HOLMEN — Two overwhelming aspects of the Kimberly High School boys basketball team’s performance against Holmen made it impossible for the Vikings to advance in the WIAA Division 1 regional tournament on Friday.
The Vikings couldn’t get open shots, and they couldn’t stop the Papermakers from getting to the rim.
Neither of those things went well for Holmen early, and neither of them got better as 13th-seeded Kimberly left the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse with an 80-60 semifinal win over the fourth-seeded MVC co-champions.
Holmen (19-6) moved the ball and moved the ball and moved the ball some more but rarely found good looks at the basket. Drives through the paint were also met with bigger bodies that made those shots much more difficult than anticipated, too.
“They were who we thought they were,” Holmen coach Ryan Meyer said of the Papermakers (11-13), who placed seventh in the Fox Valley Associated this season and lost coach and former Wisconsin Badger Freddie Owens to a sudden resignation on Feb. 22. “We knew (Landen Van Offeren) was going to be trouble, and I think they executed their game plan better than we did.”
Van Offeren made 15 of 17 shots, and Kimberly shot 60 percent (36 of 60) from the floor with most of those shots coming in the paint. The Papermakers took just nine 3-pointers and made three of them.
“He did such a great job of constantly moving that it was hard for us to prevent him from getting the touches he got,” Meyer said. “When he got those touches, he was really good and crafty inside.”
Holmen had a decent start, but Kimberly took the lead for good at 5-4 with 14 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Mikey Wildes. The lead was pushed to 26-15 with 5:21 on the clock before Kaiden Wilber made a 3-pointer for the Vikings.
Alex Berget added a pair of free throws, and Wilber knocked down another 3 while being fouled. He made the free throw for the four-point play and cut his team’s deficit to 28-24 with 3:38 left, but Holmen didn’t score another point in the first half.
The Papermakers took a 38-29 lead to the break and spent the second half expanding the advantage.
Wilber scored 25 points for the Vikings, and Berget added 13. Senior Keenan Eisermann was held to six points on 3-for-9 shooting.
