MADISON — He set up in the left corner, caught the clean pass from Trey Bahr and shot without hesitation.
Finley Strom ‘s previous shot from that same spot fell woefully short — it caught net but no rim — so he had to feel some pressure as the Aquinas High School boys basketball team was trying to reel in Mineral Point after trailing this WIAA Division 4 state semifinal matchup by as many as 14 points in the first half.
As the ball fell through the hoop, the Aquinas end of the Kohl Center came a bit unhinged as the Blugolds took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. It turned out to be just one of many big plays that gave third-seeded Aquinas a 57-54 victory over the defending Division 4 state champions on Thursday.
“The last shot, I flushed it down the drain, but if they were leaving me open in the corner, I needed to make a big play when we needed it,” Strom said. “Trey found me, he looked for me, and he trusted me … and it really gave us a spark and helped us out.”
Strom scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and senior Vincent Bahr had 12 of his 15 after halftime as the Blugolds (25-3) came back and beat the team that ended their season in last year’s state semifinals before winning the title.
Vincent Bahr added 10 rebounds to his stat line as Aquinas earned a championship game against top-seeded Bonduel (28-1) at 12:45 p.m. Saturday. The Blugolds won their last state championship in 2013, and Bonduel, which beat The Prairie School 59-41 in Thursday’s first semifinal, is making its first state appearance.
Aquinas battled Mineral Point’s 1-3-1 zone defense and had to use patience to find shots against the long arms and legs that blocked passing lanes all over the floor. The Blugolds attacked the defense with more over the top passes i the second half, and that’s what got Bahr and Strom going.
But that didn’t mean the Pointers shrunk down the stretch.
Strom followed his 3-pointer by converting a layup on a break that followed a missed shot, but senior Jaxson Wendhausen followed that with a 3-pointer from the top of key with Strom in his face to get the Pointers within 54-53 with 1:17 left.
Mineral point had a chance at the lead after a steal, but Drew Aschliman missed a shot, and Calvin Bahr rebounded it. Strom was fouled and hit two foul shots to make it 56-53 with 40.2 seconds left before things got even more interesting.
Wendhausen missed a 3-pointer that sat on the rim before falling out, and Aquinas was whistled for a foul on the rebound. Eli Lindsey made one free throw and missed the next to make it 56-54 with 23.2 seconds left before the Blugolds were whistled for a travel with 21.3 seconds on the clock.
Aquinas lost a seven-point lead to the Pointers in the final 23 seconds of last year’s semifinal, and the turnover immediately took some back to that moment.
“It crossed my mind,” Aquinas coach Brad Reinhart said with a smile after the game.
But Logan Becker stole a pass in the lane on Mineral Point’s next possession and made one of two free throws for a three-point lead with 7.5 seconds left. Wendhausen made a great fake to get an open look at a tying 3 at the other end, but it didn’t fall.
Aschliman scored 16 points and Wendhausen 15 for the Pointers (27-2), who had their biggest lead of the game at 26-12 with 6:15 left in the first half.
A Strom 3 just before the end of the half cut that deficit to 31-23, and Vincent Bahr opened the second half with two straight 3s from the right corner to give the Blugolds some momentum.
“We changed our approach to try and attack (the 1-3-1), and we used a little more dribble penetration to punch through the initial area of defense and talked about having our guys’ bodies on their bodies, posting up strong on guys and occupying weak-side defenders,” Reinhart said. “If they had to be occupied on that weak side, they didn’t have anyone to designate out to that corner at that point.”
Vincent Bahr made 4 of 6 attempts from the 3-point line and 5 of 8 shots overall. Logan Becker added nine points and Calvin Bahr eight rebounds and four assists for Aquinas.
Photos below were submitted by Cameron Reinhart.
