Noys basketball semifinal game

MADISON – The clock finally struck midnight for Cinderella Kiel.

After knocking off three straight top-seeded and top-10 ranked schools, the Raiders’ magical ride came to an end but not before another gallant effort. The Raiders gave No. 9-rated Maple Northwestern (also a No. 1 regional seed) all it could handle before falling, 76-71, in a Division 2 boys state basketball semifinal game in Madison’s Kohl Center Friday afternoon.

Northwestern’s Steve Tecker scored 27 points as the Tigers continually had to withstand Kiel rallies, even after star guard Brandon Gries twice left the game with an ankle injury. Joey Burris had 21 points to lead Kiel while Gries has 19. D.J. Driscoll came off the bench to pump in 15 and Peter Kraus finished with eight.

“Kiel is the scrappiest team we have faced this year," said Northwestern head coach Dan Cowley. ”Every time we started to pull away, Kiel had an answer.”

The Raiders never led in the game. However, the Tigers were never able to get much distance from Kiel either.

A Burris three-point bucket had the Raiders to within one at 60-59 with 4:35 to go. Northwestern responded – scoring the next six points to lead 66-59 as the clock ticked down to 3:08. A Driscoll triple ended that run and gave Kiel more hope but they would get no closer than three points of the Tigers down the stretch.

Northwestern would go on to Saturday’s state finals where it lost to Waukesha Catholic Memorial, 60- 48. The Tigers, the lone returning team to the Division 2 field, finished the season at 24-5.

The Raiders posted a 19-7 mark in making just the second state appearance in school history. They lost the 1974 Class B state title game to conference rival Sheboygan Falls.

A record-setting career came to an end for all-state candidate Gries. He was asked about Kiel’s postseason surge which saw them enter tournament play as a three-seed.

“It sucks to see all of the teary eyes in the locker room. But the road had to end and it had to end today,” Gries said.

Raider head coach Jamie Arenz was asked to review the game. “Despite our lack of size, we’ve been a good rebounding team but today we met our match,” Arenz said.

“The guys played their hearts out. It's sad to see this all come to an end.”

Basketball can be a strange game. When Gries went down for the first time with his twisted ankle in the first minute of the third quarter, Kiel was down by eight.

Panic time? Not this Raider team.

Burris took over and Kiel went on a run where they tied it at 42-all. Gries went down again in the fourth quarter with the Raiders trailing by seven and this time it was Driscoll, Derek Meyer and Kraus bringing the Raiders back, only to have Northwestern withstand the comeback efforts.

A taller Tiger squad enjoyed a 37-23 advantage on the boards.
Score by Quarters
Northwestern………..16 22 16 22 – 76
Kiel.……………………..13 17 22 19 – 71
Northwestern scoring: Donnie Hissa 26, Tyler Forsythe 11, Lee Brown 7, John Darwin 5, Steve Tecker 27.
Kiel scoring: Peter Kraus 8, Joey Burris 21, Brandon Gries 19, Derek Meyer 5, D.J. Driscoll 15, Tyler Schickert 3.
Three-point goals: Hissa 2, Forsythe 1, Darwin 1, Burris 6, Gries 1, Driscoll 3, Schickert 1.
Field goals: Northwestern 24-44, 55%; Kiel 27-65, 42%. Free throws: Northwestern 24-35, 69%; Kiel 6-8, 75%.
___R_e_b_o_u_nd_s_:_ N_o_r_th_w_e_s_te_r_n _3_7_, _K_ie_l _23. Turnovers: Northwestern 14, Kiel 8.