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The scoreboard at the Kohl Center might have said Barneveld's boys basketball team lost 37-35 to Catholic Central in the Division 5 WIAA state tournament Friday but the Golden Eagles won in a different way.
The won in the hearts of the faithful who followed them throughout Wisconsin on the way to the first ever trip to the state finals by a Barneveld boys team. They won that way with their competitive spirt and their never quit until the final buzzer attitude.
In fact, if the game went a minute longer the Eagles may just have found a way to win. After all, they had three chances in the last minute that for some unknown reason the ball refused to fall through the net.
Barneveld guard Matthew Myers had the first look but his three pointer was a few centimeters off the mark. Lucas Evans had the second with a shot from underneath swirling in and out.
The last shot came from a senior, Will Clausen, who coach Jim Myers inserted for the last minute. Clausen got loose under the basket and took a shot that followed suit with the one put up by Evans....giving the Eagles two straight in and outers, this one at the final buzzer..
"We got the shots we wanted," Jim Myers said. "They just didn't go in."
"They can all shoot the ball," Catholic Central coach Kyle Scott said about the Eagles.
But he did not think Clausen would take the last shot, not because he thought he wouldn't make it but because he didn't realize he was even in the game.
"It was a mad house at the end," Scott said. "I lost track of that substitution. We were lucky."
But sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
The Eagles traded baskets with the Hilltoppers and led 10-6 with 11:17 to play in the first half on a layup by Drew Archie. But the next 11 points belonged to the Hilltoppers and they led 17-10 at the half.
"We had a few bad minutes," Myers said about the scoring drought. The Eagles also had six turnovers during that stretch.
The nine minute stretch without a point could be due in part by the Hilltoppers' defense and in part to the nerves of Barneveld playing in the state tournament for the first time.
"We got over the stage fright the second half," Myers said as the Eagles outscored the Hilltoppers 25-20.
Sophomore guard Kauy Fargo took a pass from Matthew Myers and fired in a three pointer to get the Eagles going 13 seconds into the second half. They got within three at 9:25 when sophomore Jonas Ignatius swished a three pointer from the right side.
Ignatius had some strong minutes for the Eagles with a key defensive stop that led to a turnover and later made a move to the middle for a two point basket.
The Eagles played a tight 2-3 zone with some pressure on top that kept the ball away from 6-3 senior and leading scorer for the Hilltoppers, Ben Hemilingual. It worked as Hemilingual only managed 11 points.
At the same time the Hilltoppers were shadowing Matthew Myers, leading scorer for the Eagles.
"We didn't want him to go to his left as he is lefthanded and we didn't want him to get the ball back after he passed," Scott said.
Matthews was 0 for seven from the field and was not allowed to do much penetration.
"It was not a typical Matthew Myers night," Jim Myers said.
But then, even having Matthew on the floor was a plus. Three weeks ago he injured his shoulder and was expected to be in a sling, missing the rest of the season.'
"Miracles happen," coach Myers said. "He was back the next week with a full range of motion. Doctors cleared him to play and he was right back in it."
The Eagles fought back to tie the game with 2:09 left when Mike Zouski found an opening and put in a layup.
But free throws by Heiligenthal and Frank Koehnke created the final two Catholic Central points in the final minute.
"We let them dictate the tempo in the first half," said Jim Myers. "We tried to change that the second half."
"We got good shots both halves but credit their defense for us not making enough of them," Jim Myers added. "They did a good job collapsing and cutting off our route to the basket." We got our shots but they wouldn't go down."
"We make those shots every day in practice," said Zouski after the game. "They just wouldn't go in."
"We got back in it and made it a game," said coach Myers. "The players did everything we asked of them. We started the season 4-3 and ended up at the State Tournament.."
"We kept getting better and we worked hard to get here," Zouski added.
"Only one team in the state in each division finishes the season with a win," coach Myers said. "We can't hang our heads. We got to the final four of the state tournament and that is something."
SCORE BY HALVES
CC 17 20 37
B 10 25 35
BOX SCORE
CATHOLIC CENTRAL 37: (fg-ft-tp) Heiligenthal 5-1-11. Kempken 0-1-1, Koehnke 4-2-10, Rueber 2-2-7, VandeHei 0-0-0, Pankau 4-0-8 Totals 15-6/10-37 Fouls-10
BARNEVELD 35: Evans 3-0-6, Zouski 3-0-6, Arneson 1-1-3, Myers 0-0-0, Fargo 2-1-7, Reed 3-0-6, Shatrawka 0-0-0, Archie 1-0-2, Clausen 0-0-0, Slaney 0-0-0, Ignatius 2-0-5 Totals 15-2/4-35 Fouls-14
Rebound Leaders:
CC-Heiligenthal 7, Rueber 7
B-Evans 6
Assist Leaders:
CC-Kempken 2
B-Myers 4, Evans 4
Turnovers:
CC-16
B-13
3 point goals:
CC-Rueber 1
B-Fargo 2, Ignatius 1