difficult at times because they would converge on us,” Cunningham said.

Steady play of Stiede big key to Pulaski’s success

Senior point guard Jordan Stiede scored 10 points and had a couple of assists for the Red Raiders, but his biggest contribution was handling the intense defensive pressure Wisconsin Lutheran put on him throughout the contest. 

Bringing the ball up against several different quick defenders, Stiede played 32 minutes and had just three turnovers.

Pulaski finished the contest with eight turnovers and a Wisconsin Lutheran squad that had forced 20 turnovers in its state-semifinal victory over Stoughton.

“Jordan Stiede was awesome tonight,” Shaw said. “He controlled himself in the backcourt and was able to shake his defenders. We thought it we played between the two circles by each free-throw line, we’d be Ok and Jordan allowed that to happen.”

Quick Hitters … Junior Luke Van Lanen (6-0) was able to break free off of cuts to the basket and scored 13 points for Pulaski. The talented and versatile wing player also had three rebounds, two steals and an assist while playing 32 minutes …  Pulaski lost four games this season by a combined 11 points … Former West De Pere coach Steve Kestly, the son of longtime Pulaski coach Fred Kestly, is an assistant in the Red Raiders’ program … Wisconsin Lutheran’s six losses this season came at the hands of Arrowhead, Homestead, Kaukauna, Germantown, Brookfield Central and Pulaski … Sophomore Anthony Carver (6-3) played well in both state-tournament games for the Vikings and appears to have a very bright future … Wisconsin Lutheran freshman reserve Austin DeNoyer (6-0) is the son Vikings’ football coach Kirk DeNoyer.