HOLMEN — Keenan Eisermann calmly stepped to the foul line each time the Onalaska High School boys basketball team put him there down the stretch of an MVC showdown between the Hilltoppers and Eisermann’s Holmen Vikings.
The conference lead was on the line, and as well as Holmen had played, Onalaska was keeping the pressure on by continually cutting its deficit to one or two possessions late in the game.
His first two free throws gave the Vikings an eight-point lead with 2 minutes, 36 seconds on the clock. His last four — one trip for a foul and technical foul — put the finishing touches on a 73-66 victory in front a loud and rambunctious crowd at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse on Thursday.
Eisermann’s 12 free throws on 12 attempts over that final 2:36 kept the Hilltoppers at arm’s length and gave the Vikings (11-3, 4-1) sole possession of the MVC lead.
“We have a free throw drill that we use in practice,” Eisermann said. “We shoot free throws every day, so we’re all pretty comfortable at the line.”
The win gave Holmen a regular-season sweep over the Hilltoppers (11-4, 4-2), who now sit alone in fourth place in the MVC behind Holmen, Aquinas (13-1, 3-1) and Central (7-3, 3-1).
It qualifies as Holmen’s first sweep of its rival since coach Ryan Meyer was a senior for the Vikings during the 2005-06 season. and served as a big-game atmosphere for a program getting used to those again.
“I was lucky enough to play in front of crowds like this as a player,” Meyer said of the atmosphere, which included the Holmen band and extra seating around the court. “Ever since I got the job, I told the players that this is what Holmen basketball used to be like, and they’ve put in the work to get this chance to experience it.”
The Hilltoppers pushed and pushed and pushed to send their portion of that crowd home happy. Onalaska had a 30-26 halftime lead but lost that advantage early in the second half.
Holmen junior Alex Berget made a 3-pointer that gave put the Vikings in front 34-32. Holmen never relinquished the lead again, but Onalaska was within one possession 10 times before Eisermann’s final four free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining.
Eisermann led Holmen with 24 points and was 14 for 14 on free throws. Berget added 18 and made three 3s, and senior Kaiden Wilber matched those three 3s on his way to 14 points.
The Vikings went 9 for 19 from the 3-point line and made 57 percent of their shots (23 of 40) to collect a very significant victory.
They also attacked the basket at a high rate of success. Meyer said the plan for his team — one everyone knows can bury shots left and right from the perimeter — was to get to the rim.
“Our goal is to get to the paint,” Meyer said. “When we got there, if we were getting layups, great. But if we were able to get some good 3-point shots after getting in there, that’s a recipe for success for us, too.”
Senior Broden Steiner and junior Ian Kowal each scored 18 points for Onalaska, which made 8 of 17 3-point attempts and shot 55 percent (26 of 47) from the floor.
The Hilltoppers were within one possession four times in the final minute.
Kowal knocked down a 3 to make it 63-60 with 57.3 seconds to go, and Noah Chenault made two free throws to push the score to 65-62 with 46.1 seconds on the clock. Freshman Tyler Kowal’s successful drive to the basket made it 67-64 with 23.2 seconds to go, and Steiner’s drive had Onalaska within 69-66 with 9.6 seconds left.
But every one of those baskets was answered by Eisermann free throws.
While Eisermann was there to finish off the victory, the Vikings received a real boost from sophomore Brody Wilber midway through the second half. He took three shots and scored eight points — two 3-pointers and a nice conversion in the lane — during a 4-minute stretch that required answers to Onalaska scores at the other end.
“We knew he could go out there and shoot, and it’s about having trust on your players,” Meyer said of Wilber, who entered averaging 2.7 points per game. “He was struggling with his shot earlier in the year, so this is good for him and us.”
