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There are many storylines in Barneveld’s Division 5 overwhelming 58-28 win over Shullsburg on Saturday. In a basketball sense, the story was the records set.

The 30-point win was the largest in Division 5’s brief seven-year history. The 86 points was the lowest combined score for a Division 5 championship, and Shullsburg’s 28 points the lowest total in any non-Division 1 state championship game and the lowest score in any Division 5 state tourney game.

Then there was Barneveld coach Jim Myers winning his seventh state title, this the first with a boys team after six with the Eagles girls since 1995. Initial research that only Myers and Tom Weinkauf (Marathon, Wausau Newman) have coached both boys and girls teams to WIAA state championships.

All that seemed to pale on Saturday, though, compared to the personal story for the Eagles team and its hometown.

“It’s the team but it’s also the town,” said Myers, referring to the death of sophomore Malcolm Reed’s mother – a former girls player for Myers in the 1990s – little more than a week ago. “The town rallied around us when the tragedy happened, and we were there for Malcolm and in a way, he was there for us.”

On the court, the Eagles (26-3) were there for each other, too – primarily in a suffocating zone defense that limited Shullsburg (26-3) to 25 percent shooting. Barneveld took a six-point halftime lead and used a 20-5 run to open the second half to lead 41-2 with six minutes left.

“In the second half, it just got away from us,” Miners coach Mark Lierman said. “I thought Barneveld had a lot more energy. We didn’t rebound very well and they were getting those balls. We had some shots not go, and that affected our defense a little bit. We lost that pep in our step and they took advantage of it.”

Matthew Myers, the Barneveld coach’s son, led the Eagles with 20 points while Reed added 12 and Mike Zouski 11. No player reached double figures for Shullsburg, which got nine points from Noah Wand.

“We knew we had to play well today because they were familiar with us and we were familiar with them,” Matthew Myers said. “Capping it off the right way is what every high school kid dreams of, especially with my dad as coach.”

And for Reed, who was remarkably composed through the tourney belying his age and his personal tragedy, the championship showed as much for the people around him as it did personally.

“I knew (my mom) was there and I knew she’d be proud, but my family said they were experiencing things that they could tell,” Reed said. “It’s been crazy, but I know she’s here.”