BELOIT — Beloit Memorial and Mukwonago had traded momentum-changing runs throughout Friday night’s WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal, with the game tied at 49-49 with 8 minutes left to play.
The fifth-seeded Purple Knights’ final surge took up the rest of the game as they rolled to a 74-60 victory.
While sophomore Amare Hereford was his usual spectacular self with 28 points, head coach Todd Marks said seniors Jyrell Cousins, Diego Perez and Kaleef Hobson-Thomas were also crucial in the Knights (20-5) advancing to play 13th seeded Madison Memorial in the regional finals at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Barkin Arena.
"All three of our seniors didn’t want it to end tonight,” Marks said. “Kaleef had a sprained ankle and hadn’t practice much all week. I thought he did a phenomenal job on (6-foot-5 junior forward) Caleb Poling. I thought Diego, when things weren’t going well, kept everybody focused. Jyrell played with the aggressiveness the last 10 minutes we know he’s capable of.”
Cousins put Beloit on top 51-49 with two free throws. Perez buried a 3-pointer and then blocked a shot which caromed to Hereford to start a fastbreak he finished. A few seconds later, Cousins yanked down a defensive rebound and fired a pass to Perez who hit Hereford in stride for another layup and a 58-45 lead.
“We got some stops and we were able to get out in transition,” Marks said. “That’s what got us the separation. Then we cashed in at the free-throw line.”
This time, 12-seeded Mukwonago (11-14) didn’t have an answer. The visitors were outscored 23-11 in the final eight minutes with 14 of Beloit’s points coming at the free-throw line. For the game, the Knights were 20-of-30 at the line.
Cousins finished with 15 points, Perez had 14 and Brock Hodges chipped in 11 to give the Knights a strong balanced scoring attack.
Marks, however, preferred to focus on his team’s improved defense in the second half. While they forced a number of turnovers in the first half, they allowed Mukwonago to close the half on a 12-0 run to take a 32-30 lead.
“We were more solid defensively in the second half,” Marks said. “In the first half we were trying to play up-tempo so we were doubling and scrambling a bit so I think we got out of position on shooters and rebound position. In the second half on defense we decided to stay a little more solid and keep them in front of us.”
The Knights certainly did a better job guarding Peyton Pollnow, who had 13 points in the first half, but just three free throws in the second with Perez and James Ford shadowing him.
Poling led Mukwonago with 19 points.
The Knights have now won eight of their past nine games and are 11-2 at the Barkin Arena heading into Saturday’s final. The Spartans (12-13) flattened No. 4 and 19-6 Muskego 80-54 Friday.
“Madison Memorial is going to be a really tough matchup,” Marks said. “They have had some guys in and out of the lineup so their record is not an indication of who they are.”
BELOIT 74, MUKWONAGO 60
Mukwonago;32;28;--;60
Beloit Memorial;30;44;--;74
MUKWONAGO (fg ft-fta pts) – Karrels 1 0-0 2, Greuel 2 0-1 6, Christian 0 0-2 0, Poling 8 2-4 19, Tess 3 1-1 7, Ploeckelman 1 0-0 2, Pollnow 4 6-7 16, Brunsch 0 0-1 0, Hayden 3 0-0 8. Totals: 21 9-15 60.
BELOIT MEMORIAL (fg ft-fta pts) – Hereford 10 7-9 28, Ford 0 1-4 1, Perez 4 5-6 14, Cousins 5 4-5 15, Hobson-Thomas 2 1-2 5, Hodges 4 2-4 11. Totals: 25 20-30 74.
3-point goals: M 8 (Greuel 2, Poling 2, Pollow 2, Hayden 2. BM 4 (Hereford, Perez, Cousins, Hodges). Fouled out: Tess, Greuel. Total fouls: M 22, BM 21.
Most Popular
Comments / 0