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Randolph senior Sam Grieger wouldn’t exactly call it a zone that he was in on Friday morning at the Kohl Center.

Well, OK, maybe it was.

“Maybe it was some kind of zone I was in, so I just kept shooting,” Grieger said after scoring a Division 5 single-game record 41 points in a 61-28 blowout of Gibraltar. “Coach gives me all the confidence and my teammates tell me to keep shooting, so I listened to them.”

Grieger surpassed the mark set by Sam Dekker of Sheboygan Lutheran in 2012 and tied Dekker’s division record of 16 field goals in a game. That brought a congratulatory tweet from Dekker, the former University of Wisconsin and NBA player.

“Sam’s vs. The World! Great job, fellow Sam,” Dekker wrote.

Grieger’s outburst somewhat overshadowed the suffocating defense from the Rockets (27-2) that held the Vikings to 10 first half-points, while finishing the half on a 21-0 run for a 24-point lead at the break.

“I was very pleased with our rotations and we defended the post well, which was first and foremost with their bigs,” Randolph coach Tyler Fischer said. “And we did a good job on 10 (Sam Lindenberg, Gibraltar’s leading scorer). You can’t let him get lost in the shuffle.”

Lindenberg, the Packerland Conference player of the year, was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Vikings (19-11), who had a seven-game winning streak snapped in their first state tourney appearance, shot just 21 percent from the field as Randolph led by more than 30 points for much of the second half.

The 28 points by Gibraltar also tied the Division 5 record for fewest points in a game, set by Shullsburg against Barneveld in 2017.

“We changed our game plan a little bit because we didn’t get a chance to play on any bigger courts this year or practice on a bigger floor,” said Gibraltar coach Justin Burress, who had announced earlier that he was stepping down from the head coaching position after the season. “We took off our press and weren’t looking to push the ball. Maybe we should have stuck with what’s working because our pace was just too slow.”

Randolph, which already holds the state record for championships with 10, goes for its 11th on Saturday against Bangor. The Rockets last won a state title in 2013.

Making all the plays at crunch time, Bangor advanced to the WIAA Division 5 state-title game Friday morning with a 62-54 victory over Hurley at the Kohl Center.

Bangor (25-4) will meet Randolph (27-2) in Saturday's Division 5 title game. 

The Cardinals outscored Hurley 12-1 over the final 5 minutes, 39 seconds of the contest behind eight points from junior guard Tanner Jones, who finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Jones' basket off a deflection with 2:30 left gave Bangor the lead for good at 56-54.

After a timeout with under a minute left, Hurley junior Eli Talsma was off the mark on a mid-range jump shot and Bangor grabbed the rebound. Bangor's Dustin McDonald made a foul shot to make it 57-54. 

McDonald made two more free throws with :22 left to make it 59-54, Hurley just couldn't find the mark on the other end and Jones ended the game with additional free throws for Bangor.

"It was a game with a lot of momentum swings," Bangor coach Jacob Peterson said. "Guys stepped up and made big plays for us. We are glad to be moving on."

Twice, Hurley (24-5) rallied from nine-point deficits, but each time Bangor responded. The game featured 11 lead changes and was tied eight times before Bangor's late push.

"Unfortunately, the last two minutes, it got away from us a little bit," Hurley coach Mike Swartz said. "Credit Bangor for making the big plays."

Talsma, who finished a game-high 21 points, got a step on his defender with his team down two late, but his jumper was a bit too strong.

"Eli's been one heck of a player for us," Swartz said. "He's the guy we want to have with the ball in his hands in that situation. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't."

Dominic Croci (6-1) finished with 11 points and three made shots from outside the arc to compliment Talsma.

Bangor got 14 points from Will Reader and 12 from McDonald in addition to Jones' 18.

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