It would seem the favorite color of a Blue Duke is gold. With the boys team winning on Saturday night and the girls basketball program taking home a state championship last Saturday, Whitefish Bay reigns supreme in Division 2 basketball as the kings and queens.
This game had storylines that wrote themselves between Slinger’s pursuit of its first state championship, the Whitefish Bay chase of two gold balls in two weekends, and the very personal story between two North Shore conference teams meeting for a third time in the state championship game.
Unfortunately, the game ended up being one that didn’t bring much drama and was a Blue Duke manhandle almost from the jump.
These two squads are more familiar with each other than most teams are in the state championship game, as they played twice in the North Shore conference, a league that Slinger won by one game over Whitefish Bay.
The Blue Dukes played a 2-3 zone that from the very first possession and Slinger could not crack the code offensively the entire game.
As a team Slinger was 5 of 22 from the field and 2 of 13 from three. Brother Jack and Joey Kohnen, both high level Division 1 recruits, were a combined 2-14 from the field.
Whitefish Bay on the other hand got contributions from everyone. Matthew Schoenefeldt who averages just eight points per game, had eight at half for the Blue Dukes, as did Jack Broderson.
At the break, Whitefish Bay led 28-16.
The second half was much the same of the first, as Whitefish Bay was extremely efficient on both ends of the court once again.
Slinger couldn’t find a rhythm on offense. At the top of the zone Mace Miskel and Marcus Webb hounded Slinger ball handlers while the back side rebounded very well.
The Blue Dukes lost the first two matchups to Slinger by a combined three points.
Saturday night in the biggest game of the season, Whitefish Bay got the biggest of revenges winning 77-46.
On top of Broderson’s 23 points, he added 10. Teammates Colin Julien, Webb, and Schoenefeldt all hit double digit points for the Blue Dukes as well.
Despite being undersized to the Owls, Whitefish Bay outrebounded Slinger 34-27 and had 42 points in the paint as opposed to 20 for the Owls.
As a team Whitefish Bay shot 62% from the field and was six of eleven from three.
For Slinger, nothing seemed to go right. Bryson Fogle was a bright spot as the senior guard was 7 of 10 from the field with 20 points and 6 rebounds. The Kohnen brothers were an uncharacteristic 5 of 32 from the field and 1 of 21 from three, combining for 20 points.
The Owls shot just 28% from the field as a team, and were 5 of 33 from beyond the arc (15%).
A game where so much was on the line came down to a Whitefish Bay’s want and will to win a four state championship.
The Blue Duke community has had double the reason to celebrate this month and have earned the moniker of conquerers of Division 2 in all of hoops.
Colton Wilson serves a contributor and member of Bound Wisconsin. Wilson has worked in high school sports for 10 years, covering the state of Wisconsin in various sports. He has had roles in content creation, boys basketball coverage, director of events, and data management. Wilson is a graduate of Richland Center High School where he will currently serves as the Varsity Reserve boys basketball coach, entering his eleventh year coaching at the high school level. Wilson also has officiated basketball and organized youth tournaments for multiple years. You can follow him on Twitter at @ColtonWilson23 or reach him at [email protected].
