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WSN15: Boys Basketball Top Moments #6 -- 2006 Racine St. Catherine's

03/05/2018, 11:15am CST
By Mark Miller

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). 

The WSN15 boys' basketball series continues with the Top 15 Teams of the WSN Era.

Racine St. Catherine's owns 14 state championships in boys' basketball over the years with countless numbers of outstanding players and a pair of stellar head coaches in John McGuire and Bob Letsch. 

Nine of the Angels' state crowns came in the now-defunct Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association (WISAA) and its predecessor, the Wisconsin Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association (WCIAA).

Five have taken place at the Kohl Center in Madison as a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA).

Certainly, many of those stellar St. Catherine's teams of the past would match up well against each other, though many played in different time periods with different sets of rules. So, selecting the all-time greatest team in school history is next to impossible.  

However, picking out the best since the merger of WISAA and the WIAA in the fall of 2000 isn't nearly as difficult.

Though the Angels captured WIAA state titles in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, the undefeated 2005-06 squad ranks a notch above the others.

That St. Catherine's squad continues to hold the record for the largest victory margin in a state-title game in the 102-year history of the event as the Angels pounded Westby 69-29 in the Division 3 championship game.

Four players from St. Catherine's went on to play scholarship basketball with senior Devron Bostick (6-5) playing at Minnesota, sophomore Patrick Souter (5-11) competing at Milwaukee, junior James Haarsma (6-6) competing at Evansville and Milwaukee, and senior Reggie Bunch (6-5) playing at NAIA Division I Robert Morris in Chicago. 

Senior point guard Jamie DeMatthew (5-10) also played college basketball at NCAA Division III Lawrence University in Appleton.

Letsch's squad won the Lakeshore Conference title and then breezed to regional victories over The Prairie School, Martin Luther and Kenosha St. Joseph. The Angels' won their sectional semifinal game against University School of Milwaukee by 45 points before downing a very good Oostburg squad, 56-43, in the sectional final.

In the state semifinals, St. Catherine's squared off against another unbeaten as Manitowoc Roncalli came into Madison with a 25-0 record under coach Joe Rux.

St. Catherine's trailed 29-25 at intermission before rallying for a 60-55 victory as Bostick (16), Bunch (14), Haarsma (13) and DeMatthew (10) all reached double figures. 

The game against Westby, which went 25-2 on the campaign, got out of hand early as St. Catherine's took a 22-8 lead after the first period. Dunks by Bunch on consecutive possessions early in the second half expanded the lead to 20 and Westby never got any closer the rest of the way.

The high-flying Angels, who had won the 2005 Division 2 state title with a win over Seymour, finished the game with multiple dunks while posting a commanding 46-23 edge in rebounds. 

While the Angels would go on to win three additional state titles under Letsch, the 2005-06 squad is the most recent of just four unbeaten teams in the long and storied history of the school.

WSN15 Top Moments Countdown:

#15 - 2009 Benton
#14 - 2004 Catholic Memorial
#13 - 2017 Xavier
#12 - 2004 Randolph
#11 - 2011 Aquinas
#10 - 2016 Kaukauna
#9 - 2012 Onalaska
#8 - 2005 Dominican
#7 - 2009 Madison Memorial
#6 - 2006 Racine St. Catherine's
#5 - Coming Soon...
#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.

Tag(s): News Archive  BBB News  Mark Miller  WSN15