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Young Coggs Prep coach Tim Richert admitted his team had some nerves with its first-ever trip to the WIAA state tournament. By the end of Thursday’s Division 5 semifinal, though, the Eagles had enough confidence to play keep-away.

“We had a little jitters,” Richert said after Young Coggs’ 59-48 win over Washburn at the Kohl Center. “Being down eight I said we’re not giving up. In the second half, once we transitioned into the game more, attacking the basket and sharing the ball more, then making our free throws at the end, I knew we could make it.”

The Eagles (22-5), who face Hillsboro – another first-time state tourney attendee – in Saturday’s 11:05 a.m. Division 5 championship, took control of Thursday’s game by slowing things down with a four corners offense.

Young Coggs spread its offense in the fourth quarter after taking a 49-43 lead after three periods. Instead of attacking the basket at that point, the Eagles pulled back.

“It opened the lane up for us,” senior guard DeAngelo Crawford said. “Most of the time we can get to the rim whenever we want to. It was exciting to stall the ball, because we had to stay calm, but when we saw an opening we went to the rim.”

That frustrated Washburn (25-3), winners of 22 straight games who averaged nearly 82 points per game. With center Brant Schick on the bench with foul trouble, eliminating the Castle Guards’ inside game, Washburn could no longer dictate the tempo.

“They had four ball handlers on the floor, so they’re tough to defend when they decide to pull it out,” said Washburn coach Duane Gasperini, whose saw his team build a 22-13 lead with 6:51 left in the first half. “Their quickness was a real problem.”

Game as a refuge

Young Coggs Prep is a Christian-based choice school on the northwest side of Milwaukee. With just 188 students, it attempts to be an island of calm in an often-turbulent environment.

“I come from a part of Milwaukee full of poverty, killing and robbing,” said senior guard Tiwon Jones, who led all scorers with 29 points on Thursday. “We’ve had faith since day one, though, an it’s unbelievable feeling that we’ve really done this.”

Jones will attend St. John’s prep school in Delafield next year in the hopes of extending his basketball career in college. That’s an opportunity that probably would not have existed without Young Coggs.

“It’s a great place to give these kids hope and a chance,” Richert said.

Socks switch a winner

One just doesn’t see a lot of argyle socks in a competitive basketball game. But Crawford had them on Thursday – a red, black and white Wisconsin Badger pair – as he finished with seven points, five rebounds and six assists.

Lucky tournament socks, perhaps? Not quite.

“We got here and all I had were these ankle socks, and that wasn’t going to do it,” Crawford said. “So the dad of one of the players ran upstairs and bought these (at the Bucky’s Locker Room store).”

Will the socks be back for Saturday’s championship game?

“Hmmm, I don’t know about that yet. I suppose,” he said.

As Hillsboro’s memorable season led to its first state tourney appearance, the Tigers’ offense became more guard-oriented. In Thursday’s semifinal against Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran, that changed and led to an opportunity for a state title.

The Tigers (23-5) went with 6-foot-8 Avery Rueckheim, 6-4 Max Stockwell and bulky 6-2 forward Hunter Stanek in the second half to muscle their way to a 59-57 win over the Blazers. The trio combined for 40 points and 11 rebounds in a tight game that featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

“Our coaching staff just had a feeling that would be the way to get things done today,” Hillsboro’s first-year coach Curt Hildreth said. “Hunter had not played his best basketball in sectionals and credit to him to remain that mentally tough to come back with probably his best game of the year.”

Stanek finished with 12 points, including six-of-nine at the free throw line. He also had five points in an 8-1 Hillsboro run in the fourth period.

The Tigers’ big lineup also took advantage of the absence of the Blazers’ 6-3 forward Noah Gosse, who picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter.

“I think that was the right move for them,” N.E.W. Lutheran coach Mark Meerstein said of the Tigers. “I think they needed to go big because the small lineup wasn’t working for them. They made a nice adjustment.”

Although Gosse finished with eight rebounds, his nine points Thursday were nearly nine below his season-long average and only the second time he has been held to single-digit scoring this season.

“It’s always tough to get back into the groove of getting back into the game after sitting for a while,” Gosse said. “We had a good run going there but in the fourth quarter we let it slip away a little bit.”

A final shot at victory

Hillsboro led 58-52 with 2:06 remaining but then missed three of four throws that allowed the Blazers (16-12) to rally and get a final shot. Nathaniel Schaefer’s lunging three-point try in the closing seconds failed, however, and allowed the Tigers to advance.

“I wanted to give us a chance to drive and see if we could get them,” Meerstein said.

Hildreth thought the Blazers would try to isolate Gosse for a final drive and shot so the Tigers focused on preventing that option.

“We talked to our kids and told them don’t try to front-and-back him,” he said. “We didn’t want to double down in post because we didn’t want to leave a wide open shooter. We felt good if we had to go to overtime from then.”

Preliminary attendance for the Thursday afternoon Division 5 session was 7,215. That is the same as last year's D5 session.