Marquette beats Kettle Moraine, 67-60, to advance to D1 boys state title game
MADISON - After standing in the wings of the Kohl Center for upwards of a half hour as the longest WIAA state tournament game in history drew to a close after four overtimes, Marquette was ready to set a much different pace in its 67-60 Division 1 semifinal win over Kettle Moraine.
Senior Hilltoppers guard Nolan Minessale exploded to the rack for a dunk on the opening possession, which set the tone for his 6-of-6 start from the field, all in the paint.
"Right before the game, we just got our guys really energized, and we wanted to set the tempo," Minessale said.
Marquette coach Casey Kowalewski said it was evident the Lasers were trying to run his efficiently shooting squad off the three-point line, but the early success in the paint created a game of cat and mouse.
"This group all year long has been an outstanding shooting team, and certainly that makes Nolan’s job easier sometimes by spreading the court, and vice-versa, he draws the gravity towards him and he finds the open shooter," Kowalewski said.
BOX SCORE: Marquette 67, Kettle Moraine 60
Both methods found great success for the Hilltoppers in the first half, as Marquette took a 37-24 advantage into the break. Minessale led scorers with 14 first-half points on 7-of-8 shooting, and Ryan Meehan and T.J. Adams combined for 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Kettle Moraine drew within 58-55 with a 5-0 run on a Roman Thompson three and layup from Nathan Vuillaume. Marquette answered with a 5-0 run on a Meehan three and a dunk by Minessale. The Lasers' last gasp came on a three by Will Stuckey to pull back within 63-60 with 26 seconds left, but Marquette's Peter McDivett converted two free throws on the ensuing possession essentially sealed it.
Minessale finished with 24 points, while Adams had 15 and Meehan 12 for Marquette. Stuckey finished with 19 points for Kettle Moraine, Vuillaume added 15, Jack McSorley had 13 and Thompson 11.
Kettle Moraine head coach Brian Richert found plenty of positives after a season in which the Lasers set a program mark for wins (25) and advanced to state for the second straight year after no appearances before last season. The Lasers did so this year without two-time all-Classic 8 Conference senior guard Drew Wagner, who was recovering from shoulder surgery until the final two games of the season.
"We set the bar pretty high for the future," said Richert, who is in his first season as the Lasers' head coach. "These kids are amazing, their legacy here is going to be unbelievable, what they have accomplished. Not a lot of teams can say that they went back-to-back in basketball and also won a state championship in football."
The win for Marquette sets up a rematch of Feb. 3 game with Arrowhead, which the Hilltoppers appeared to have in hand until a fateful inbound in the final seconds at the Al McGuire Center. Adams was the inbounder under his own basket with 2.3 seconds remaining and a one-point lead, when his pass was intercepted by the Warhawks' AJ Ohrmundt and laid in for a 65-64 victory.
"I use it as fuel, I kind of like it to be honest," Adams said. "Obviously I sold the game back then, but that game doesn't matter how the one does (Saturday). I'm really excited to get them again."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette beats Kettle Moraine 67-60 to advance to WIAA D1 title game
