Storm 26-0, on to Div. 4 sectional

Kewaunee showed no signs of rust in its first game in eight days last Friday, a 73-44 win over visiting Manawa in a WIAA Div. 4 regional semifinal.

The Storm followed that with their 26th win in a row, 71-60 over Saint Mary’s Catholic Saturday night in the regional championship at Kewaunee.

Senior guard Avery Jerabek had 21 points and sophomore guard Diesel Bosdeck 20 for the Storm in their knockout win over the Zephyrs.

“We take it one game at a time, but this is what we’ve been looking for,” said Jerabek. “We knew the energy was going to be huge in here, and we love it. We live for stuff like this, and we got it done tonight.”

Up next for the Storm, two-seed Bonduel Thursday at Kaukauna (after our deadline), a Bears team Kewaunee beat 81-77 at home earlier this season.

Coach Bosdeck had this take: “It’s going to be extremely difficult. Everybody’s going to have to play great defense to come out of there with a win. I told the boys at the start of the playoffs, 24-0 doesn’t mean anything. All that matters is one game at a time, and every day we need to get better. We did that the last game, we did that today, and we just need to keep doing it.”

Thursday’s semifinal winner will play Saturday at D.C. Everest vs. the winner of top-seed Marathon vs. two-seed Hurley.

Second-seed Bonduel advanced by hammering Oconto 82-40 in a regional semifinal, and edging three-seed Iola-Scandinavia 70-65 in the regional title game.

After cruising past Manawa Friday night, Kewaunee had a tougher battle against Saint Mary’s, leading by just four at the half, 27-23.

The Storm broke things open in the final 18 minutes, hitting threes, buckets inside and free throws — 19-of-22 in the second half, and 23-of-28 overall.
Bosdeck, the player, showed a lot of emotion after burying back-to-back three-pointers, part of a 19-4 run to extend the lead to 46-27 with 12 minutes left in the game.

“It’s a feeling like, you don’t get that ever, other than in high school sports,” said Bosdeck, who had four triples on the night.

Dane Harrell added 10 points, Connor Kilgore nine, Mason Kovacs seven and Evan Maccoux and Baylor Elliot each two. For the Zephyrs, junior guard Luke Fairweather scored 18, senior Mason Uhlenbrauck 17 and sophomore guard Dylan Brenn 16.

While Kilgore had an off night shooting, he led the team in rebounds (nine) and steals (four), and added a blocked shot and an assist. Harrell had eight rebounds and four assists, Bosdeck and Jerabek each six boards, and Kovacs five rebounds and three assists.

“That’s the best part about them,” said Coach Bosdeck. “If one guy’s struggling on shooting, it’s no big deal. Just work hard on defense, and take care of all those little things. Be a good passer. Be a good teammate. And they all are, every game, and that’s what’s got us here.”

In the blowout win over Manawa, Evan Maccoux had four three-pointers and 14 points, Kilgore and Jerabek each 13 points, Harrell 11, Bosdeck nine, Kovacs six, Elliot four and Calvin Kolmorgen three.