Piercing Thoughts

Last Saturday’s Division Three boys basketball regional championship game was electric.

Two Trempealeau County teams were battling for a regional title at Russ Lund Gymnasium in G-E-T High School, with the Arcadia Raiders visiting the Red Hawks fresh off an upset over the second-seeded team in the bracket.

Both teams drilled shots early, and excited screams were echoing off the walls of a jam-packed gymnasium. The building was near its estimated capacity of around 1,100 fans, and the atmosphere reflected it.

Every chant one typically expects at a prep sporting event was seemingly called out by somebody, and multiple communities appreciating quality basketball were out in full force.

The game itself was possibly the greatest prep hoops game I’ve witnessed in person. With both sides trading shots early, Arcadia senior Maverick Drazkowski took over for a short while to help the visitors earn a 10-point advantage in the first half before G-E-T found offense late and cut its deficit to six at the break.

Drazkowski would not be denied on Saturday and finished with a game-high 28 points. The senior passed 1,000 career points in the process with 999 of them coming in the past two seasons.

And he wasn’t alone in great achievements—senior Cody Schmitz continues to climb the mountain of Wisconsin’s best, passing former Wisconsin Badger and 2012 Sheboygan Lutheran graduate Sam Dekker (2,593 points) for fourth in all-time Wisconsin career prep scoring with his 20-point night.

Schmitz was a force for G-E-T in the second half, but both sides saw numerous players hit key shots or corral rebounds.

After G-E-T took the lead in the second half, Arcadia kept the game close. A whistle with 16 seconds remaining in the game could have seen the Raiders take a late lead, but a travel call negated the opportunity — the game still wasn’t over with G-E-T ahead one point and just two-hands-worth of ticks on the clock.

Sophomore Mason Brone nailed two free throws to extend G-E-T’s lead to three, and a last second 3-point attempt from Arcadia’s Cole Lockington bounced off the rim and out as the previously explosive audience took a collective gasp with the game-tying shot in the air.

Seeing G-E-T senior Jack Beedle — who has been out with an injury for much of this season — step out to claim the regional championship plaque was a thoughtful way for G-E-T to cap its second-straight regional title, and you could see that fans and players were excited for Beedle to be part of the achievement.

Saturday marked Arcadia’s first trip to a regional final since they won their last regional championship in 2015. This season saw the Raiders win a playoff game at home, an occurrence that hadn’t happened since 2018.

Arcadia fans clapped to congratulate G-E-T and send off their own players after what was an emotional performance by both benches culminated with the standard storming of the court from the home student section.

It brought back memories of high school for many in the gym, I’m sure, and the community support from either fanbase shone like the bright headlights on fans vehicles as they digested what was an incredible basketball game on a dark drive home.

Saturday was a great day to be surrounded by communities coming together to celebrate and support their neighbors, classmates, families and friends.

It featured a game those in attendance will not soon forget, and with it came stories and memories that will be told for years to come.