The No. 2-seeded Racine St. Catherine’s Angels defeated the No. 1-seeded Lake Mills L-Cats 72-66 Thursday in the semifinals of the WIAA Division 3 Boys Basketball Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Before Madison
This matchup marked the Angels’ eighth State appearance and the first time since their state title in 2021. This is the second season in a row and fourth overall for the L-Cats.
Notable players include the Angels’ Lamont Hamilton, who is a 3-star wide receiver commit with the Minnesota Gophers. He averaged 26 points per game this season. His teammate and quarterback, Senior EJ Vinson, has averaged 12 PPG.
On the other side of the court, Junior Tyler Wollin leads the L-Cats with 18.1 PPG, 7.7 rebounds per game and 7.1 assists per game. He is the top-ranked quarterback for the Class of 2027 in Wisconsin and has an offer from South Dakota.
First Half – You Get a Foul, You Get a Foul, and You Get a Foul
The L-Cats won the opening tip-off that resulted in a missed three from Brady Benish. Eventually, Tyler Wollin scored the first bucket of the game with a tight layup. The game paused as an attempted three from Lake Mills led to the ball being jammed between the rim and backboard.
The Angels dealt with a drought in the first five minutes, which fueled the L-Cats’ overwhelming crowd compared to the Angels’ small crowd.
Vinson broke the streak for the Angels with a three. Then, a steal from Racine St. Catherines led to a Vinson fastbreak layup.
After a timeout, Angels’ AC Contreas Ward got a steal; however, the Angels failed to capitalize on it and shot an air-ball three. Lake Mills was able to score on a fast break layup from Benish as Contreas Ward attempted to intercept the pass by diving backwards.
The score was 14-12 with a Lake Mills lead at the midway point of the half. Antonie Ozier from Racine St. Catherines was able to take a one-point lead with a three-pointer. Racine St. Catherine’s star, Hamilton, broke the ankles of Lake Mills’ Collin Christian as he slid out of bounds. However, Hamilton missed the net on the following shot attempt.
After another timeout, Vinson made an and-1 layup. As the period started to wind down, Lake Mills had a 22-18 lead.
Here Come the Fouls
Ashton Winger from Lake Mills got fouled pretty hard in a layup attempt. Tyler Wollin would also get fouled again in a layup attempt. Marking the Angels’ fourth foul of the game.
Vinson joined the foul party after a charging foul. Then, Hamilton got penalized for a reach-in foul. Giving Racine St. Catherine’s their sixth team foul in 16 minutes. Even after the timeout, Angels’ Ja’Nyus Lockridge fouled Winger during his layup attempt.
Despite Lake Mills having six free throw attempts in total, they were only able to make two. Karmelo Hunter from Racine St. Catherine’s attempted a steal but kicked the ball with his foot while scrambling for it, leading to possession back to Lake Mills.
Lake Mills’ Benish had an injury scare before the end of the first half with a non-contact ankle injury. He walked back to the bench with the help of his coaching staff.
As the buzzer went off, the Lake Mills student crowd booed loudly at Racine St. Catherine’s as Antoine Ozier laid a hit on L-Cat’s Christian’s layup attempt.
The score remained 34-28 Lake Mills despite the foul issues for the Angels. Vinson led the Angels in the first half with 12 points, and Benish paced the L-Cats with 17 points, 15 coming from hitting 5/9 from beyond the arc.
Second Half – A Foul for a Foul
The Angels started to ramp up the defensive pressure during the L-Cats’ inbounds. Winger was slammed into the stanchion on a layup attempt, resulting in a foul. During a steal attempt later, Contreas Ward got whistled for pushing down Christian.
After a timeout, Antoine Ozier picked up his third foul, adding 10 fouls total for the Angels. During a layup attempt by Christian, Angels’ Hamilton fouled him for his second of the game. Then, after Vinson was fouled, he tied the game at 39 apiece after splitting the pair of free throws. Hamilton proceeded to take the lead for the Angels by splitting two defenders for a layup.
During a L-Cats inbound, a holding penalty was called, which allowed the Angels to take back possession and score one out of two free throws by Hamilton to extend the lead 42-39.
As the middle of the half approached, the pressure and tempo did not let up, making almost every possession result in a foul. Both teams struggled to score and relied on scoring from the free-throw line. By the nine-minute mark, the Angels led 51-41. Each team combined for 13 fouls, seven from Racine St. Catherine’s and six from Lake Mills.
Both teams remained physical as players from both sides of the court continued to fall on the ground and bump into each other. By the six-minute mark, the Angels still led 55-48 in the contest.
Each team started to exchange layups, making both of the student sections rowdier. At one point in the game, Benish was able to return to the court from his injury earlier. He scored a wide-open three to get the game to a 10-point margin.
By 2:30 minute mark, Brady Benish made his eighth three-pointer of the night, putting him two threes away from tying the D-III tournament record. With 37 seconds to go, Contreas Ward scored an and-1 layup, extending the score to 70-63. However, Lake Mills’ Tyler Wollin made a three-pointer to shrink the margin to 70-66. Contreas Ward made the game-sealing layup to end the game 72-66.
Coming Up:
Racine St. Catherine will now take on Seymour on Saturday for the Division III title. Their 12 steals may have been the x-factor for the win despite the 17 fouls committed.