ONALASKA — The Luther High School boys basketball team wanted to limit Onalaska’s quality looks at the basket in the lane on Thursday.
The Knights succeeded in that but lost track of Ian Kowal in the process.
Kowal responded by destroying them by sinking 3-pointer after 3-pointer. The junior made five of those in the first half, and Hilltoppers added good defensive pressure up and down the court on the way to a 69-46 nonconference victory at John Shelton Court.
Kowal controlled the first half and senior teammate Broden Steiner the second as Onalaska (7-2) won its third game in a row and became the first team this season to beat Luther (7-1).
“They ran a lot of good offensive sets for him,” Luther coach Dan Unke said of Kowal, who scored 17 first-half points and finished with 19. “We were also a little slow to get to him.
“Our top goal was to not let them get inside on us, so we were protecting against the drive. When he got hot early, we had to make some changes.”
Onalaska coach Craig Kowal — Ian’s dad — wanted his Hilltoppers to make it tough for the Knights to control tempo and pressured the ball on every Luther touch. Tyler Kowal — a freshman and the coach’s other son — headed up that effort and had Luther playing from behind early after a 20-5 Onalaska run provided it with a 25-10 lead.
“I think our pressure in the first half kind of wore them down,” Craig Kowal said. “Until the second half, I thought almost every shot they took was contested.”
The Knights missed too many shots in the lane and made only 2 of 14 attempts from the 3-point line in their first loss of the season. Senior Will Huelskamp returned to the lineup after a one-game absence due to an ankle injury and responded with 21 points and five rebounds.
Steiner, however, was too tough for Luther to handle after halftime with his starring role in a 16-1 run that gave Onalaska 47-32 lead after Luther twice cut its deficit to 10 points. Senior Jack Smith and Steiner ended that run with consecutive dunks, and Steiner finished with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds.
“Broden’s really good in transition and had a great second half for us tonight,” Craig Kowal said. “I think, defensive rebounding was a real key for us.
“Our ability to get defensive rebounds and get into transition is what opened things up for us in the second half.”
Luther senior Synclair Byus, who entered the game averaging 17 points per game, was held to two while making 1 of 9 shots. He did lead the Knights with five assists, while teammate Brody Greeno added 10 points.
Onalaska’s ability to limit the point guard’s production gave it another good performance heading into Tuesday’s MVC home game against Sparta (7-2). The Spartans will play their first conference game as the Hilltoppers look for their first conference win after a 73-68 loss to Holmen on Dec. 19.
Luther also plays the Spartans next. That game is at Sparta on Friday.
