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Elk Mound came out and on their very first possession, Victor Noller buried a three-point shot. That would be the lone lead for the Mounders, as Freedom took complete control and won this Division 3 semifinal matchup with a running clock.

Following that opening Elk Mound triple, senior Drew Kortz and sophomore Donovan Davis took over the game. The Irish would go on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes of play where the dynamic duo scored 14 combined points. On the Irish's sixth possession of the game, the Kohl Center came alive as Davis dunked a lob pass from Kortz, corralling the pass well above the rim.

Freedom's defense set the tone from there. The Irish played a three-quarter court 1-2-2 defense with the lanky 6-8 Davis at the top. It wreaked havoc over the course of the final 13 minutes of the first half, forcing Elk Mound into 13 first half turnovers that resulted in 21 points for the Irish.

At the half, Freedom led Elk Mound 42-11 as Davis had 21 points on 9 of 10 shooting and tallied 7 rebounds and four steals. Kortz was 6 of 11 from the field, 4 of 7 from three, and had 16 points for Freedom.

It was much of the same in the second half as Elk Mound struggled to not just score the ball, but facilitate scoring opportunities. Halfway through the final half, Freedom extended the lead to 40, which initiated a running clock.

Freedom would go on to win it 66-32 over Elk Mound to advance to the program's second ever state championship game; the first coming in 1990.

For Elk Mound, senior Logan Jerome displayed a great basketball acumen, as the physical 6-6 senior forward played well for the Mounders. He finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Freedom coasted in the second half and was led by 27 points from both Kortz and Davis. Kortz finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds, and two steals while Davis had a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Elk Mound was just 13 of 48 (27%) from the field and 2 of 16 (13%) from three, and was sped up into 21 turnovers on the game.

Freedom had 34 points off turnovers, 26 in transition, and was 28 of 58 (48%) from the field.

For Elk Mound, the Mounders finish the season 24-5 and played in their fourth state tournament.

Freedom improved to 28-1 and will face off with 2-seed Milwaukee Academy of Science for the Division 3 crown on Saturday.

This game was one that many around the state had starred in terms of one of the top matchups to watch during the semifinal slate of games. It lived up to those expectations and more as it the game wasn't determined until the final seconds of play.

Milwaukee Academy of Science got the scoring in the game but Lake Mills built an 8-4 lead off a pair of three-point shots from AJ Bender and Tyler Wollin before the media timeout with 14:38 left off.

From that point, the game was a pendulum of momentum as Lake Mills built leads of five and six points before an Agape Keys Jr. transition three gave Science a 21-19 lead with 7:57 left in the first half. It was two more minutes before another bucket was scored, but over the last 5:54 there were five lead changes.

Lake Mills went into the break up 31-28 as AJ Bender had 16 points and the L-Cats were six of eleven from deep as a team. Devin Brown led the Novas with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

The second half played out similarly to the first as both teams traded barbs for the first first eight minutes of the game. Lake Mills led all eight minutes before the Novas turned defense into offense on an Amare Jackson steal and one-handed flush to tie the game at 46 with 10:16 left.

Lake Mills built a five-point lead off a three-point shot by Wollin and a jumper by Bender coming out of that tie, and kept a slight lead for four and a half minutes.

A flurry of layups, two by MAS, and one by Lake Mills resulted in three lead changes and an eventual one point lead for the Novas with 5:31 left.

Bender went one of two from the charity stripe and Wollin buried a three with 3:28 left to give Lake Mills a 61-58 advantage.

It was a game of moments from that point on.

Enter Jamarion Batemon. The Iowa State commit knocked down two free throws to pull MAS within one. Wollin then missed a layup and a wide open three-point shot for Lake Mills. Batemon then came down and hit a 20-foot, ice-in-your-veins, pull-up three-point shot with 1:55 left to give MAS a 63-61 lead.

Two possessions later, Tanner Wendorf stepped in front of a Nova pass to give Lake Mills the ball down two with 18 seconds left.

Bender drove the lane but Devin Brown came from the weak side to swat the would-be game-tying shot. The Coastal Carolina commit collected the rebound, and was fouled with six seconds left, where he was true on both to give Science the eventual 65-61 win.

For Lake Mills, Bender, a MSU-Mankato recruit, finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. Sophomore Tyler Wollin had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks for the L-Cats.

The breakout performance came from senior forward Tanner Wendorf who had 14 points and stepped out and hit a pair of three-point shots when given the space.

For Science, it was a heavy dose of Jamarion Batemon and Devin Brown. The Division 1 committed duo fueled the Novas offense every time they needed energy. Batemon had 22 points, and was tasked with trailing Bender most of the game. Brown had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

There were twelve lead changes and four ties in this clash and Lake Mills surprisingly lead for 26:37 of the game, in comparison to 6:57 by Milwaukee Academy of Science.

Science turned 12 L-Cat turnovers into 19 points off, and had a 23-11 advantage in fast break points. Lake Mills shot 51% from the field and 47% from three while the Novas were 49% from the field and 38% from three, but won the battle at the free throw line where they were 11 of 13 as compared to 6 of 9 for Lake Mills.

Lake Mills finished the season 24-5.

Milwaukee Academy of Science improved to 24-1 and will have a chance to play for the program's first gold ball on Saturday against top-seeded Freedom.