Wisconsin Lutheran ousts a rival to cap a perfect basketball season with WIAA Division 2 title
MADISON – Wisconsin Lutheran completed the second 30-0 boys basketball season in WIAA history with an 83-62 win over Woodland West rival Pewaukee in the Division 2 title game Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
D2 tournament records for team assists (22) and team field goal percentage (68.0) were emblematic of the type of effort Vikings head coach Ryan Walz dreamed of leading up to the game but knew full well not to expect.
Box score: Wisconsin Lutheran 83, Pewaukee 62
"Lo and behold, they came out and they played the best game that we played all year. Just tremendous job by the guys to share the basketball, move the ball," Walz said. "The effort on defense was just great. So we walk away with a lot of gratitude, lot of thanks in our heart for how we played this year."
In a matchup of the 2024 Mr. Basketball, Wisconsin Lutheran's Kon Knueppel, and another finalist for the award, Pewaukee's Nick Janowski, the Vikings proved a perfect season takes far more than a standout recruit. The offense ran through Knueppel to the tune of 11 points and 11 assists, but double-digit performances from senior Logan Rindfleisch (20 points), sophomore Zavier Zens (16 points), and juniors Alex Greene and Isaiah Mellock (11 points each) helped the Vikings build an early lead they maintained throughout.
"Every time on the ball screen we’d high hedge, and he would make the right play every time," Pewaukee's Luka Momcilovic said. "He would pass to someone, if they didn’t score, they would pass to someone, he would score. (Knueppel) created everything even if he didn’t score."
"We’ve got a special group that can be patient and wait for the best shot, the best available shot. I didn’t need to score a lot tonight, we were finding guys open on layups, and Z (Zens) over there hit a bunch of shots for us," Knueppel said.
Zens played sparingly as a freshman last season before breaking an ankle in April early in the AAU season. The injury led to a surgery that kept him out of action until a few weeks into the high school season. On Saturday, Zens hit 6 of 7 shots, including 5 of 5 in the first half for a team-leading 13 points to help build a 38-20 halftime lead.
Division 3: St. Thomas More captures first WIAA boys basketball state title with big second-half push
Division 4: Kenosha St. Joseph rallies before falling to Mineral Point in the title game
Division 5: Marshfield Columbus Catholic rains down threes to beat Abundant Life Christian
"A kid that age to miss that much basketball, and to come back with confidence to build throughout the season to have a game like tonight on the biggest stage," Walz said. "I think that speaks about his confidence in himself, his work ethic, and he’s gonna be a heck of a player the next two years for us."
Wisconsin Lutheran countered Pewaukee's defensive adjustments to rachet up intensity on the perimeter by cutting back door to the basket for easy layups. In the second half the Vikings shot 18-of-22 (81.8%) to answer any run the Pirates could muster. The finale to a 30-0 campaign was nearly as unblemished as the record it led to.
"We got taken to the woodshed today by a team that was just about perfect," Pewaukee head coach David Burkemper said. "Hats off to them, they had to be perfect to beat us and they were."
An era ends just shy of a four-peat for Pewaukee
Pewaukee will lose just three seniors to graduation, but there was nevertheless a sense of finality for a group that finished one win shy of four titles in their four years.
"I’d love for somebody to show me a better high school career than Nick Janowski just had," Burkemper said of the class of 2024 leader. "I’m gonna miss him. I’m just gonna miss seeing him every day, because he makes coming to the gym not just fun, but he makes it work that you want to do."
It was a work ethic also carried by Dawson Farra and Owen Hake, who Burkemper lauded for the care each put into improving throughout their careers. While the losses are significant, Burkemper said the returning core gives him high expectations for the future.
"We’ve got Luka here, we’ve got Isaiah (Robinson), we’ve got Karson (Osterman), we’ve got kids on the way," Burkemper said. "I expect us to be back here next year. I don’t care what level they put us in. We will be back here next year, and that’s how I feel and that’s the work we’re going to put in. That’s the legacy that Nick Janowski has left, that the only standard is winning."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Lutheran tops Pewaukee for WIAA Division 2 title to end 30-0
