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D2 semifinal notes
By Dick Knapinski
For Wishoops.net

Jamie Schneck had a frustrating first half for Whitefish Bay in Friday’s semifinal against Seymour, but by the end he found himself under a big, sweaty pile.

That was a good thing, though, as Schneck’s fellow Blue Dukes tackled him after his last-second tip-in beat the Thunder 54-52 and pushed Whitefish Bay into the Division 2 championship game against Merrill.

“As a big man, I’m always looking to crash the boards, and be in position to put it back in,” said the 6-foot-8 senior center, who finished with just eight points Friday – seven points below his average. “Just the way the shot came off the rim, it was right in front of me so all I had to do was tip it back in.”

The final shot made up for a first half that found Schneck scoring just two points, while being tagged with three fouls and two turnovers.

“I couldn’t get down on myself, because I could help by rebounding or whatever,” he said.

Schneck’s final heroics came at the end of a play that Whitefish Bay coach Kevin Lazovik admitted did not go as planned.

“We were trying to run a double-high ball screen and roll off of it,” Lazovik said. “We didn’t necessarily execute it to perfection, but Jamie rolled to the hoop well.”

Prime-time performance

There isn’t a lot of big media coverage in Merrill, but the Bluejays’ Paul Jesperson had the chance to showcase his stuff in Madison during Friday’s semifinal against Waunakee.

Jesperson scored the final 16 points for Merrill in the comeback 55-52 win, finishing with 27 points while playing all 32 minutes. That included a four-point play with 2:08 remaining where he stole the ball, drove for the basket despite an intentional foul on Waunakee, then hitting the two free throws to give the Bluejays a 51-47 lead.

“He’s the best player in the state and I’ll say that until the day that I die,” Merrill coach Kurt Soderberg said of the Virginia-bound Jesperson. “He isn’t just a shooter. He finishes around the basket, rebounds well and plays good D.”
Waunakee senior Austin Maly, who guarded Jesperson for much of the day, wouldn’t dispute the point.

“He’s a great shooter and can drive the lane. He can do everything, pretty much anything he wants,” Maly said.

Another heartbreak for Thunder

Seymour’s state tournament history has been filled with joy and heartbreak. Jon Murphy has coached his team to three state titles since 1997, but also suffered some crushing losses. Friday’s events added to the latter.

“We really thought this was a team was built to win a state title, but there are no words that really express the pain that you go through,” said Murphy, who had Seymour at the state tourney for the 12th time since 1993. “You dare to be great through regionals and sectionals and reach the final four in the state. These guys have done everything I’ve asked for them ever since grade school.”

The state championships in 1997, 2001 and 2006 have been countered with four straight championship game losses in 2002-05, including a buzzer-beating, game-winning three by Waukesha Catholic Memorial in 2004 and a two-point loss to Racine St. Catherine’s in 2005.

“I’ve never lost like that before,” said Seymour senior Phil Romback, who scored the Thunder’s first 10 points Friday and finished a game-high 16 points. “I’ve seen it on TV, of course, but it is absolutely heartbreaking.”

Withstanding the bomb run

Whitefish Bay’s players had been told that Seymour was unafraid to put up threes, but the Blue Dukes had to scramble after the Thunder hit six three-pointers in the first half and finished 10-of-21 from behind the arc.

“At the start of the game, (Romback) hit those two threes right in our face right away and I was like, ‘OK, they really can shoot the three,’” Schneck said. “But our help defense really helped out in the second half and took some of those away.”

Battle scars

Waunakee’s Maly had a still-fresh cut under his right eye and blood spattered on his jersey during Friday’s postgame media conference, the aftermath of what Soderberg called “the most physical high school game I’ve been involved with.”

“We like to be physical and I think that was to our advantage early on,” Mackenzie said. “They were just as physical.”

Shut down D

The Bluejays held Beau Murray, Waunakee’s leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, to just six points Friday on 2-of-15 shooting.

“I’m glad he wasn’t 4-of-14,” Soderberg said.

Face time

Soderberg tried to describe the excitement in Merrill this week for the Bluejays’ first state tourney appearance since its only other trip to Madison in 1964.

“It’s been bonkers,” he said. “I’ve gotten notes and cards and stuff. I found out I have a Facebook account I didn’t know about. I’m getting messages on my phone that say that your Facebook’s been tagged. I don’t even know what that is.”

Note:  Attendance for the Friday afternoon Division 2 state semi-finals was 12,021.