Marquette takes down Arrowhead for its first state boys basketball title since 1999

MADISON – Toppers on top again.

For the first time since 1999, when Marquette was a member of the WISAA, the Hilltoppers are boys basketball state champions.

Behind a stellar 29-point performance from Nolan Minessale and a WIAA Division 1 single-game state-record 12 three-pointers, Marquette (26-4) took down top-seeded Arrowhead (27-3) in the title game, 84-62, Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Hilltoppers finished with 23 assists on 31 field goals, one assist shy of tying the Division 1 state tournament single-game record.

Box score: Marquette 84, Arrowhead 62

"I'm just so proud of how these guys played from start to finish," Hilltoppers coach Casey Kowalewski said. "We wanna play fast, share the ball, move with pace. We knew the night before that they had a long game and we emphasized our desire to play fast and get the ball moving and these guys shared the ball extremely well."

Marquette won a state football title in 2023

Saturday marked the 16th state title for the Hilltopper boys basketball program in total but the first as a WIAA member in their third trip to state since 2010. It was also Marquette's WIAA title in less than four months after the football team's 27-10 triumph over Franklin in the Division 1 title game in November. Seven members of the team that triumphed at Camp Randall Stadium were in uniform against the Warhawks on Saturday.

"Having the football (title), obviously that's the big one," Minessale said of Marquette's last few months.

"Basketball's up there with football as the next biggest one. We probably got state (titles) in the the two biggest ones and we knew that was a huge accomplishment. Our senior class was really pumped up. We're really excited we got both of those."

Minessale told the story of what the basketball team group text chat looked like after the Hilltoppers took down the Sabers at Camp Randall.

"It was electric. I think we said in the group chat ... we were like, 'It's our time. We gotta get one,'" Minessale said.

"People texted us around the football team and told us, 'It's your guys' turn. Let's go get one," junior Jeremiah Johnson added.

Division 2: Wisconsin Lutheran ousts a rival to cap a perfect season with title

Division 3: St. Thomas More captures first WIAA title with big second-half push

Division 4: Kenosha St. Joseph rallies before falling to Mineral Point

Division 5: Marshfield Columbus Catholic rains down threes to beat Abundant Life Christian

Arrowhead worn out from four-overtime semifinal

The fatigued Warhawks welcomed back Bennett Basich to the lineup Saturday. The UW-Green Bay commit took a hard shot to the mouth late in Arrowhead's four-overtime victory over Neenah in a semifinal Friday. He made a trip to the emergency room, got a couple of stitches, went to bed around 1:30 a.m. and left no doubt he would play.

"It was no different," said Basich, who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. "I laced my shoes up the same way. I got my jersey on the same way. It just didn't roll in our favor, but I was ready to go. Everyone was ready to go. We just didn't do it tonight."

Basich struggled in the early going shooting the basketball, missing eight of his first 10 shots. Jace Gilbert, the hero Friday with a 34-point, 14-rebound double-double, picked up two fouls inside of the game's first seven minutes.

Despite the struggles with their star duo, the Warhawks stayed with the Hilltoppers early on, jumping into the foul bonus for the final 7:31 of the first half. Thad Hoffman cashed home a left corner triple from a Minessale pass to close the first half with the Hilltoppers holding 41-32 lead.

"They kinda had us on our heels," Arrowhead coach Craig Haase said. "They had multiple guys making shots tonight. When you have seven different kids making threes, that's a lot of different kids. They got us on our heels. We were slow to close out in the first half. We started closing out hard and they started going by us. Defensively, that wasn't our best. Credit to (Marquette) for playing hard and making shots."

The dam broke quickly as the Hilltoppers sprinted out of the locker room to a 49-34 advantage thanks to threes from Cade Kohnen and TJ Adams, followed by a Minessale finish at the rack to basically put the title out of reach for the winded Warhawks.

"That's the key to our offense is space and pace, filling and cutting," Kowalewski said, noting how the Hilltoppers had hit their stride since a 65-64 defeat to the Warhawks on Feb. 3.

"We want to be sharing the ball constantly. We don't wanna settle for good shots. We want great shots and the last games, really since our Arrowhead game, we've been on a run and everybody's kinda bought in on playing together and being together. There's not a guy on here that's about me. They're working for each other to get that open shot."

Arrowhead won program-best 27 games for second straight season

On the other side, Arrowhead caps a two-year odyssey with their two of the winningest seasons in program history and back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Kohl Center. Their 27-win mark tied the school record last season and this season.

"The passion to win," an emotional Haase said on what separates this senior class from the previous ones during his 24-year tenure, noting a story on how Basich almost broke his hand laying out for a ball on the first day of practice.

"Their passion to win is just incredible. They're winners."

For Marquette, it's the cherry on top of a four-month ride that's ended with a pair of gold balls and a monkey off the back for the hoops program.

"It's been eight years since we were here in 2016," Kowalewski said. "Since the WISAA years, we haven't been here often. We're a proud athletic school and every single sport we do, we want to compete at the highest level. Certainly those veteran alums back in the '80s and '90s in the WISAA days ... there was some pressure on us like, 'Hey, when are you guys gonna get one?' It's just pride in the school and I'm proud of our athletes."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette beats Arrowhead to win WIAA Division 1 boys basketball title