Norse can’t keep up with Knights in state semifinal game

Whitehall boys basketball coach Tyler Petersen said his team saw “a different caliber of athletes” in their 79-51 loss to Onalaska Luther in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament semifinal game Thursday night.

The Norse came out strong as Seth Lambeck made jumper followed by a three pointer and another jump shot by Luke Beighley that put Whitehall ahead 7-2. 

Then the Knights turned it on.

A three-point play by Luther’s Isaiah Schwichtenberg seemed to spark the Knights as he made a jumper while being fouled then sunk the ensuing free throw. Schwichtenberg tied the game with two more free throws then shots from the charity stripe made by Kodi Miller gave the Knights the lead.

The run kept going as Schwichtenberg made another basket then Sam Horman knocked down a three pointer that put Luther ahead 14-7.

The 12-0 run ended when Whitehall’s Seth Lambeck made a three pointer, but the Knights were just too good. While the Norse defense had been particularly tough down the stretch, they just could not get stops against the Knights.

“It’s just a different caliber of athletes,” Petersen said about his team’s defensive struggles. “Great athletes can make great plays. I can’t pinpoint an exact detail.”

Petersen said his team can typically stop a run with a big shot, but they struggled to put the ball in the basket and the Knights were rolling.

Logan Bahr answered Lambeck’s three with a basket before Schwichtenberg scored again. After Whitehall’s Devon McCune got to the rim for two points, Miller scored four straight to put his team ahead by 10 with 9:22 left in the first half. That was the start of a 10-0 run for Luther as Whitehall had a couple of shots blocked, along with a turnover and another miss.

“They were just quick and we couldn’t get anything going,” McCune said. “We just couldn’t get started.” 

Whitehall cut the Luther lead to 14 with about two minutes left in the first half, but the Knights made free throws before Schwichtenberg scored in the closing seconds to give his team a 41-23 lead at halftime.

Schwichtenberg led Luther with 19 points while both Miller and Bahr scored 16. 

“Luther is a great team, they played very well,” Petersen said. “We could not match their physicality and we don’t have that type of style to play against. Our shots just weren’t falling.”

McCune picked up his fourth foul early in the second half as turnovers began to hurt the Norse. The Knights had 22 points off of turnovers in the game and 16 on fast breaks, two came when Synclair Bys bounced the ball off the glass for Gabe Huelskamp to finish with a two-handed dunk that put Luther ahead 58-27 with 13 minutes left in the game.

The Norse battled, but the Knights shot 53 percent from the field in the second half as they ran away with the lopsided win.

Whitehall shot roughly 44 percent from the field in the game, though they missed six free throws. Lambeck led the team with 13 points, while Beighley added 10. 

While they came up short, Petersen said he was proud of what his team accomplished.

“It’s rare these days to have a group that’s together from elementary school all the way through high school,” Petersen said. “I think the NBA says it best, where if you’re ring chasing and you’re moving schools and what not — and I’m not getting into a debate of private versus public — but it’s fun to see kids grow from the elementary school playground all the way to senior years  and accomplish these feats, so I’m very proud of my kids.”

Luther went on to defeat Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic, 60-46, in the championship game. Whitehall was the only public school in the Division Four field. 

McCune finished the game with seven points and exits the program as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,436 points and helped lead the Norse to three Dairyland Conference Large Division championships. Petersen said McCune changed the program and was a positive role model.

“I couldn’t be more thankful or grateful to have such an athlete, such a well-rounded individual, not only for my kids to be around, but to share with the community and show everyone what should be expected in our program,” Petersen said.

McCune said stepping foot on the Kohl Center floor was a dream come true. While this was Whitehall’s first trip to the state tournament sine 1986, McCune was glad to see current elementary students see that it is possible. 

“It’s very special for all of us,” McCune said. “I’ve always wanted to do it growing up, it has been a dream to do this. For this to happen for the community and for us, it means a lot, especially for the young kids. To see them happy and have us to look up to for the future of basketball, this means a lot to everybody.” 

Petersen also noted the community support, saying the team sold 1,000 shirts last week. 

“We are a t-shirt factory right now and I couldn’t be more proud of the community we have and we were able to showcase them here today.” 

Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Beighley 3/8-2/3-2-4-10 Pank 1/2-0/0-4-2-2 McCune 3/7-1/4-3-4-7 Lisowski 3/11-0/0-6-3-7 Lambeck 5/7-0/0-0-1-13 Schroeder 2/2-0/0-2-0-4 Olson 0/2-2/2-0-0-2 Pientok 0/1-0/0-0-0-0 Johnston 1/1-3/4-0-0-5 Semb 0/0-1/2-0-0-1