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

The WSN15 series will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of WisSports.net by looking back at the top players, teams, and moments of the past 15 years (2003-2017). 

We begin our WSN15 boys' basketball series with the Top 15 Moments of the WSN Era.

The unexpected loss of Steve Randall on October 7th, 2004 shook the Wisconsin high school basketball world to its very core.

Just 53 years old and in very good health, Randall was about to begin his 16th year as the head coach of the boys' basketball program at Oshkosh West. 

Well liked and respected by his peers, Randall passed away in his wife Cindy's arms on that fateful day, a week after a surgeon accidentally cut an artery during an angioplasty.

Randall's son, Lance, was an assistant coach at NCAA Division I St. Louis University at the time, working under former University of Wisconsin coach Brad Soderberg. 

With Oshkosh West needing a head coach and his family hurting over the sudden loss of a husband, father, grandfather and coach who was a rock in the Oshkosh community, Lance Randall opted to leave his position at SLU and take over the head coaching duties at Oshkosh West.

It was simply a case of a loving son paying tribute to his idol and father, a tribute that would last three seasons and produce two state championships. 

Lance Randall, who played high school basketball for his father at Iowa-Grant, helped lead Oshkosh West to a 21-1 record and the championship in the Fox Valley Association in 2004-05 and the plight of the Randall family and Oshkosh West team members was featured in newspapers across the nation, including the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, among others. 

An emotional 59-45 loss to an unbeaten Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln team in the WIAA Division 1 sectional finals cut short a season filled with raw emotion.

A year later, Lance Randall led the Wildcats to the promised land as Oshkosh West went 18-0 in the FVA for the second straight season and defeated Madison Memorial 52-40 in the 2006 WIAA Division 1 state-championship game. 

Forward Andy Polka, who went on to play college basketball at Loyola University in Chicago, led the way for Oshkosh West in the contest with Madison Memorial as he scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while helping to limit the Spartans' talented frontline duo of Keaton Nankivil and Jeronne Maymon to a combined 17 points.

The sight of Lance Randall clutching his fists and looking to heavens as the final seconds ticked off the clock of the state-title game victory likely will never be forgotten by regulars at the state tournament.

Randall stuck around one more season and guided the Wildcats to another WIAA Division 1 state title in 2007, finishing his three-year stint at Oshkosh West with a remarkable 71-3 record, including state titles in 2006 and 2007. 

Now the head coach at NCAA Division II Lindenwood University near St. Louis, Randall's ability to step in and rally grief-stricken family and team members is a story most will never forget. 

WSN15 Top Moments Countdown:

#15 - Catholic Memorial's Bray fills out stat sheet
#14 - Madison Memorial outlasts De Pere in 3 OTs to win 2011 Division 1 title
#13 - Jesperson erupts in 4th period to help Merrill upend Waunakee
#12 - LaDew drills three-pointer in closing seconds to give CMH title
#11 - St. Catherine's dominant in winning 5 state titles in 6 years
#10 - Randolph wins fourth straight state title behind Tillema
#9 - WIAA votes to add fifth division to state tournament
#8 - Madison Memorial, Seymour rule sectional final games
#7 - Bennett unlikely hero as Dominican completes five peat
#6 - Showalter's dunk signals start of Germantown dynasty
#5 - Oshkosh West completes unbeaten season as son pays tribute to late father
#4 - Coming Soon...
#3 - Coming Soon...
#2 - Coming Soon...
#1 - Coming Soon...

For the latest and most up to date boys' basketball news and recruiting information, follow Mark on Twitter @wisbbyearbook. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Mark at wbnews@yahoo.com.