Wildcats run away from Beavers to close season
Blair-Tayor’s Tavian Shramek looked to finish a contested layup during their game against Augusta last Thursday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
The Blair-Taylor boys basketball team took control of its game early and didn’t let up in a 76-32 win over Augusta last Thursday.
B-T took a 10-point lead in the opening minutes then continued to attack the basket and hit from outside. The team had a 46-16 lead at halftime.
“We really came out tonight and played well. We didn’t shoot the ball that well overall, but we got a lot of shots,” B-T coach Randy Storlie said.
B-T controlled the glass with 51 rebounds – led by Easton Arneson who had 13 and Ryan Oldendorf finished with 10. That helped the team get 62 field goal attempts and 20 shots from the free-throw line. B-T continued to cruise in the second half, winning by 44.
This was the third time in the last four games that B-T has scored more than 70 points in a game.
“We really finished the regular season on a strong note and we have played very well the last couple of weeks,” Storlie said.
B-T shot about 39 percent from the field, including nine made three pointers. Ethan Kniseley had a team-high 14 points while Michael Waldera scored 12 and Arneson finished with 11 to record a double-double.
With the win Storlie moved into a tie as the fourth winningest coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history with 646 victories as the coach of Taylor and Blair-Taylor. He passed former Sheboygan North coach Tom Desotell.
“I can remember watching Desotell coach at state before I was even in high school and, now I am tied with him, it is hard to believe,” Storlie said.
Storlie sits behind Jerry Petitgoue of Cuba City (1,027), Jon Murphy of Kimberly (666) and Bob Letsch of Racine St. Catherines (661). Murphy and Storlie are the only two active coaches.
“I plan to keep on coaching; not for the wins, but because I love the game and teaching the game of basketball to our young people,” Storlie said. “It is so much fun.”
The Wildcats finish the regular season with a 9-15 record and a 6-7 mark in Dairyland Conference play behind Whitehall (8-5) and Melrose-Mindoro (9-4) in the Large Division.
B-T is seeded 10th in its Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association bracket and played at (7) Alma/Pepin on Tuesday. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between (15) Greenwood and (2) Royall on Friday with the regional final set for Saturday.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-points) — Kniseley 4/7-3/4-4-14 Thompson 2/4-0/0-1-6 Waldera 3/10-5/6-4-12 Shramek 4/7-1/3-9-9 Arneson 4/10-3/5-13-11 Dummer 4/11-0/0-7-8 Wagner 1/1-0/0-2-3 Oldendorf 2/8-0/0-10-6 Kokke 0/3-2/2-1-2 Christenson 0/1-0/0-0-0
