Blair-Taylor boys end regular season with loss to Mel-Min
Blair-Taylor’s Caden Kruse pulled down a rebound during their game against Melrose-Mindoro last Thursday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
A loss to Melrose-Mindoro closed out the regular season for the Blair-Taylor boys basketball team last Thursday, but the Wildcats ended on a thrilling note.
The Mustangs gained an early lead as the Wildcats struggled with getting shots to fall early–an 18 percent shooting performance in the first half led to a 13-point deficit for Blair-Taylor at the break.
Blair-Taylor would come up with a comeback effort in the second half, but the Wildcats couldn’t hold on. The Wildcats finish the regular season with a 15-9 record and were scheduled to host Independence in a regional playoff game on Tuesday.
“We can not get behind like that to a good team like Melrose-Mindoro and expect to win,” Blair-Taylor coach Randy Storlie told the Times of Thursday’s game.
Storlie commended his team for their effort in the second half, as his guys eventually retook the lead 39-38 with five minutes left in the game.
A quartet of free throws while the visitors had the lead late created enough of a spread in the game, and Blair-Taylor left without a win.
“We missed only four free throws all night, but two of them came in the last minute of the game and we had to foul to get the ball back,” Storlie said. “We just ran out of gas, but I sure am proud of the way the guys kept fighting back.”
Cain Fremstad led Blair-Taylor with 21 points, and Evan Nehring added 10.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a record of 15-9 an dthey went 9-6 in Dairyland Conference play behind only Whitehall (14-1) and Mel-Min (12-3) in the DC-Large.
B-T opened Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association regional play at home against (15) Independence on Tuesday of this week. As the second seed, B-T would host throughout regional play as they’d play the winner of the game between (7) Coulee Christian/Providence Academy and (10) Brookwood on Friday with the regional final set for Saturday.
Sectional competition is scheduled to begin next Thursday, with the regional winner playing in the sectional semifinal. The sectional final is set for Saturday.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/free throws missed-rebounds-points)—Kniseley 1/5-0/0-1-3, Obieglo 1/3-0/0-0-3, Kruse 2/8-2/4-8-6, Swanson 2/9-0/0-5-6, Fremstad 6/13-6/8-10-21, Nehring 4/12-2/2-5-10.
