LA CROSSE — During a game that traditionally tells the Onalaska High School boys basketball team a lot of things about itself, sophomore Tyler Kowal stepped into the spotlight.
The Hilltoppers beat Caledonia 78-54 during the Midwest Players Classic at the La Crosse Center on Saturday night, but Kowal is probably what most people in attendance will remember when reflecting on the game.
The guard couldn’t miss early and scored 18 of his team-high 24 points in the first 6 minutes, 20 seconds.
That was more than enough to put the Hilltoppers in control, and they never relinquished that against a Warriors team that struggled in most aspects of the game and lost its second in a row and for the third time in four games.
The Hilltoppers (9-0) and Warriors (8-6) routinely schedule nonconference games against each because they know the matchups make them better. This one happened to be at the La Crosse Center in the second-to-last game of a two day showcase sponsored by Aquinas.
Kowal made his first four 3-pointers and allowed the Hilltoppers — first in Division 2 for this week’s Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — to take the suspense out of things pretty quickly.
By the time he scored on a drive to the hoop with 11:40 left in the half, Onalaska had a 22-10 lead. Its advantage never dropped below 10 points the rest of the game.
“That first shot went down, and I knew it was going to be one of those nights,” Kowal said. “My shot felt great, I was getting to the basket, my teammates were finding me, and we played a really good first half.”
Kowal scored just two more points before the end of the half, but teammates like Brendan Chenault picked up the slack. As Caledonia struggled to get any shots to fall — it didn’t make a 3-pointer all night — its deficit ballooned.
Chenault scored off an assist from Kowal to give the Hilltoppers a 40-16 lead at one point, and they went to the break with a 43-25 advantage.
Chenault finished with 15 points for Onalaska, which plays at Winona on Tuesday. Sophomore Gabe Whited added 11.
Onalaska’s biggest lead of the second half was 60-35 after consecutive 3-pointers from seniors Rowan McGrath and Trent Oyen before the Warriors started to chip away.
Caledonia senior Grant King finished with a game-high 25 points, and 13 of those came from the foul line.
The Warriors got with 67-54 in the closing minutes but no closer in a game that also included 12 points for junior Jacoby Hammell.
“Unfortunately, I thought we got a little complacent after the first six or seven minutes,” Onalaska coach Craig Kowal said. “We didn’t play to the expectations and standards that we set for this program.
“But the start was impressive. It was fun to watch.”
