WEST SALEM — As the lead firetruck guided the school bus toward Leonard Street, its sirens blasted for the first time.
Cheers from the West Salem High School basketball players in a school bus behind it rang out after a relatively quite ride back from Arcadia to their home village.
Residents in the downtown area — the biggest crowd forming at Hunter’s Last Chance Bar & Grill — celebrated with those players through applause and signs and pulled out cameras to document the occasion.
The Panthers are going to their fourth WIAA state tournament in five years, and a 61-54 victory over Menomonie in a Division 2 sectional final at Arcadia on Saturday presented them this coveted interaction.
They didn’t know who they’d be playing — they since found out the semifinal opponent will be Whitefish Bay on Friday afternoon — but it was a chance to live in the moment with a supportive community.
“Hunter’s is the spot we hit after every big win, and the community just shows out,” senior Spencer Kammel said. “They really support our team.”
Coach Shane Schmeling, in his first season of leading the team after a few as an assistant, stood near his seat and smiled as his players soaked in the adoration. They’d earned it by coming back from a deficit of as many as 10 points in the second half of a solid battle with the Mustangs.
As the caravan made its final turn toward the school, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blared from the back of the bus as the players sang:
“Exit liiight
Enter niiight
Take my haaand
We’re off to never-never land!”
Never-never land in this situation is the Kohl Center in Madison, and that has been the focus of this team since beating Central in an exciting sectional semifinal at Logan’s Steve Hole Field House on Thursday night.
It’s probably what they talked about — to an extent — while eating breakfast together at the Barre Mills Country Diner at 9 a.m. before turning their focus to Menomonie for the next few hours.
The Mustangs put up a fight, but juniors Elliott Corcoran and Drew McConkey combined for 40 points — Corcoran had 21 — to make sure the Panthers (24-4) withstood it.
As the bus came to a stop, assistant coach Joe Stekel stood to confirm what had just happened.
“Mission,” he said, “accomplished.”
Breakfast was the a chance for some loose interaction before getting down to business. Players sat at a spot where several tables were pushed together, and coaches found one table for themselves.
As senior Tyson Labus walked toward the door after eating, coaches stopped him to make sure he filled up.
“Remember,” Schmeling reminded Labus, “you have to really lean on this guy today.”
Confirmation of that signaled the end the first phase of the day and led into the second, which was a walk-through at the high school.
As players dressed to get to the court, a lone basketball bounced before being shot at the basket and bounced some more. It was senior Bennett Rieber, whom Labus said is generally the first player on the floor.
He was soon joined by teammates. Senior Will Schmidt placed a large speaker off to the side, and junior Breckin Clements fired up the music.
As players shot for about 15 minutes, they listed to — and sometimes sang along with — songs by Billy Squire, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and … Gordon Lightfoot?
This was what teenagers were using to get in the right frame of mind for the biggest game of the season? Not a bunch of songs the guy in his 50s who was shadowing them for the day didn’t know?
Schmeling smiled when asked about it.
“That’s just who they are,” he said.
After nearly 20 minutes, Schmeling gathered his Panthers to discuss some points of emphasis. They discussed ball screens, they discussed defending against 6-foot-8 junior Trevor Robert — the player Labus had to lean on — and they talked about limiting good looks for senior Jake Rue.
“He came down and hit three 3s in four possessions, and it changed their game,” Schmeling said of Rue in his team’s sectional semifinal win over New Richmond. “This kid can shoot.”
Schmeling wanted to see some trapping and use of West Salem’s overall size advantage. He wanted his team to set a quicker pace than the Mustangs wanted.
After that, it was time to load the bus.
It was a quiet ride. A glance toward the back of the bus included a series of heads down with devices in their ears as they each listened to their own music. They were focused, and the time for fun was over … for now.
Some of the things Schmeling and his staff wanted to see in the game happened. Robert played much better than anticipated and controlled the game much more than the Panthers wanted.
Film had shown Robert much more stationary than he was Saturday and showed that he always went right with the ball. But his ability to finish a spin move with his left hand proved impossible to stop.
The 40 blocks he had in the first 26 games of the season was also misleading. He swatted away two shots at the rim by Nate Dillaber early and even blocked a 3-point attempt by Corcoran in the second half.
Robert scored 21 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked seven shots, but West Salem continued to fight.
Rue was another story. Kammel and senior Will Schmidt took care of that potential problem and held him to six points on just seven attempts at the basket.
The flow of the game tested the Panthers, who held the lead for just 6:47 of the 36 minutes.
A Corcoran 3-pointer from right in front of his bench with 2:02 remaining broke a 52-52 tie, and Menomonie never caught up to the delight of a large and vocal student section.
By the time Dillaber got his hands on the sectional championship plaque — and maybe never relinquished possession of it — the Wanek Arena was host to a frenzy of celebration as classmates, families and other friends joined them on the court.
The bus ride home contained a little more energy the one that took them to the venue, and there was some excited chatter and a speaker that now switched over to more modern music.
At one point, Schmeling shouted back to his players to remind them they are going to the Kohl Center, and that elicited a cheer.
“I think we were just exhausted,” Dillaber said. “Typically, we are probably 50 times louder on the ride home, but that was a grind of a game, and we needed some time to recover.”
When Stekel whistled to direct everyone’s attention to the waiting firetrucks as the West Salem exit from I-90 approached, it was time to shine.
After winning 124 games, five conference championships, five regional championships and four sectional championships over the past five seasons, the Panthers have showed they know how to do that.
