ONALASKA — Onalaska High School boys basketball coach Craig Kowal knew his team’s best chance to become the first to beat La Crosse Aquinas this season came down to limiting the Blugolds in transition and not letting junior Logan Becker be the difference-maker.
The Hilltoppers did a good job of putting their opponents in a deep hole early before allowing an escape, partially due to Becker getting free and knocking down shots. Onalaska dug another hole for Aquinas in the second half and used junior Ian Kowal to make sure it was deep enough for a 68-64 MVC victory at John Shelton Court on Tuesday.
The victory was Onalaska’s sixth in a row and moved it into second place in the conference with a 3-1 record. The Hilltoppers are 10-2 overall. The Blugolds (11-1) dropped to third place in the MVC at 2-1 as both were left to chase first-place Holmen (9-2, 3-0).
“They are very good in transition, and they are very good off the dribble,” Craig Kowal said of the Blugolds. “We wanted to make sure we got back and set our defense up and make them work for everything.
“We let Becker get free for a few in the first half, and we had a couple times where we weren’t real disciplined with our closeouts, but it was a good performance on the defensive end.”
Ian Kowal scored a game-high 20 points but was at his best in the second half. The Hilltoppers scored nine of the first 11 points after halftime and led by as many 12 before Trey Bahr grabbed the rebound on a missed shot, converted the putback and knocked down the free throw after a foul was whistled for get Aquinas within 52-49 with 7 minutes, 10 seconds remaining.
Ian Kowal scored Onalaska’s next nine points as the Blugolds pushed. A 3 by Becker was countered with a three-point play by Ian Kowal to push the Hilltoppers’ lead to 61-55 with 3 minutes remaining. Freshman Tyler Kowal followed that with a drive to the basket and pushed the lead to eight points with 2:01 on the clock.
“I’m proud of him because he didn’t have a great first half,” Craig Kowal said of Ian. “Last year, I don’t if it would have gone that way, but we know there are times when he has to be the man for us. In the first half, he distributed the ball well and made some key passes at key moments that might go overlooked.
“I thought he was fantastic in the second half. I also thought Noah (Chenault) was outstanding tonight.”
Aquinas was led by Becker’s 18 points and senior Brayden Young’s 15. Bahr also finished with 13, but his team never had a lead in the game after missing its first nine shots and faced a 13-3 deficit 8 minutes into the game.
Senior Broden Steiner had all 11 of his points in the first half. Chenault had 15 and senior Jack Smith 11 for the Hilltoppers.
The Blugolds managed to tie the game one time, and that came on a 3-pointer that knotted the score at 22 with 1:15 on the clock.
Onalaska played for the final shot of the half, and Chenault beat the buzzer with a 3 that was set up by an assist from Ian Kowal.
