Wildcats end DC play with win, fall to Royall

The Blair-Taylor boys basketball team came through down the stretch to get one win, but struggled late in another game last week.

B-T trailed Augusta for most of last Monday’s game, but the Wildcats went on a run toward the end of the game to come away with a 65-62 win. On Thursday, B-T had a 10-point lead in the second half, but Royall got hot from outside and pulled ahead for a 72-62 win.

The Wildcats (13-11, 13-7) began Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association regional play with a home game against Brookwood on Tuesday. The Wildcats are the fifth seed in their regional bracket and, should they win on Tuesday, would play again on Friday against the winner of the game between (4) Wisconsin Rapids Assumption and (13) Cashton. The regional final is scheduled for Saturday, likely with top-seed Royall hosting. 

B-T 65 Augusta 62

The Wildcats trailed for most of the game, but made six free throws in the final minutes to get the comeback win.

B-T trailed by 10 at one point in the second half and appeared to be in trouble, down three with less than a minute to play.

Freshman Colby Dahl made two free throws with 50 seconds remaining to cut the Augusta lead to one.

The Beavers had a chance to extend their lead, but missed a free throw and B-T’s Austin Olson secured the rebound.

B-T gave the ball to leading scorer CJ Dummer, but Dummer missed an open three-pointer. The ball bounced through the lane, however, and Dummer was able to get the rebound. The B-T senior then dribbled to his right and was fouled on a jump shot attempt. Dummer made both free throws to give B-T the lead with 33.6 seconds left. It was B-T’s first lead since it led 1-0 in the first half.

The Beavers had another opportunity, but Olson deflected a pass and Matt Beck came away with the ball. Olson made two free throws after an intentional foul to give B-T a 65-62 lead with 1.5 seconds remaining. 

Augusta’s last-second half-court heave bounced off the backboard and to the floor. 

In addition to coming up with a key rebound and defensive play, Olson led B-T with 24 points. Beck and Dummer each scored 12, Collin Johnson finished with nine, Adam Halverson and Kyle Jahr scored four, and Dahl finished with two. 

B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Dummer 3/12-5/6-5-2-12 Johnson 3/14-3/4-5-4-9 Olson 8/11-7/8-7-1-24 Dahl 0/2-2/2-2-1-2 Jahr 2/6-0/1-0-1-4 Thompson 0/0-0/0-1-1-0 Beck 5/5-0/0-2-3-12 Halverson 1/6-0/0-5-2-2

Royall 72 B-T 62

The Wildcats had a 10-point lead in the second half, but the Panthers got hot to take control.

B-T was ahead 32-20 at halftime, but got off to a strong start in the second half. Dummer scored the first six points of the second period. The Panthers responded by scoring the next five before Olson hit a three and both Thompson and Johnson scored to put the Wildcats ahead 45-35 with 13 minutes remaining in the game.

The Panthers responded by connecting on four three-pointers, the last of which put them ahead 48-47 with 10 minutes left. The Wildcats stayed close until Royall connected on a couple more three-pointers to help pull away in the last five minutes.

The B-T loss came despite a big showing from Dummer, who put up a game-high 38 points. 

B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Dummer 15/25-5/6-7-0-38 Johnson 3/11-0/0-3-4-6 Olson 2/8-0/0-3-1-5 Dahl 0/0-2/3-0-2-2 Anderson 1/1-0/0-4-0-2 Jahr 0/2-0/0-0-0-0 Thompson 3/6-0/0-4-1-7 Beck 0/2-2/2-0-0-2 Halverson 0/0-0/0-9-0-0