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With all the plots, subplots, and storylines one could fit into 36 minutes, it still came down to the Panthers and the Bulldogs, their coaches, and all the assembled fans in the Kohl Center watching a single shot float toward the basket with less than five seconds remaining.

And watching the scramble under the basket after the shot.

“And the end of day we knew (Logan Zahour) was going to take the shot,” Park coach Casey Robbins said of the game deciding play that preserved Park’s semifinal victory. “He missed and I think that’s where our pressure the whole came in. The shot was short, and the legs were tired, but of course we didn’t try to end up giving him that look.”

That is how Friday’s WIAA Division 2 semifinal concluded after the two teams went after each other for the right to move to Saturday’s championship game.

“I thought (the last shot) looked good,” said Zahour, who launched the three-point try from the top of the key with about five seconds remaining.

After it bounced off the rim, mayhem ensued as the Lumberjacks wanted to get one last desperate fling at the basket and the Panthers were trying to prevent it.

“I didn’t even know the clock was running down,” said Panthers senior Jaxson Moss. “I started fighting for the ball; from there, it was just a lot of tangled-up legs and like that.”

The ball bounced through several pairs of arms, with the clock running out during the scramble, giving the Panthers a hard-fought win and an opportunity for a Racine public school to win a WIAA boys basketball state title for the first time since Racine Case won the Division 1 crown in 1999.

Park appeared in control with a 60-52 lead with 5:39 remaining, but Cedarburg closed to within 63-61 in the final 80 seconds.

The Bulldogs, back at state for the first time since 2017, gave up a basket but got it right back on Zahour’s driving layup with 55 seconds remaining.

Zahour missed much of the first half after picking up his third foul, leaving Cedarburg with a lineup rarely seen throughout the season.

“It changed our rotations, but our role players stepped up,” Bulldogs coach Nick Mueller said. “If you would have told me that Logan would have missed much of the first half and we’d still be up by a point at the half, I’d say you’re crazy.”

Moss led the Panthers with 18 points and nine rebounds, while also adding six assist and four steals. Three other Park players hit double figures, as Zare Gwinn had 14, Cameron Betker 11, and Cole Betker 10.

Mitchell Czajkowski led Cedarburg with 19 points, while Zahour finished with 11 and Owen Halbeck 10.

After struggling somewhat in the first half, the Trojans got it in gear in the second, with Matthew Kloskey leading the way. Kloskey scored his team’s first 14 points of the second half as Tosa West advanced to its first state championship game.

“My first half started a little slow, but in the second half I got into it,” said Kloskey, whose 22 points shared game scoring honors with teammate Jalen Brown. “My teammates were finding me for open shots and they started going in.”

The Lumberjacks (20-8) started hot, beginning with a designed play off the tip that lead to a Jesse Napgezek dunk. They led by as many as seven with 12 minutes left in the first half before Tosa West rallied to take a 38-32 halftime lead.

From there, it was a matter of expanding the lead with pressure defense and attacking the triangle-and-two defense that Wausau East unveiled in the second half. The Trojans’ lead stayed between seven and 13 points for the final 12 minutes of the game.

“We didn’t rebound the ball well enough,” Lumberjacks coach Daniel Garrett said. “They beat us on the offensive boards, and that’s something we did well throughout the playoffs that we didn’t do well tonight.”

Tosa West (23-6) also attacked with its three 1,000-point career scorers – Kloskey, Brown, and Jake Hansen, who all finished in double figures. Hansen added 14 points and four rebounds.

“We were prepared for them to start throwing some junk defenses at us,” Trojans coach Christopher Newbauer said. “Our guys just needed to settle down and follow the game plan, and things would have gone a lot smoother.”

The Lumberjacks still won the rebounding battle 34-32, but the Trojans held them to just four offensive rebounds in the second half.

Napgezek led the way for Wausau East with 21 points, 12 in the second half., No other Lumberjacks player hit double figures, although 6-6 senior Charlie Cayley finished with 11 rebounds to go with eight points.