The Aquinas High School basketball team brought home a WIAA Division 4 state championship this season, and Caledonia tore through the competition on the way to the MSHSL Class AA state tournament, where they finished fourth.
It was an interesting season that included breakthrough performances from teams like Holmen, which tied the Blugolds for the MVC championship in a ridiculously competitive conference season that ended with four teams within one game of each other.
West Salem continued its dominance in the Coulee, and Luther pushed around a number of teams with another big season.
This all brings about the All-Couleesports.com boys basketball teams, which weren’t anticipated to be a thing until our minds were changed … because they needed to be done.
Coaches did not have input on these selections, but that could very well change when this continues next season. Players were selected from our site’s collection of featured schools — Aquinas, Central, Logan, Holmen, Onalaska, Luther, West Salem, Arcadia and Caledonia.
There weren’t a lot of tricky decisions with the first team because coaches seemed to be right on the money with the players of the year they selected in the MVC and Coulee — West Salem’s Kyle Hehli and Onalaska’s Ian Kowal were tough to deny — and Caledonia was sparked by what was truly a three-headed monster with Mason King, Reid Klug and Garrett Konz.
It got tougher after that, but the importance of having the teams outweighs the difficulty of the decisions made.
Without further ado, here are one person’s thoughts on the top boys basketball players of the season.
FIRST TEAM
(Alphabetical order)
KYLE HEHLI, sr., West Salem: A 6-foot guard who helped the Panthers (20-7) win another conference title and advance to the WIAA Division 2 sectional finals. … Averaged 21.0 points and made 75 3-pointers as one of the most dangerous scorers in the area. … Averaged 5.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals. … Scored at least 29 points in four games and was held without a 3-point field goal just twice. … Averaged 23.5 ppg in the postseason and 29.5 in two wins over second-place Luther.
MASON KING, sr., Caledonia: A 5-11 guard who was a threat from anywhere on the court for the Warriors, who went 29-4 and placed fourth in the MSHSL Class AA state tournament. … Averaged 18.2 points per game and shot 45 percent from the floor. … Also averaged 3.4 rebounds and made 86 percent of his free throws. … Scored a season-high 38 points in a win over Maple River and scored 40 points in three state games with 20 in a semifinal loss to Albany.
REID KLUG, sr., Caledonia: A 6-4 guard who averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds in three MSHSL Class AA state games. … Helped Caledonia go 29-4 and beat West Salem twice during the regular season. … Averaged 16.5 points during the season and made 57 percent of his shots. … Ranked second in the team with 6.9 rebounds per game and scored at least 20 points nine times. … Scored 27 points in a high-profile win over Mount Horeb at the Midwest Players Classic in La Crosse.
GARRETT KONZ, sr., Caledonia: A 6-6 forward who can score points in bunches while part of a balanced offense. … Averaged 15.4 points and tied for second on the team with his average of 6.9 rebounds per game. … Shot 50 percent from the floor and made 67 percent of his free throws. … Played key role with 21 points in state quarterfinal win over Minnehaha Academy and scored 27 points in one win over West Salem.
IAN KOWAL, jr., Onalaska: A 6-3 guard with a complete game for the Hilltoppers (19-8), who tied for third in the MVC one game behind co-champs Aquinas and Holmen. … Averaged a team-high 15.9 points per game and scored at least 20 in four of the final six games. … Scored 20 points n a win over the Blugolds and had 15 when Onalaska beat Caledonia. … Averaged 20.7 points in the postseason, which ended with an overtime loss to West Salem.
HONORABLE MENTION
(Alphabetical order)
Calvin Bahr, so., Aquinas; Trey Bahr, sr., Aquinas; Logan Becker, jr., Aquinas; Synclair Byus, sr., Luther; Nathan Dillaber, r., West Salem; Keenan Eisermann, sr., Holmen; Will Huelskamp, sr., Luther; Gabe Servais, so., Central; Broden Steiner, sr., Onalaska; Kaiden Wilber, sr., Holmen.
