The Central and West Salem high school boys basketball teams weren’t in an identical boat when this season began, but there were similarities.
Both have become accustomed to challenge not only for conference championships but sectional championships and spots in the WIAA state tournament.
Questions surrounded the RiverHawks and Panthers — more so the Panthers — when the season began, but it didn’t take long for them to show the Coulee Region that nothing much had changed.
And so the teams find themselves in a familiar situation tonight at Logan’s Steve Hole Fieldhouse, which will likely fill up as they battle at 7 p.m. in a Division 2 sectional semifinal.
“We didn’t know how everything would turn out, but we knew we were going to work hard,” West Salem senior Nate Dillaber said. “Everybody we put on the floor is into this and committed to pushing toward a common goal.”
That goal is a return to the state tournament, where eighth-ranked West Salem (22-4) competed three years in a row before losing a sectional final last year.
The RiverHawks (22-4) played at the state tournament in 2023 and 2024 before being eliminated by the Panthers in a double-overtime regional final last season.
The pedigree has been built on each side, but only one can play Saturday in Arcadia — against either New Richmond (16-9) or Menomonie (18-8) — for a sectional championship.
While they have matched up once this season in a game Central won 68-50, what happened that night at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium shouldn’t impact this meeting drastically.
“We played it pretty vanilla, and we came out flat,” West Salem coach Shane Schmeling said. “It was after the first Onalaska game (a loss) and after seeding, and Central really jumped on us. They were ready to play, and we weren’t.”
Every player on the court will certainly be ready for this game after West Salem won the Coulee Conference and Central finished as runner-up to Onalaska in the MVC.
The Panthers have been riding a high since beating the top-seeded Hilltoppers on Saturday 50-48 after losing to them by 15 points during the regular season. They have the same opportunity to turn the tables on the RiverHawks tonight.
If seventh-ranked Central is going to advance, it will have to be with defense and timely offense.
The pressure to produce will be on top scoring juniors Anthony Jones and Gabe Servais. Jones has averaged 15.8 and Servais 13.6 points over the past five games.
The RiverHawks have also held their two postseason opponents — Sparta and Fox Valley Lutheran– to less than 40 points.
Keeping Jones away from the rim has to be a priority for West Salem, which has the size, length and athleticism to make difficult something that Jones has made look easy all season.
“He is so crafty around the hoop,” Dillaber, who averages 13.7 points per game and has 122 3-pointers, said of Jones. “He is so patient, and that makes him hard to guard.
“He’s great at penetrating and getting downhill, and in the paint he isn’t one of those players who just want to get the shot up right away. He’ll wait and isn’t afraid to pump-fake three or four times to get the shot he wants and maybe draw a foul.”
Two assets that Schmeling expects to be used much differently this time around are senior Tyson Labus and junior Drew McConkey. They combine to average 30 points and 14 rebounds per game but only combined for six points and nine rebounds in the first game against Central.
“We have to take better shots,” said McConkey, who made 1 of 15 shots and scored six points in the first Central game. “I do for sure, anyway. We also have to do the little stuff and get rebounds.”
Schmeling said Labus — his team’s leading scorer at 15.8 points per game — was never a factor and has to be this time after missing the only shot he took in the 18-point loss.
West Salem also needs 6-foot-6 Labus, 6-4 junior Elliott Corcoran, 6-3 senior Spencer Kammel and the 6-3 McConkey to make the most of their size advantage. Schmeling said the RiverHawks were able to neutralize that size advantage as rebounders in the first game.
“We will have to get a body on them,” Fergot said. “If we try to out-athlete them, we are probably in trouble.
“But we have to try to limit them to one shot per possession, and that’s a tough task against a team like this.”
