Almond-Bancroft boys look for first trip to State Tournament
Portage County Gazette
By John Kemmeter
After splitting a pair of games during the regular season, the eighth-ranked Almond-Bancroft High School boys basketball team advanced to Sectionals with a win at home over Wild Rose in a WIAA Division 5 Regional Final Saturday, March 2.
On the quest for their first trip to state in school history, the second-seeded Eagles (22-3, 11-1) used runs late in the first half and early in the second half to pull ahead, then went on to win 57-41 over third-seeded Wild Rose (19-6, 8-4) to advance to Sectionals for the third time in four years.
Almond is set to play fourth-ranked and top-seeded Marshfield Columbus Catholic (23-2) in a Sectional Semifinal at Wausau East High School at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, with the winner to play for a trip to the State Tournament against either second-seeded Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran (15-10) or fifth-seeded Gibraltar (13-11) in a WIAA Division 5 Sectional Final at Wausau West at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9.
“We’ve been waiting for this since we were in third grade,” said Almond senior point guard Zach Bunders. “We’ve had this mindset that we’ve got to get it going, we’re going to be the first team down to state and we’re going to win.
“We’ve always won since we were younger, big teams, we didn’t care, we’ve just got to come out and compete every single night,” he said. “It’s huge for us, huge for this community, everybody comes out and supports, and it’s awesome.”
“I’m just proud of these kids,” said Almond-Bancroft boys basketball head coach Curt Lamb. “They put in so much work over the years, and to get rewarded for it with a Conference Championship and a Regional Championship, it’s just an awesome experience and a wonderful feeling.
“The kids played hard and they played well,” he said. “It wasn’t always perfect, but we found a way to get it done.”
Wild Rose handed the Eagles their only Central Wisconsin Conference (CWC) South loss this season with a 65-60 win at Almond Jan. 11, while the Eagles won 75-66 in double overtime at Wild Rose Feb. 15.
The conference rivals squared off in the Regional Final in front of a standing-room only crowd at Almond Saturday night, where the game was tight throughout the first part of the opening half, as the Eagles held a 14-12 lead with 8:34 to go.
Senior guard/forward Cade Lamb followed with a three-pointer and scored eight points in a 13-3 run that gave Almond a 27-15 lead with 4:36 left in the first half, and the Eagles went into halftime with a 27-19 advantage.
“Any time you play against them, and no matter what the records are, it’s just going to be a battle between the two schools,” said coach Lamb. “I’m a little disappointed in our rebounding in the first half, they’re just bigger than we are and they got a couple of put-backs and those kind of things in the lane.
“The second half, we did a much better job of competing on the boards,” he said.
Cade Lamb and senior guard Jon Perrin scored back-to-back layups in the opening minute of the second half, and Cade Lamb added a three-point play as Almond outscored Wild Rose 7-2 to start the second half and go up 34-21 with 16:02 remaining.
After a Wild Rose basket, Cade Lamb and senior guard Noah Kollock each scored five points in a 10-3 run that pushed the Eagles’ lead to 46-26 with 10:48 to play, while Almond built its biggest lead of the night at 52-31 with 7:35 left.
The Eagles spread their offense out down the stretch to run time off the clock and went on to close out a 57-41 victory, as they claimed the Regional Title with their 10th win in a row.
“I love how everybody’s just moving the ball,” said Cade Lamb. “We’re working as a unit right now.
“Passing wasn’t all that great in the beginning of the year, and as the year went on, everybody started hitting each other, and it’s just been running smoothly since then,” he said.
Cade Lamb was 4-of-7 on three-pointers and finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks; Noah Kollock had 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals; and junior guard Elijah Kollock added seven points to lead the Eagles.
The win set up a showdown in the Sectional Semifinals with Marshfield Columbus, which won 75-62 over Almond in the 2017 Sectional Semifinals, after the Eagles won 68-55 at Marshfield Columbus in the Regional Finals in 2016, when the current seniors were freshmen.
“We’ve seen them many times,” said coach Lamb. “They’re a great team, and they’re well coached.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us,” he said. “But at least we have a chance.”
The winner will play in the Sectional Final Saturday for a trip to the State Tournament, against the winner of Packerland Conference rivals Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran and Gibraltar, who split a pair of meetings this season, with Gibraltar winning 71-69 on the road Dec. 18, and N.E.W. Lutheran winning 63-54 at Gibraltar Feb. 14.
N.E.W. Lutheran advanced to the State Semifinals last season for its seventh State Tournament appearance in nine years, as it beat Almond 59-37 in the Sectional Finals in 2016 to end the Eagles’ furthest run in program history.
The four teams that reach the WIAA Division 5 State Tournament will be re-seeded after Sectionals, as the State Semifinals will be held at the Kohl Center in Madison Friday, March 15, with the first seed taking on the fourth seed at 9:05 a.m., and the second seed to play the third seed at approximately 10:45 a.m.
The Division 5 State Championship Game is set for 11:05 a.m. Saturday, March 16, while Almond will try to continue its run this week and punch its ticket to Madison for the first time.
“We’ve got a lot of heart, we’ve got a lot of ambition, and we know the goals are high,” said Noah Kollock. “But we know we can do it.”
“We’re starting to click at the right time,” said coach Lamb. “I still think we can play better, and I think we can still shoot a little bit better.
“Our defense has been pretty solid for the most part,” he said. “So if we can continue to get a little more consistent offense, we’ll go give it a good shot then.”