Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

A pair of double-doubles was very welcomed by the Waunakee basketball team on Friday afternoon, and it was also necessary, as the Warriors needed every point and rebound to secure a 62-59 win over Whitnall and advance to Saturday’s Division 2 championship game.

Waunakee (25-2) will face Kaukauna (25-2) in the 6:35 p.m. Saturday matchup at the Kohl Center, between the two teams that spent the most time near the top of the state rankings this season.

“Every guy, like always, did something to get the win for us,” Warriors coach Dana MacKenzie said after Whitnall cut a 10-point lead to two with 16 seconds left and had a final look for a winning shot.

Senior Riley Freeman had 14 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore Mitch Listau added 15 points and 10 boards for the Warriors. They also dominated the glass, especially on offense, where Waunakee had 12 of its 37 rebounds.

Waunakee looked to be in control when it went up 50-40 on Mason Steffen’s steal and layup with 6:41 remaining. The Falcons (20-7), however, slapped on the pressure defense and made a final charge. Whitnall cut it to two points twice, the last time on Kevion Taylor’s two free throws with 16 seconds left. After Steffen made one free throw with 14 seconds remaining, the Falcons tried to get one last shot, but Tyler Herro’s desperation try failed.

“It was a play we put in just recently,” Whitnall coach Steve Kujawa said of the final play. “We set up for Tyler to reject the ball screen and then we’ve got the opposite guys pinning down for Kevion. They doubled it from what I can remember and nobody else moved. I thought Tyler had a clean look and got the shot off. That’s all you can ask for.”

The Warriors played a hard, physical game throughout, especially on the glass. They emphasized crashing the boards on offense and also got a pair of second-half baskets on inbound pass steals following their own baskets.

“It was something we definitely discussed all week in practice and something we saw on film,” MacKenzie said. “We thought we could get some second-chance points by crashing the offensive boards.”

Holding out for a Herro

Herro, Whitnall’s standout sophomore, finished with 20 points and surpassed 1,000 for his brief prep career, but it wasn’t easy as Waunakee’s defense led by Kyle Jensen pursued and bothered him.

“We watched hours of film (on Herro) and saw a couple of things that would make it more difficult for him to score,” MacKenzie said. “Kyle did those things. He pays attention to detail.”

Wake-up calls

Waunakee and Whitnall each had lulls to overcome on Friday. For the Warriors, it was a slow start for Ristau, who entered the game averaging 11.5 points per game but started slowly.

“I had a pretty simply comment. I said, ‘Mitch, it’s time to wake up,’” MacKenzie said.

Meanwhile, Taylor managed only two points for Whitnall in the first half but hit four three-pointers in the second half, including one that finished with a four-point play.

“The coaches kept telling me to rely on my shot,” he said. “I got a few of them to go in but not enough.”

Jordan vs. Kobe: Kaukauna standout wins matchup

Another sophomore, Kaukauna’s Jordan McCabe, also surpassed 1,000 prep career points on Friday as he scored 31 in the Ghosts’ 72-45 win over La Crosse Central. It marked the second win for Kaukauna (25-2) this year against the Red Raiders (22-5), as the Ghosts had beaten Central 80-65 on Jan. 16.

“He’s one of the best players in the state,” said Central guard Bailey Kale, who tried to guard McCabe on Friday. “He’s a good friend of mine, but tonight he couldn’t miss.”

McCabe had a pair of three-pointers in Kaukauna’s 18-0 first-half run that turned a 14-10 deficit into a 28-14 lead three minutes before the half. Central would get no closer than seven points after that.

Red Raiders standout Kobe King, a University of Wisconsin commit, finished with nine points – 17 below his average – and 10 rebounds. While he did sustain a wrist injury in the first half, he also never could find a scoring groove against the Ghosts’ defense.

“(Kaukauna guard Dalton) Erdman’s a great defender; he competes and he gets after it,” King said. “He made everything tough for me and my shots weren’t falling today. There wasn’t much I could do.”

Erdman, regarded as Kaukauna’s top defender, had a specific game plan for Kobe to take away his strengths.

“(King) liked to go baseline with the post moves and when they go 1-4, just try to keep him in front of us,” Erdman said.

As for the 18-0 Kaukauna run, Ghosts coach Mike Schalow said it was a matter of settling down and developing an offensive flow.

“When things aren’t going well with our secondary action and transition, we’ll try to run a few more sets and specials to get people shots,” he said. “We started to go to that in the early part of the game and it allowed us to create the type of shot that we wanted to get to.”

Kurey, Moreau control the glass

Kaukauna’s two inside players, 6-6 sophomore Dylan Kurey and 6-4 senior Marcus Moreau, each finished with strong rebounding games. Moreau had 13 rebounds, nine in the second half, while Kurey grabbed seven of his 10 boards in the first half.

It was especially important for Kurey, who had exited early in the sectional final against Cedarburg because of foul trouble.

“He need his post presence, and his length was very important tonight to turn some shots and secure some boards,” Schalow said.

“Marcus Moreau was kind of himself again. He’s been averaging double-figure rebounds throughout the season – actually a double-double guy – and while he came up short of that on scoring he came up huge on the glass.”

Championship preview

Waunakee and Kaukauna have been two of the three most dominant Division 2 teams this season, which makes Saturday’s title matchup an intriguing one.

“They’ve got very good balance and have a lot of people who can contribute,” Schalow said of the Warriors. “They’re tough to defend because you have a lot of people you’re concerned with. They also have the ability to pressure you in the full court and they like to run and transition as well.

“That is also something that is certainly a part of our group. That will be interesting. We talk about 84 feet through the season, but tomorrow it will be a 94-foot court and we each like playing in space.”