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It was quite a sight to see.
After falling behind 8-0 halfway through the first quarter on the Kohl Center floor Thursday the Mineral Point boys basketball team knew it was time to do what they do best.
Play Mineral Point basketball.
That includes a mixture of sharing the ball, controlling the glass and turning up the defense to the decibels needed to take over the game.
Mission accomplished.
Using the entire starting five with some help from reserve Jordan Kittleson the Pointers rallied and fought back to tie the game with Auburndale by halftime. That set the stage for a battle royale the second half with the spoils going to the Pointers.
After facing a 29-all score at halftime the Pointers gained a six point lead after three and ended up eliminating the Apaches by seven, 66-59. The lead grew to 14 near the end of the game but a couple three pointers went in for Auburndale to close the gap.
Mineral Point basketball?
Start with senior guard Turner Poad. He stroked a couple deep threes from the corner during the first quarter that ignited the Pointers as quickly as a match touching gasoline. He finished with four of eight three pointers and 17 points. Toss in the six rebounds, five off the offensive glass, and two assists and you have a steady performance.
With Josh VanSchoick having his way in the middle for the Apaches the first half the Pointers had to find a way to neutralize him.
Enter Tarek Oellerich who finished with 23 points to lead all scorers and 11 rebounds while taking away the low block on defense.
Six of Oellerich's rebounds were offensive boards and resulted in a couple three point plays as he stuffed in the rebound and drew the foul.
The Pointers had 14 offensive rebounds and outboarded the Apaches 25-22.
Senior guard Alec Schmitz added 12 points to the Pointer total and his driving layup in the third quarter gave his team the lead for good.
Senior guard Joey Gorgen made both of a pair of three point attempts and finished with eight points.
Senior point guard Sy Staver, a four year starter, added six points and seven assists. He was nearly flawless with his ball handling with only one turnover.
Winning the battle on the offensive boards was big for the Pointers.
"All tournament long we have not let other teams beat us on the offensive boards," said Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter. "But tonight that didn't happen."
The win sets up a chance to dethrone three time D5 champion Whitefish Bay Dominican, led by 6-10 Diamond Stone. Stone, a senior, is one of the top big men in the country and is on the UW-Madison's recruiting radar along with many other teams.
"It will be cool to play against a D1 player as good as Diamond," Poad said. "We'll just go out and play Mineral Point basketball and see what happens."
Oellerich agreed. "We will have to get the ball to the open person, whether that's me or someone on the perimeter."
"They really don't care who scores," Burreson said. "They share the ball very well."
"I was very pleased with their effort," Burreson added.
Stone had 33 points as the Knights beat previously undefeated Eau Claire Regis 93-54 in the D4 semi-final.
The Pointers will be coming home with a trophy in their first visit to state tournament action in 41 years. It will be silver or gold depending on the outcome.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
A 20 9 11 19 59
MP 12 17 17 20 66
BOX SCORE
AUBURNDALE 59: (fg-ft-tp) Marth 5-2-14, VanSchoick 3-1-7. Lewis 2-1-7, Nikolay 3-1-8, Weinfurter 0-0-0, Hawkins 0-0-0, Gehrke 0-0-0, Olsen 0-0-0, Krings 6-1-14, Lang 1-0-2, Peplinski 1-0-2, Brown 0-0-0 Totals 23-6/12-59 Fouls-14 Fouled out-Lewis
MINERAL POINT 66: Oellerich 9-5-23, Staver 2-2-6, Gorgen 2-2-8, Poad 6-2-17, Schmitz 4-3-12, Kittleson 0-0-0, Paradis 0-0-0, Ryman 0-0-0, MacGilvra 0-0-0 Totals 23-13/17-66 Fouls-6
3 point goals:
A-(7) Marth 2, Lewis 2, Nikolay 1, Krings 2
MP-(7) Poad 4, Gorgen 2, Schmitz 1