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The consensus coming into the Division 4 semifinals was that Dominican simply had too much of everything, especially too much Diamond Stone in the middle, to fall to any of three other contenders.

Through one round, those inside the consensus are exactly right.

The 6-foot-10 junior center was dominant on Thursday night, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocks in the Knights’ 78-47 cruise past Brillion at the Kohl Center in Madison.

“We’d gone through 20 different plans on ways to stop him, but I’m not sure I’m smart enough to come up with a great plan,” Brillion coach Pete Kittel said of Stone. “He kept his poise very well and competed very well.”

Stone played 29 minutes on Thursday – more than any other player in the game – and altered the game plan of the Lions, the 2012 Division 3 state champions who are known as a consistently sound team with fundamentals.

“Coach (Derek) Berger said they going to get a run and we should just keep our composure and don’t freak out about it,” said Stone, who also had four dunks in Thursday’s game. “That’s what we did. We were steady and put it on them.”

Dominican led the entire game, creating its first major gap with a 16-0 run to end the first quarter and begin the second. By halftime, Stone had 18 points and five boards.

It was not all Stone, however. Senior forward Jack Jelacic finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds as he took advantage of the inside double and triple teams on Stone by the Lions.

“I came into the game nervous, but after a while you just get used to the game,” Jelacic said. “Having teammates like Diamond to pick you up is a big part of it.”

Dominican finished the third quarter and started the fourth with a 12-0 spurt to build a 29-point lead and cruise to the end.

“This is a great win but it’s not over,” Stone said. “We’re not thinking about this win any more. We’re thinking about the championship. For my freshman and sophomore year we got two state championships and now we’re trying to get three.”

Lemke carries Brillion’s load after Mathiebe’s injury

Junior Tyler Lemke led the Lions with 17 points, the only Brillion player with more than seven points. He also added four blocks against the Knights.

“We had to prepare for him,” Dominican coach Derek Berger said. “He posts up well, he has quick feet and can get to the rim off the dribble. We weren’t quite sure what they wanted to emphasize with him.”

Lemke’s responsibilities grew after starting point guard Jacob Mathiebe left the game in the first quarter with a wrist injury. Mathiebe was injured on his first drive of the game, when he landed awkwardly on his wrist after his shot was blocked by Stone.

Mathiebe tried to return on a couple of occasions, including after having the wrist taped at the halftime. He played only nine minutes, however, and finished with no points although he did grab three rebounds and had two steals.

“That was huge,” Kittel said of Mathiebe’s absence. “The point guard is the lifeblood of your team and it definitely changed us. He’s probably our best three-point threat and a great on-ball defender. Losing him affected the psyche of our team, but that’s part of athletics. You have to be able to get through those things.

“I was proud of Jacob on how he tried to grit it out. He just couldn’t grip the ball very well.”

Blair-Taylor finally breaks through at state

Blair-Taylor coach Randy Storlie could not contain his glee after the Wildcats beat Unity 47-32 in Thursday’s second Division 4 semifinal. Nor did he want to.

“The first thing I want to say is, ‘Finally,’” said Storlie, whose teams had lost seven straight semifinal games at state since 1994.

“We finally get to go to the championship game in our eighth trip down here. We finally get to play for a state championship.”

The Wildcats (23-3) exploded out of the gate, leading 21-6 after one quarter by hitting nine of their first 14 shots. They led by as many as 19 points before settling for a 28-13 halftime lead.

Unity, meanwhile, had the first-time-at-state look in its eyes early. The Eagles shot only 21 percent in the first half (4-of-19) while committing eight turnovers.

“Being here for the first time, with all the emotions, but at the end of the day you have to step and  compete if you want to bring home a ball,” Eagles coach Shaun Fisher said. “We just weren’t able to do that.”

Unity (22-3) weathered the first-half storm and employed its trademark defense in the third quarter to cause Blair-Taylor some anxiety. The Eagles allowed the Wildcats just three third-quarter points and cut the gap to 35-28 midway through the fourth period.

“We’ve seen (other teams) do that before,” Unity senior guard Zac Johnson said. “We had to keep playing defense and pushing on.”

Blair-Taylor finally used a 6-0 run in the closing minutes to push the lead to 47-30 and hold on for the victory. That caused a memorable moment for Storlie.

“This is my 32nd year and 481st win with this program, and I’m going to circle that one,” he said. “If there’s a Cinderella story, we’re it and those slippers we’re dancing in are pretty tight right now.”

Storlie’s actions after the media session proved his point, as he collected several copies of the box score and stat sheets to take with him.

Big three come through for Blair-Taylor

Dalton Soto, Simeon Pooler and Brett Ladsten have each averaged at least 15 points per game for Blair-Taylor this season, and all three contributed to the Wildcats’ win on Thursday.

Soto finished with a game-high 17 points, while Pooler chipped in 14 and Ladsten 13. Each played all but one minute of the semifinal game.

“I was a ballboy for this team through the years, and watching those other guys play and never being able to pull (a semifinal win) off just killed me,” Soto said. 

The next thing…

While Blair-Taylor is enjoying its semifinal win, thoughts will soon turn to trying to handle Dominican in Saturday’s championship game.

“It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this one out,” Storlie said. “They are unbelievable. They are a great team … We’re going to shoot threes and hope the ball goes in the hole. Diamond Stone, he’s a gem. But we’re going to play hard and have fun.”