This game was a tale of two halves as Slinger ultimately earned its way to the program’s first ever state championship game.

The first half was the Eli Krueger show out of McFarland, as the Spartans played through him and he carried the load. At intermission, the 6-9 Division 1 recruit had 17 points on six of eight shooting and six rebounds. He scored the first five for the Spartans as they took a 5-4 lead early.

Slinger responded with a 12-0 run and from there it stayed around a seven point game until McFarland exploded for a 15-4 run to close it out, finishing with a Krueger triple right before half, giving McFarland a 30-28 lead.

The level of intensity was exemplified the second Slinger took the court in the second half.

Defensively, the Owls were more active, especially in guarding Krueger, whom Coach Lavine shuffled defenders at throughout the game. When matched up on Krueger, that Owl defender was hip to hip the entire length of the court.

Everything seemed to go Slinger’s way after the break on both ends of the ball. The Owls shot 70% from the field and forced eight Spartan turnovers. There seemed to be an added focus on getting good looks, but also Jack Kohnen took over.

The junior D1 recruit scored 23 of his 35 points in the second half, getting to the rim almost at will. Kohnen added ten rebounds and seven assists to his day, proving why he’s one of the best in the state.

Teammate Bryson Fogle was exceptional for the Owls as well. He was eight of eleven from the field and finished with 20 points and six rebounds.

For the Spartans, after his big first half, Krueger was stymied to just nine points and no rebounds in the second, finishing the game with 26 points and six boards. Fellow junior Garrett Crull had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Slinger will play for gold for the first time in their program’s history, seeing a familiar foe, North Shore rival Whitefish Bay.

Styles clashed as these two teams from different sides of the state did battle for 36 minutes and the opportunity at a state championship.

Whitefish Bay is guard oriented and excels in speeding opposing teams up with perimeter ball defense and getting out in space offensively.

West Salem is built on strength and size.

The scoring took a while to get going in this one as at the 11-minute mark, Whitefish Bay led 11-10. Sophomore guard Mace Miskel had all eleven points for the Blue Dukes as the rest of the team struggled to find the bottom of the net.

With Whitefish Bay up 18-17 with around six minutes left in the game, West Salem switched to a 1-3-1 zone that was effective in what it meant to accomplish. The Blue Dukes offense went cold and the Panthers controlled the glass for the final third of the half.

West Salem finished the half on a 12-7 run to take a 30-24 lead going into the break. Tyson Labus led West Salem with 13 points while Elliott Corcoran had nine points off the bench.

The Panthers came out in the 1-3-1 zone, but Whitefish Bay leading scorer Colin Julien knocked down a pair of threes as part of a 5 for seven start from beyond the arc for the Blue Dukes.

The ball pressure started taking its toll on the Panthers as turnovers became transition points for Whitefish Bay.

West Salem did not go away however matching every punch for the final ten minutes.

Down five with under three minutes to go, the Panthers had a fast break opportunity at a layup, and both times turned the ball over, resulting in empty possessions.

That said, Labus and Nathan Dillaber both hit deep triples to cut the lead to two twice under a minute and a half left.

The Blue Dukes closed the game out at the free throw line however, making five of six free throws in the final two minutes.

West Salem was led by Labus’ 23 points and 5 rebounds and Corcoran’s 17 points.

For Whitefish Bay, Colin Julien came alive in the second half and finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Miskel added 17 for the Blue Dukes and Marcus Webb had 13 points.

The Blue Dukes will play in the Division 2 Stat Championship on Saturday evening, looking to match the gold the Whitefish Bay girls basketball team won a week ago in Green Bay.