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La Crosse Central beat Waunakee in a January nonconference game by 19 points and the Warriors changed some strategy to make Friday’s state semifinal more competitive.

It didn’t work.

Led by Wisconsin recruit Kobe King, the Red Raiders stormed past Waunakee 78-56 and into Saturday’s championship game. King finished with a game-high 28 points.

“I thought as the game got going, we settled down a bit,” said Central coach Todd Fergot, who led the Red Raiders to a state title game for the first time since 1979. “Our goal (Saturday) is to get to 1-0. That’s been our goal all year.”

The Red Raiders (25-2) held Waunakee (24-3) to 24 percent shooting in the first half while building a 36-22 lead. A 13-0 run midway through the first half put Central up 23-13 and it would lead by at least seven points for the remainder of the first half.

“I think our defense was really solid,” King said. “Credit that to our length and our ability on closeouts. Giving up only 50 points to a great Waunakee team, that’s a pretty good job.”

Kale was a difference maker in the first half as well on his way to an 11-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist game. He was the distributor on a number of big hoops in the first half as Central expanded its lead.

“Coach told us to cut more and set more screens, and I think that really started our run,” he said.

Waunakee was making its second straight state trip as well after finishing second to Kaukauna last year, but it ran into a Red Raiders buzz saw on Friday.

“They’re deep, they’re strong and aggressive, they’re athletic … everything you want,” Warriors coach Dana McKenzie said. “They were really good today.”

The Warriors got 16 points from junior Mitch Listau, along with 15 from Tyler Ronk and 10 by Mason Steffan.

Cedarburg coach Tom Diener and Milwaukee Washington coach Fred Riley knew that their teams wanted to win Friday’s semifinal matchup. They just weren’t sure whether they could.

In the end, it took two overtimes and a record-setting performance by the Bulldogs’ John Diener to give Cedarburg it first-ever state tourney win, a 73-70 thriller against the Purgolders. The Bulldogs (25-2) will face La Crosse Central in Saturday’s Division 2 championship game.

“I thought the fatigue was going to do us in,” Tom Diener said. “That was the biggest thing. I could just see how tired John was, and we don’t sub a lot. The TV timeouts helped a little.”

John Diener hit a jumper with 3:41 left in the second overtime for the final two of his 46 points, surpassing the all-division, single-game record of 45 set by Appleton West’s Brian Butch in 2003. Diener needed every one of those points to help the Bulldogs persevere.

His jumper and free throw in the final two minutes of regulation kept the Purgolders (22-5) chasing before the second half ended in a 58-58 tie. He added four points in the first OT and two in the second extra period.

“Every game I have the same approach – I let the game come to me,” John Diener said. “My teammates tonight just got me the ball in good positions.”

It was Cedarburg’s other standout, Jordon Johnson, who made the biggest plays of the overtime sessions. His tip-in gave the Bulldogs a 64-62 lead with 23 seconds left in the first extra period before Jordan Dinsmore’s floater tied it at 64 for Washington. Johnson then scored seven of his 17 points in the second OT, including a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left that gave Cedarburg a permanent lead at 71-68.

Washington got a driving hoop from Jalen Stephen-Holmes with 12 seconds left to rally to 71-70. The ball remained on the court for nearly 10 seconds before Cedarburg inbounded it.

“It was kind of tricky,” Washington coach Fred Riley said. “We were playing for the five-second count but I saw the clock kept running, so we had to tell (our guys) to hurry up and commit a foul so we had some time to try and make a basket. … But that 10 seconds didn’t make or break us in the game.”

Riley also summed up what a game that everyone hopes to see at the state tournament.

“That’s probably one to remember for a long time at the state tournament,” he said. “There was a bunch of energy, guys playing who didn’t want to lose, good coaching, kids responding. Guys just being competitive and laying it all out on the table.”