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D4 Semifinal Notes: Dominican fires on all cylinders in win over Regis

03/19/2015, 11:00pm CDT
By Mark Miller

When Dominican High School plays with as much poise, precision and purpose as it did Thursday night at the Kohl Center, few, if any, teams in Wisconsin can stay with the three-time defending WIAA Division 4 state champions.

Dominican shot 70 percent (7 of 10) from three-point range and 61 percent (20 of 33) overall in the first half to take a commanding 50-25 lead over previously unbeaten Regis in a D4 state semifinal contest.

The Knights (24-3) rolled the rest of way en route to posting a 93-54 victory. 

Senior center Diamond Stone (6-10) finished with 33 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots while senior point guard Austin Moutry (5-9) added 16 points and seven assists.

Dominican had 22 assists and committed just seven turnovers against Regis.

"It's probably the best we've played," Dominican coach Derek Berger said. "I think we are hitting our stride right now."

Dominican certainly hit on all cylinders throughout the contest against Regis, which finished the season ranked No. 1 among D4 schools in the Associated Press poll.

When the Knights weren't dominating in the paint with Stone and senior Garrison Goode (6-8), the Knights were hitting three-point shots from all over the court.

Dominican made 10 triples in the game, including four by Moutry.

"Austin is really important to our team," Stone said. "He brings a lot of leadership. He can shoot the ball and pass the ball. He brings a lot to our team."

Dominican, which led by as many as 44 points in the fourth period and scored a D4 state-tournament record 93 points, gets a chance to join Randolph as the only schools in WIAA history to win four straight basketball championships when it plays for the D4 title on Saturday.

"A lot of people don't even get a chance at one, so we understand how special it is to have a chance to win four," Moutry said.

Deja vu all over again for Regis' Uelmen

In 1979, Bill Uelmen was a young coach at Regis High School in Eau Claire when the Ramblers took on Dominican in a Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association Class A quarterfinal game at the Milwaukee Arena.

Dominican posted an 88-44 victory over Regis in that game and went on to win the WISAA state title under coach Don Gosz, the father of current Milwaukee KIng coach Jim Gosz.

More than 35 years later, Uelmen found himself in familiar territory as the Ramblers met Dominican in a WIAA D4 state semifinal at the Kohl Center.

Unfortunately for Uelmen and Regis, the results were very much the same as Dominican rolled to a 93-54 victory.

"I remember the game in 1979 very well," Uelmen said. "We recently had a get together with some of the guys from that team. Dominican was pretty darned good then, too."

Uelmen's team this year enjoyed tremendous success, winning the Cloverbelt West title and entering the state tournament with a 26-0 record.

Senior wing guard and Drake recruit Billy Wampler and junior guard Logan Rohrscheib had terrific years for the Ramblers and each finished in double figures against Dominican with Wampler pumping in 19 and Rohrscheib 16.

But the Ramblers were no match for the size, length and athleticism of Dominican, which started Stone (6-10) and Goode (6-8) on the frontline while also playing Kostas Antetokounmpo (6-7) 14 minutes.

"They are pretty good," Uelmen said of Dominican."We haven't seen that kind of length this season. And they shot a very good percentage tonight.

"Diamond Stone is a great player, but they are just not Diamond. They have a lot of other pieces to that puzzle."

Sharing the ball pays dividends for Mineral Point

Mineral Point finished with 13 assists on 23 made field goals Thursday during its 66-59 victory over Auburndale in a WIAA D4 state semifinal at the Kohl Center. 

But even more impressive than the assist total for the Pointers was the way they moved the ball and passed up a good look for a great look at the basket.

"The one things we have done all year is move the basketball," Mineral Point coach Dan Burreson said. "We did a good job of sharing the basketball tonight."

The Pointers' unselfishness played a big role in helping them overcome a slow start and a 20-12 deficit after the first period against an Auburndale squad that came into the state tournament on a roll.

Mineral Point managed to tie the game at 29 by intermission and then led for the vast majority of the second half. The Pointers led by as many as 14 points in the fourth period before a late Apaches' flurry cut the margin to seven as the final horn sounded.

Senior Tarek Oellerich (6-4) had 23 points to lead Mineral Point while senior Turner Poad (5-10) added 17 and senior Alec Schmitz (6-1) 12.

The Pointers made seven three-point baskets and were able to overcome 61 percent shooting by Auburndale.

Poad buried four triples while Joey Gorgen finished with two made shots from beyond the arc. Mineral Point boasts four players who can connect from distance on a regular basis.

"It's so great to have four guards who can shoot the ball," Poad said. "I was lucky to be on tonight and my teammates did a good job of getting me the ball."

Mineral Point puts its 27-0 record on the line Saturday when the Pointers take on three-time defending D4 champion Dominican.

"It will be fun to play against a Division I athlete like Diamond," Poad said. "We'll go out and play Mineral Point basketball and see what happens."

Auburndale shoots well, but falls short

Auburndale shot 61 percent from the floor Thursday night.

But it wasn't enough as the Apaches fell to Mineral Point 66-59 in a D4 state semifinal at the Kohl Center.

Mineral Point had 12 more attempts at the basket and made more free throws (13) than Auburndale attempted (12) to win its 52nd game in 53 outings over the past two seasons. 

Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter felt offensive rebounding was the difference in the game as Mineral Point snared 14 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points.

"The offensive rebounds Mineral Point just killed us," Weinfurter said. 

Mineral Point also did a terrific job of shadowing Auburndale senior guard Matt Nikolay, who came into the game averaging 16.7 points per game but managed just eight on a mere five field-goal attempts.

"They did a good job of taking Matt away," Weinfurter said. "They did a good job of shading Matt in their zone."

Auburndale got solid performances from Alex Marth, who scored 14 points, and reserve Cooper Krings, who also netted 14 for the Apaches, who end the season with a 19-8 record.

Attendance

Preliminary attendance for the Thursday evening Division 4 session was 9,305. That is 1,715 more than last year's D4 session.

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