Last year’s runner-up, the No. 1-seeded Bonduel Bears, fell to the No.4-seeded Cambridge Blue Jays. This was new territory for the Blue Jays; it was their first-ever appearance and win in the State tournament.
Before Madison
The Bear’s Junior guard Quinn Wesenberg led the team this season, scoring 19.5 points per game alongside Senior center and Western Michigan Football commit Ryan Westrich, who has averaged a double-double with 17.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest.
The Blue Jays have been led by their Senior Cal Nottestad, who came into the night averaging 11.4 points per game.
First Half – Rebound Me If You Can
The first points were scored by the Bears’ Jack Zernicke with a layup. The Blue Jays broke an early drought with a sneaky layup after a 6-0 run in six minutes.
Near the midway through the first half, Bonduel had accumulated 12 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds. The Bears did struggle early on with ball control, turning over the ball five times. By the four-minute mark, the Blue Jays took the lead 20-17. While being outrebounded, they were able to share the ball with eight assists.
By the end of the period, Cambridge led 26-22. The eight turnovers and 3 steals had impacted the Bears’ effectiveness on offense. Ian Nelles of Cambridge paced the team with eight points in the half while Quinn Wesenberg and Jack Zernicke tied with five points for the Bears. In addition, Ryan Westrich recorded 11 rebounds, with five of them being on the offensive glass.
In total, the Bears had 21 rebounds compared to the Blue Jays’ 15.
Second Half – All Gas, No Brakes
The second half opened with a fadeaway three from Cambridge’s Jett Horton, pushing the lead to 22-29. Jack Zernicke answered with a deep three on the other end.
The Blue Jays went on an 8-1 run within the first four minutes of the half. The run extended to 11-1 after an and-1 from Oscar Brown. Nottestad grew the lead to 43-26 right before Bonduel’s Westrich snapped the drought with a second-chance bucket.
At the midway point of the half, the Blue Jays had a comfortable 52-33 lead. The Bears failed to resolve their ball-handling issues, leading to nine second-half turnovers, which was more than the entirety of the first half.
As the clock ticked down, the score remained distant, with a gap of 59-43. Cambridge slowly began to chew the clock to maintain its lead. At the end of regulation, the Blue Jays secured their first-ever win in the semifinals in school history with a dominant 71-49 win over last year’s runners-up.
Coming Up:
The Blue Jays will take on Milwaukee Juneau in the title game. It will be a chance to secure their first-ever title in school history, for what is already a historic season for Coach Alex Renney and his team.