BELOIT — Todd Marks would love to take the time to reflect on all his Beloit Memorial boys basketball team has accomplished so far this season.
The head coach just simply doesn’t have the time right now. After all, he has a sectional semifinal matchup in Milton against top-seeded Kettle Moraine on Thursday at 7 p.m. to prepare for.
“When the season is over we will go back and do that, but right now we’re just focused on Thursday,” Marks said.
The Purple Knights won their first WIAA Division 1 regional championship since the 2013-14 season and currently sit at 21-5, their first winning record since Jay Bryant’s final year in the 2016-17 season and their most victories in a season since 2010-11.
But after an exciting 74-60 win over Mukwonago in the regional semifinals and an even more thrilling 63-60 victory over Madison Memorial in the finals, even Marks took a quick second to praise his squad.
“The atmosphere on Friday and Saturday was really special,” he said. “To see the Bark (Barkin Arena) rocking and the support, intensity and the energy from the community from the student section, and then for the kids to just have that resolve in two really, really tough games and to find a way to get it done, it was really special.”
Beloit has been a strong and well-rounded team all season as it battled to a 10-4 mark in the Southern Lakes Conference. These days Beloit is not only playing some of its best ball in the postseason, but it is stepping up in the most crucial moments.
The Indians held a 32-30 lead over the Knights on Friday. Jyrell Cousins had put Beloit on top 51-49 with two free throws in the second half and buckets from Diego Perez and Amare Hereford built the lead up to 58-45. The home team outscored Mukwonago 23-11 in the last eight minutes.
Then on Saturday, the Knights overcame big man Cousins fouling out early in the second half and, after a 39-39 tie midway through the second half, Beloit was excellent from the free-throw line and steadily stayed ahead of the Spartans in a back-and-forth contest to capture the regional title.
“Our mental resolve (was working for us),” Marks said. “At the Division 1 Level — Mukwonago — it’s real physical. They had some guys who could shoot it. Every possession mattered, and then we had that short turnaround.
“It’s that attention to detail and, I don’t care what level you’re at, it really comes down to executing the fundamentals and the little things. Our kids did a really good job with that.”
The Knights’ scoring is based around sophomore Amare Hereford, who tallied 28 points against Mukwonago and 16 against Madison Memorial. His tenacious attitude on defense and his quick and aerobic drives to the hoop coupled with his three-level shooting ability has helped him average 25 points per game this season.
“Amare is a special player,” Marks said. “Everyone’s starting to shade two or three guys his way, but he never gets rattled. He’s always composed and continually searching for his opportunities and searching for opportunities for others.”
Beloit’s offense is at its best when the Knights are playing up-tempo, creating post-scoring opportunities for Cousins, Hereford and Brock Hodges, which opens up some sharp perimeter shooting for James Ford or Hereford.
“We really stressed that we had to create some transition opportunities,” Marks said. “And that usually starts with our defense. We’re able to get a turnover or get them to shoot a little quicker than they want. Then, it’s a little bit easier to rebound and get in transition. And that’s what allowed us to get our surge in the second half of both games.”
A pesky and vicious Beloit press has led to steals and some uncomfortable opponents. It is also a great way for the speedy Knights to punch back at bigger squads, like the Spartans.
That kind of defense will be needed for Thursday’s showdown against the Lasers, who were second in the Classic Eight at 14-2 and currently are 23-3.
“They’re the number one seed in our sectional for a reason,” Marks said. “They beat Arrowhead, who finished first place in their league, not too long ago. They finished one game back, and that’s one of the best leagues in the state.”
St. Norbert commit 6-foot-1 Will Stuckey is the team’s top scorer at 17.2 ppg while 6-4 Roman Thompson (11.9) and 6-3 Nathan Vuillaume (10.5) also average double-figures.
“They really get up and down, they’re physical and all five of their guys can pass it, shoot it and score it,” Marks said. “They don’t have that guy who’s 6-7 or 6-8, but a bunch of guys in that 6-4 to 6-6 range that are real physical. We’re going to be giving up size, so our guys really have to accept the physicality of the game and rebound.”
Tickets are available on Milton High’s ticket Spicket site at https://spicket.event/milton. Adult tickets are $7. Children under 6 are admitted for $1. All tickets must be purchased online via Ticket Spicket. There will be no cash sales.
The game, tipping off at 7 p.m., will be livestreamed at Red Hawk Media on YouTube.
“The Beloit community has been fantastic,” Marks said. “It’s an exciting time when you get into March and Beloit Memorial and the Beloit community loves basketball. I’d like to give credit to them because their energy and enthusiasm really was a huge spark plug for our guys.”
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