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

By Dick Knapinski

For WisSports.net



Halfway home for Randolph



Randolph, the heavy favorite in the Division 4 field, only got two first-half points from UW-Milwaukee recruit Kyle Kelm, but junior guard T.J. Huizenga pitched in 19 points in the first half in the Rockets easy 63-35 win on Thursday.



"I think we wore them down a little bit, but that s the way this team is," said Randolph coach Bob Haffele, who will lead the Rockets in search of their WIAA-record eighth state championship on Saturday.



As Royall collapsed on Kelm in the high post, Huizenga was a beneficiary of Kelm s passes to backdoor cuts as he hit seven of eight shots in the first half.



"We knew they would be collapsing on Kyle, and he s really a good, underrated passer," said Huizenga, who shook his head when asked if he d ever had a half like Thursday s first 16 minutes. "He was getting the ball where it needed to be."

 

Unmatched challenge



Royall coach Mark Gustafson approached Thursday s postgame media session with the "happy to be here" answer, and why not? It marked the first time in more than 70 years a team currently in the Scenic Bluffs Conference had reached the state tourney.



Of the eight conference schools, the Panthers state appearance is just the fourth in their combined history. The last state trip was by Bangor in 1936, while New Lisbon played at state in 1934 and 1935.



"Our conference was formed in 1980, and there hasn t been a lot of success at this level," Gustafson said.



On Thursday, though, the Panthers ran into a team that was simply more than they had faced all season.



"Even in summer ball I haven t seen anybody as tall and athletic as (Randolph)," said Royall senior guard Cory Witt, who shared team scoring honors with eight points. "They can jump of the gym and shoot the lights out."



Royall scoured its area to find tall former players, including some from UW-Richland Center and other schools, to help at practice last week but still couldn t match what the Rockets had.



"I don t know where we as a Division 4 school would ever see any height and athleticism like that," Gustafson said.

 

On the run



While Green Bay NEW Lutheran managed to hold off Clayton 64-63 in Thursday s other Division 4 semifinal, the second-half struggles paled compared to the Blazers 17-0 run over five minutes of the first half.



"I didn t have to do much," NEW Lutheran coach Mark Meerstein said. "I was kind of fun to watch them go out and do what we ve been doing all year."



At least on one end of the floor.



"I think we had nine turnovers in the first quarter alone," said Clayton coach Mike Schradle, who saw his team commit just six more in the final three quarters. "I was proud of our comeback, but it was just too much to overcome."

 

D-4 quick hits



NEW Lutheran began the season 2-7, which was "a little reality check for us. We started the season maybe thinking we were the best team in the state," said Blazers guard Aaron Gosse, who scored 20 points Thursday. … Taylor Dayton, who led Clayton with 26 points, said he s leaning toward playing football at UW-Stout next year, but is open to basketball possibilities. … Randolph s 28-point win was three points short of the state Division 4 record for margin of victory. Oakfield beat Plum City 59-28 in 1995. … Coming into Thursday s play, Randolph had played 20 WIAA state tournament games. The other three teams had appeared in a combined two – Clayton s semifinal losses in 2000 and 2002.