MADISON – Whitefish Bay boys basketball coach Ryan Fiet said in the locker room after the WIAA Division 2 state title game on Saturday night, March 21, at the Kohl Center, “They don’t bring runners-up teams back for reunions.”
After celebrating the 1996 and 2011 state title teams earlier this season, the Blue Dukes will have another gold ball to add to their overflowing athletic trophy collection back home.
Behind a wonderful, effective offensive display and its hard-nosed defensive approach against North Shore Conference foe Slinger, the Blue Dukes captured their fourth state boys basketball title in program history with a 77-46 rout of the top-seeded Owls.
The victory marked the ninth time in WIAA history that a school won both boys and girls state basketball titles and the first time since 2022 when Randolph accomplished the feat. It also marked the first time in WIAA history that one school swept both the boys and girls state swim and dive titles, along with the boys and girls basketball titles in the same school year.
“Our defense was locked in,” Fiet said with a big smile. “That’s the best we’ve played our matchup zone in probably about two years. Our guys were flying around communicating. They knew who they had to get out on, who they had to run off the line, who they can stay off of on rotations. They were phenomenal at it all night long. They created nothing but I think frustration and chaos. They were just so locked in. It was unbelievable.”
The Blue Duke defense stymied Slinger to just 15-for-54 shooting on the night (27.8%), 5-for-33 from long range (15.2%) and forced 10 turnovers. Jack and Joey Kohnen, the star brother duo for the Owls, combined to shoot just 5-for-32 from the field and 1-for-21 from long range for 20 combined points on the night.
Box score | Tournament blog recap
“Their zone, it’s obviously a signature of (Whitefish) Bay and they have been running it against us all year. It’s presented a lot of challenges for us all year and we haven’t really been able to decipher it fully, but in the regular season, we battled it out and found a way to win,” Jack Kohnen said.
“Tonight, they just kind of had our calling card. It’s hard to beat a team three times is what they say. And tonight, shots weren’t falling. Their shots were falling. And just sometimes, it’s not your day and it was their night.”
On top of putting its Doberman-style perimeter defense on full display behind the likes of Jack Brodersen, Colin Julien (14 points, five rebounds), Mace Miskel (seven points, four assists) and Marcus Webb (13 points, five assists, four rebounds), the Bay offense excelled on the biggest stage of the season. The Blue Dukes shot 62.2% from the field (28-of-45), including 6-for-11 from 3-point range. The Blue Dukes had four in double figures, led by Brodersen’s 23-point, 10-rebound double-double.
“The environment definitely helped us,” Julien said, crediting the Bay student section. “They helped us, gave us the energy we needed, especially on defense. For me personally, the moment was amazing. First half, no jitters. The first half of (Friday’s) game really let me settle in (and) feel the environment of the court. Today, I was just ready.”
“Everything was just kind of flowing,” Brodersen added. “Our defense, we just kept on making little changes throughout the week, especially know we could play against Slinger. It was just great knowing the student section was just so alive.”
An uncharacteristic night leaves Slinger one game short of first state title in program history
Slinger coach Alex Lavine didn’t mince words in his opening statement about his team’s loss to Whitefish Bay after going 2-0 against the Blue Dukes by a combined three points in the regular season.
“We had some really good games this season against them in terms of battles, and were fortunate to be on the good side of it,” Lavine said. “They were just better than us tonight in every facet.”
Whitefish Bay jumped out to an 18-7 lead with 7:53 to go in the opening half and as Lavine put it, it just snowballed out of control for the Owls from there. Slinger missed 11 of its final 13 shot attempts of the first half and trailed 28-16 at the break. The Bay lead ballooned to 18 points (39-21) after a Brodersen layup on the break before the Owls brought it back down to 14 with 10:13 to go (48-34). That 14-point deficit was as close as it would get from there.
“I think tonight was one of those things where sometimes, things just snowball,” Lavine said. “You got off to kind of a slow start obviously and just never able to kind of string anything meaningful together unfortunately.”
The Owls lose four seniors, including leading scorer Bryson Fogle (20 points, six rebounds), but the Kohnens will return for one more year together at Slinger as older brother Jack enters his senior season next school year. The state tournament appearance drought ended at 49 years, but the title drought continues for at least another year.
“It’s just not who we are to be honest,” Lavine said. “It just wasn’t who we’ve been for a long time. It’s just, we haven’t been beat like this, so it’s just uncharacteristic.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whitefish Bay sweeps WIAA boys, girls D2 basketball state championships
About the Author
