LA CROSSE — The Aquinas High School boys basketball team drove home from Madison after last year’s WIAA Division 4 state tournament balancing a bad taste in its mouth with the understanding of its accomplishments.
The Blugolds — like the other three qualifiers — were there to win a state title, but a lead slipped through their fingertips over the final 22 seconds of what became a semifinal loss to Mineral Point at the Kohl Center.
But Aquinas (24-3), rightly so, focused on the fact that it qualified for the tournament for the first time in eight years. Another sectional championship this season, however, has the Blugolds back into championship mode with a group of players from same school awaiting their arrival Thursday night.
The Pointers (27-1), who went on to win last year’s title, are the bracket’s second seed and will try to spoil the trip for the third-seeded Blugolds again when they tip off against each other around 8:15 p.m.
“We have a lot of experience from last year’s state tournament,” Aquinas coach Brad Reinhart said. “The guys were ready to jump into this year with the goal of making it back to the Kohl Center.”
Top-seeded Bonduel (27-1) and fourth-seeded The Prairie School (14-15) also qualified and play each other in Thursday’s 6:35 p.m. semifinal.
To play one of those teams on Saturday afternoon, Aquinas plans to lean on the athleticism of its defense.
Just one of the Blugolds’ past 10 opponents has reached 60 points, and that defense will have to be effective against a Mineral Point team that has scored at least 80 six times and at least 79 in three of its last four games.
“What was really nice is that we are really balanced and deep and willing to go after it from a defensive standpoint,” Reinhart said. “We hang our hat on the way we play defensively.”
An example of of that is junior Logan Becker, who is known more for his role as the team’s top scorer (15.2 points per game) and a dangerous threat for any opponent from the 3-point line with 64 made attempts through the regionals. Becker is a player Reinhart relies on to set the tone for the Blugolds.
“He really has the ability to get out and defend,” Reinhart said. “He has held every other team’s leading guard scorer to six points or better below average.”
Aquinas can also point to its effectiveness in putting sophomore Calvin Bahr on 6-foot-10 Wyoming commit Gavin Gores of Cumberland in the sectional final.
Bahr certainly didn’t take care of Gores a lone, but his primary effort along with help from senior Trey Bahr and others, held Gores to 13 points after he entered the game averaging 35 as a contender for the state’s Mr. Basketball award.
“Calvin is a great package as a player and athlete,” Reinhart said of the 6-4 guard who averages 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds while making 59 percent of his shots. “He has a high basketball IQ and that guard skill set in a 6-4 wide-shouldered frame. He can handle the basketball and go up strong to the basket off two feet.”
Trey Bahr has averaged 13.2 points during a breakout season in the respect of understanding what his team needs from him. Bahr has shown impeccable decision-making skills while determining if the Blugolds need him to step up his defense, his shooting or his facilitating. He also averages 6.2 rebounds, leads the team in steals (47) and ranks second in assists (62).
“He really understands what we as coaches are trying to do game to game,” Reinhart said. “This is a kid whose role changes game to game and does what it takes to win.
“He can play the interior and tough the ball in the paint or handle the basketball and get us in the offense.”
What that group opposes is a team with three double-figure scorers and plenty of one-sided victories. The Pointers have won three of their four postseason games by at least 36 points and suffered their only loss in a 59-57 defeat at the hands of Southwestern.
Jaxson Wendhausen, a 6-4 senior, averages 16.7 points and 4.8 rebounds. Eli Lindsey, a 6-5 senior, averages 15.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. They combined for 112 3-pointers before sectional play.
Junior Drew Aschliman, a 6-3 guard, also averages 13 points per game. Aschliman (17) and Lindsey (14) combined to score 31 points in the state semifinal victory over Aquinas last season.
