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

Join the Buckle Up Phone Down movement! WisDOT challenges Wisconsin to put safety first by taking the two most important actions to prevent or survive a crash. Accept the Buckle Up Phone Down challenge. Use your seat belt every trip and put down the phone when driving. Take the Buckle Up Phone Down pledge!

When your team is going to add to its already state-record total of championships, it’s best to be dressed for the occasion. Randolph’s Travis Alvin and Sam Grieger were ready on Saturday, with gold basketball shoes to match the school’s 11th gold ball for boys basketball.

“We’ve had them all year; maybe it was a sign of something,” Alvin said after the Rockets’ 65-51 win over Bangor at the Kohl Center. “It took me a while to get them. I ordered them in mid-football season and they barely came in time for basketball.”

The Rockets (28-2) spent much of the year ranked at or near the top of the Division 5 polls and finished the task on Saturday, shooting 62 percent from the field to steadily pull away from the Cardinals. Much of that was Randolph’s ability to power the ball inside against the smaller Bangor lineup.

The Cardinals (25-5) stayed with the Rockets through much of the first half, with Ashton Michek’s three-pointer at the halftime buzzer closing Randolph’s lead to 30-25. After Bangor scored early in the second half to cut it to 32-28, the Rockets used an 18-2 run over the next seven minutes to secure the win.

“Our game plan was to pound it inside,” said Randolph coach Tyler Fischer, who won state titles at the school as a player for Bob Haffele in the early 2000s. “(The Cardinals) did a pretty good job of staying with Sam off screens. At the same time, they took us out of our offense and made it hard to get an entry pass. We were using a lot of energy to get open and get these guys the ball on the inside.”

Randolph also tightened up defensively in the second half, shutting down the driving lanes the Cardinals found over the first 18 minutes.

“They were a big team and long, too,” said Bangor junior Dustin McDonald, who finished with 13 points for the Cardinals. “It was hard getting into the lane and even when we did, it was hard getting the shot off.”

“We don’t have a lot of guys even the size of 24’s (Alvin’s) legs,” Bangor coach Jacob Pederson said of going against Randolph’s 6-foot-6 Wisconsin football recruit.

Saturday’s state title also completes the championship sweep for Randolph, which a week earlier captured the Division 5 girls basketball title. The Rockets are the eighth school to win both championships in the same year and the last since Bangor in 2018. It was also the school’s first boys state title since 2013.

“I’m very proud for this group, because with each group every year you have that pressure,” Fischer said about the Randolph basketball legacy. “For a while there, it was if you didn’t get to Madison, you failed. And it shouldn’t be that way. … Once again, I’m proud for this group of guys because of the pressure to get it done. And they got it done.”

Grieger and Alvin each scored 21 points to lead Randolph, while Ben Nieman added 11 and Karter Meredith 10. Bangor was paced by Gunner Ellenburg with 14 points.

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 by clicking here.