LA CROSSE — Kyle Hehli didn’t leave the court as his West Salem High School boys basketball team tangled with Central in a WIAA Division 2 regional final on Saturday night.
He also sat just a minute during Friday night’s semifinal victory over Fox Valley Lutheran.
That’s what made the way he closed out a 66-58 double-overtime victory over the RiverHawks at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium so impressive. The senior did many impactful things amid the twists and turns amid a raucous crowd that had a chance to cheer for a cavalcade of plays from players on both sides.
Hehli forced overtime by making 2 of 3 free throws with 0.3 seconds on the clock in regulation, had a huge steal and hoop in the first overtime and scored seven points in addition to an assist in the second overtime to eliminate the second-seeded RiverHawks (15-10).
“What I’ll probably think about the most is that free throw I missed,” said Hehli, who was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the end of regulation and made the first free throw, missed the second and made the third to tie the game at 49. “I got the last one to go, though, and that kept us in the game.”
Third-seeded West Salem (19-6) advances to play top-seeded Onalaska (19-7) in a sectional semifinal at Logan’s Steve Hole Field House on Thursday.
Hehli scored 21 of West Salem’s final 29 points, had the steal, assisted on a basket by Carter Pontius and kept good defensive position in stopping a drive by Central sophomore Anthony Jones as he tried to cut into a 61-56 West Salem lead with about 70 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
Hehli scored a game-high 26 points and made 8 of 10 free throws in the two overtime periods.
His heroics ruined a big shot made by Central senior Frankie Wilk after the RiverHawks held the ball when he stole it from the Panthers with 1:10 on the clock. Central coach Todd Fergot called one timeout with 57.2 seconds to go and another with 11.1 on the clock. Wilk buried a pull-up jumper with 3 seconds on the clock to give Central a 49-47 lead.
The Panthers inbounded the ball, called a timeout with 1.2 seconds on the clock and got the ball in the hands of Hehli, who dribbled to the right of the top of the key and drew a foul as time appeared to expire. Officials put 0.3 seconds on the clock before Hehli tied the game.
“He’s a gamer, there’s no doubt about it,” Fergot said of Hehli. “He’s one of the best players or the best player in the area. Great players make big moments, and he did.”
West Salem dealt with foul trouble throughout the second half. Pontius picked up his fourth foul on the first second-half possession, and Hehli was whistled for his fourth after reaching in and trying to force a tie-up with 8:13 left in regulation.
Both finished the game, and Pontius assisted on a Nathan Dillaber basket that tied the score at 54 with 58.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime. The RiverHawks put the ball in the hands of senior Derrick Pangier on the final possession of that one, but his shot at the buzzer was off the mark.
Pangier, Jones and Gabe Servais all scored 12 points for Central, while Wilk added 11.
The big play of that overtime was Hehli’s steal, which followed a turnover when he dribbled the ball off his foot. Central inbounded the ball to its own backcourt, and Jones tried to hand the ball to Pangier, but Hehli — with four fouls — blew it up and knocked the ball free. He gathered it and scored to tie the game at 52 with 2:02 on the clock.
“It was definitely risky, but I had to try and make a play for my team,” Hehli said. “We were down two and needed it.”
West Salem coach Mark Wagner wasn’t a fan when Hehli made his initial move on the ball.
“I thought that was a play that really turned things,” Wagner said. “I was yelling, ‘No, no, no!’ from the bench, but players make plays, and we caught a break because it could have been a foul, and he’d have been out of the game.”
Sophomore Drew McConkey added 14 points, senior Brennon Anderson 11 and Dillaber nine for West Salem.
While the Panthers now prepare for the Hilltoppers, the RiverHawks begin to build on the experience with a pretty young roster. Central had its ups and downs throughout the season but take out a one-sided loss to Eau Claire Memorial, and the final eight-game had things going in the right direction.
“I’ve been around long enough to know when you get that feeling with a team,” Fergot said. “They were all bought in, they knew their roles, and now we go.
“I started to see us making that progress.”
