B-T season ends with OT loss

The Blair-Taylor boys basketball team extended its season beyond regulation in its first tournament game but fell, 75-73, in overtime on a buzzer-beater.

The 10th-seeded Wildcats were tied with the seventh-seeded Alma/Pepin Eagles at the end of regulation and late in overtime. With the score knotted at 73, the Eagles got a contested shot to go off of the backboard and into the basket at the buzzer. 

B-T’s season ended with a 9-16 record and the team will graduate four players — two who played quite a few minutes this year. The team’s final performance in Division Five of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association regional round made its coach proud. 

 “Our guys left it all on the court tonight,” Coach Randy Storlie said. “We really played hard the entire game, they just made a tough shot at the end. I am so proud of our guys and how they battled not only tonight but the entire season. I am very proud of them and their efforts.” 

Neither team was able to gain much of an advantage throughout the game. The largest lead on either side was four points. B-T had a 33-31 lead at halftime. 

The Eagles went ahead by four with three minutes to play, but B-T tied the game with 20 seconds left. The Wildcats missed a chance to win the game with eight seconds left, then the Eagles missed at the end of regulation with the game tied at 66.

The teams exchanged leads in overtime before the Eagles made a shot at the buzzer for the win.

Junior Ethan Kniseley scored 21 to lead B-T while sophomore CJ Dummer added 19. Senior Easton Arneson managed a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds while Ryan Oldendorf scored nine points, Tavian Shramek, six and Michael Waldera, five.