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Things were too close for comfort for the over 1,000 rabid Mineral Point fans that packed the Baraboo High School gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Melrose-Mindoro's Derek Anton-y's three pointer was too close to going in that would have given the Mustangs a one point lead with just six seconds to go.
Mineral Point's Alec Schmitz's foot was too close to going out of bounds on the subsequent rebound of Antony's missed shot that would have given the ball back to Mel-Min, along with another chance to tie or take the lead.
But thankfully for the Pointers, close doesn't count as Antony's shot didn't go in and Schmitz's foot didn't go out of bounds as Mineral Point earned its first state tournament berth since 1974 with a 58-55 sectional final win.
Tarek Oellerich scored the first points of the game on an old-fashioned three point play at the 7:09 mark, but the Pointers missed many shots in the frame and Mel-Min capitalized for a 13-9 lead at the end of one.
Mineral Point started the second quarter with a 9-3 run that put the Pointers up 18-16 on a Schmitz three pointer with 5:13 to go. Point closed the quarter outscoring the Mustangs 6-2, including a three from Joey Gorgen and a hoop before the horn from Sy Staver, to take a 26-22 lead into the break.
Shooting woes again plagued the Pointers early in the third quarter as Mel-Min compiled a 12-0 stretch that featured three pointers from Aaron Scafe, Antony, and Erik Christopherson as they took a 34-28 lead with 3:25 to go in the period. Mineral Point responded with a 10-2 run of their own, highlighted by a three from Schmitz and an old-fashioned three point play from Turner Poad. A hoop from Mustang Scafe ended the scoring and tied things at 38 all entering the fourth.
After Schmitz and Gorgen both hit big three pointers as part of a 10-2 burst to star the fourth quarter, the Pointers found themselves up 48-40 with 4:43 to go and many fans probably started to breathe a sigh of relief.
That false sense of security was short lived, however, as Mel-Min felt the urgency of its season ending. The Mustangs cut the Pointer lead to just one twice in the final 1:30--first on a three pointer from Scafe and second on an underhanded lay up by Christopherson.
Oellerich was fouled and hit the front end of the double bonus to put the Pointers up 57-55 with 17 seconds left.
After Schmitz corralled the rebound off the errant Antony three pointer, he passed to Kittleson who made one of two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to force the Mustangs' Antony to shoot a desperation three as time expired that missed the mark badly.
The Pointers never trailed in the fourth quarter.
Scafe led all scorers with 24 points for the Mustangs. Antony joined him in double digits with 13.
The Pointers were led by Oellerich with 17, Schmitz 15, and Staver and Gorgen with 10 each.
Melrose-Mindoro ended its season with a 19-7 record. They were champions of the Dairyland-Large conference. Mineral Point improved to 26-0 with the win.
"I think our schedule this year prepared us well for this moment, probably more so than last year," Pointer coach Dan Burreson said, referencing his team's sectional semifinal loss a year ago to Cuba City when the Pointers were previously undefeated. "We didn't have a lot of close calls last year, but this year we were down late to a very good Southern Door team and didn't always have the lead in our games."
"Sy was not going to be denied," said Burreson of the senior's two wide open lay ups in the fourth quarter. "He's a dangerous player, and Joey and Alec also hit big threes for us down the stretch. Tarek played well inside and Turner took two gigantic charges on the defensive end. Jordan's free throw was huge."
The Pointers could have folded, and lesser experienced teams might have done just that, but Burreson wasn't surprised by his team's mental toughness.
"They just weren't going to let that happen. These kids love to play and were not ready to be done. I enjoy that I get to coach them for another week," said the coach, who also wished to thank the Mineral Point community for its incredible support all season long.
This year's WIAA state tournament is the 100th anniversary and special events are planned to mark the historic occasion.
The Pointers will play Auburndale in the state semifinal Thursday night at 8:15 pm at the Kohl Center. The first Division 4 game is at 6:35 and will feature Eau Claire Regis vs. Whitefish Bay Dominican. The winners of the two games will meet Saturday at 12:45 pm for the state title.
This will be the Pointers' fourth state tournament trip (1934, 1935, 1974, 2015). They were runners up in 1974.
In 1934, the Pointers fell 32-21 to Altoona in Class B first round action and 22-19 to Brodhead in the consolation quarterfinals.
1935 saw more success as the Pointers won their first round game 28-17 over Spring Valley in Class B. They were victorious over New Lisbon 28-12 in the championship quarterfinals, but fell 38-20 to Weyauwega in the championship semifinals.
The silver ball came home to Mineral Point in 1974 as it defeated Prentice 67-62 in the semifinals before falling to McFarland 65-43 in the Class C title game.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MM: 13-9-16-17--55
MP: 9-7-12-20--58
BOX SCORE
MELROSE-MINDORO (fg-ft-tp) 55: Knudson 1-0-3, D. Christopherson 1-0-3, E. Christopherson 2-3/6-8, Lockington 1-0-2, Scafe 9-4/4-24, Ramsey 1-0-2, D. Antony 6-0/1-13. Totals: 21-7/11-55. Fouls: 19. Three pointers: Scafe 2, Antony 1, E. Christopherson 1, D. Christopher-son 1, Knudson 1.
MINERAL POINT 58: Staver 4-2/2-10, Kittleson 0-1/2-1, Gorgen 4-0-10, Oellerich 6-5/7-17, Poad 2-1/1-5, Schmitz 5-2/3-15. Totals: 21-11/15-53. Fouls: 12. Three pointers: Schmitz 3, Gorgen 2.