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

Veteran Madison Memorial coach Steve Collins stepped into the interview room following his club's 48-41 loss to Stevens Point in a WIAA Division 1 state semifinal game Friday and took a quick scan of the game's statistics.

He liked most of what he saw on the stat sheet, but there was one area that he wished he could change.

"For us to hold Stevens Point to 38 percent shooting from the floor ... those three-pointers just killed us," said Collins, who watched the two-time defending Division 1 state champions make seven triples against his tough man-to-man defense.

"Some kids for Stevens Point stepped up and hit some big shots down the stretch. The pace of play was exactly what we wanted it to be. I would stop them from being 7 of 14 from three if I could change anything."

Junior forward Andrew Erdman (6-3) was the player who stepped forward with the biggest three for Stevens Point.

With his club leading 39-37, Erdman caught a pass on the left side, rose up with confidence and buried a three-point shot to give Stevens Point a bit of breathing room and a 42-37 lead.

"That shot just came within our motion offense," Stevens Point coach Scott Anderson said. "Andrew hit some big shots last weekend in our game against Oshkosh North. Tonight he was quiet offensively, but you never know when your number is going to be called.

"I am very proud of Andrew for stepping up and stepping into that shot with confidence. Andrew made a huge play for us." 

While those three points were the only points Erdman scored in the contest, he got plenty of offensive help from junior Drew Blair (6-3), a left-handed wing guard who has come into his own this season.

Blair made three triples and scored a game-high 17 points. He made all four of his foul shots in the final 25 seconds to help the Panthers hold off Madison Memorial.

"Our kids played, I thought, extremely well," Anderson said. "Our defense and rebounding were very good. That was one of the better defensive teams we've played against this season. Their length and athleticism were tough. I am pleased we were able to win a grinder type of game."

Junior Joey Hauser (6-8), the subject of an intense recruiting battle between Iowa, Marquette, Michigan State, Virginia and Wisconsin, among others, had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, though he went just 3 of 12 from the field.

"It was a very physical game," Hauser said. "We were able to rebound well and that was a focus of ours before the game. Offensively, it was difficult for us because we like to get the ball out and go with it. But we stepped up defensively and that is what did it for us."

Senior guard Beau Rosenthal (6-1) finished with 12 points and two three-point baskets for Stevens Point, which won the D1 state title in 2015 over Germantown and last season over Muskego.

Dartmouth recruit Chris Knight (6-8) had a strong overall game for Madison Memorial, scoring 16 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and handing out 5 assists.

Knight was able to post-up Hauser at times and scored the majority of his points close to the basket as the Spartans posted a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint.

"(Hauser's) height and length kind of affected my shot," Knight said. "I had to jump and little higher and release the ball higher on my shot. But I wasn't afraid of going up against him because he's the same height."

Senior point guard Billy Wilson (5-11) made the only two three-point shots Memorial connected on and finished with 10 points while senior forward Matt Caropreso (6-7) had eight points and four rebounds.

The situation was dire for Arrowhead with 5:45 left in Friday’s semifinal against Brookfield Central. The Warhawks trailed 56-44 and had allowed a 17-4 run over the previous three minutes.

They had no idea of the heroics to come. Well, maybe they did.

“All the things that this senior group has been through in four years, all the team bonding things we’ve done, you could see that always played for each other,” Arrowhead coach Craig Haase said after the Warhawks’ 63-62 overtime win.

After making just one 3-pointer in the first 31 minutes, the Warhawks (22-5) hit three in the next 90 seconds, then completed the 12-0 run at the free throw line to finish regulation in a 56-56 tie. The excitement still wasn’t done.

In overtime, the Lancers’ Sam Rohde gave Brookfield Central a 62-61 lead with 24 seconds remaining. As the Warhawks brought the ball up court, Tommy Durand – who had scored only two points – found the ball in his hands on the left wing, and nearly lost it on the drive.

“(The defender) was right up on me, so I looked to find a teammate or get an opening to the basket,” Durand said. “I kind of lost the ball on my left, but then I saw the hoop and the opening so I lifted it up with my left hand and watched it go in.”

During the ensuing timeout, Haase told the Warhawks defense to switch on everything. The Lancers’ Cole Nau drove to the hoop and beat Alec Hamilton to the spot, but the turned-around Hamilton managed to reach up and block the ball out of bounds under Brookfield Central’s basket with eight-tenths of a second left.

The Lancers (24-3) had one more chance and the entry pass to Andres Peralta-Werns – “We missed a switch there,” Haase said – led to a leaning try that fell off the rim at the buzzer. That sparked a loud on-court celebration for the Warhawks and locked a spot in Saturday’s game against two-time defending champion Stevens Point.

“That was a great game, at least for people not sitting on the benches,” Brookfield Central coach Dan Wandrey said. “We had a nice little surge to start the second half and another one a little bit later. I think we had a 12-point lead and we’ve closed out games all season. We didn’t today.”

Both teams were cold in the first half, combining to hit just 22 of 64 shots, including just two of 21 3-point tries.

Trevell Cunningham led Arrowhead with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Ben Seefeld added 16 points, Hamilton 13 and Marko Matejic 11. Sophomore Gage Malensek paced Brookfield Central with 18 points, while Peralta-Werns had 17 and Nau 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Attendance for the Division 1 Friday nigh session was 13,241.