No. 1-seeded Seymour Thunder advanced past the No. 4-seeded St. Croix Central Panthers Thursday at the Kohl Center, pushing them to the WIAA Division 3 title game.
The Thunder made the trip to State for the first time since 2011. They are potentially returning to the peak of the program in the early 2000’s when they won the Division 2 title in 1997, 2001, and 2006. Seymour was also a runner-up in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
This was only the second ever State appearance for St. Croix, with their last trip ending in a semifinal loss in 2021.
Thunder Senior Kyler Marks led the team in Points per game with 20.6 and rebounds per game with 9.3. Junior Isaac Feske also averaged 15.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG.
Meanwhile, Panthers’ Senior Matayas Larson led the team in scoring with 13.9 PPG. His teammate, Senior Tanner Grinnell averaged12.2 PPG and 7.6 RPG.
First Half – Stormin’ Threes
The Panthers won the tip-off, scoring the first points with a three-pointer from Grinnell.
The Thunder responded at a pace, with good ball movement, eventually scoring a three-pointer to tie it.
St. Croix had early offensive slumps with a steal from the Thunder, but kept it tight, shooting 3/4 from beyond the arc within the first eight minutes. By the midway point of the first half, both teams shot a combined 7/10 from beyond the line.
The Panthers’ defense began to stretch a little thin during the half. However, they kept it close, trailing 20-22 at the six-minute mark. As the half started to wind down, both teams concentrated on attacking the paint after shots from behind the arc started to dry up.
Due to St. Croix making 1/4 threes while the Thunder had gone ice cold, shooting 0/4 beyond the line.
The half ended after the Panthers got a late steal, which almost led to a buzzer-beater, but the shot missed. The first period ended with a 29-25 Thunder advantage. Grinnell led the Panthers with 10 points, while Feske from Seymour had nine points at the half.
Second Half – Kyler Mark’s court
Seymour started the second half hot with a deep three from Jordan Krause. The Panthers quickly bounced back with a 2 and 1. After another layup from Seymour, both squads fell into a slump, not scoring a bucket for three minutes. The stint snapped as the Thunder made a layup, which was responded to by a three from St. Croix. Both offensives rebounded, trading bucket after bucket. Two pass interceptions from Kyler Marks resulted in fast-break layups for the Thunder, leading them to a 44-33 lead with 13 minutes to play.
The Panthers struggled to score out of a timeout, while Kyler Marks extended the Thunder’s lead when he struck again with a three-pointer.
By the midway point of the half, the Thunder led by 14. The St. Croix students still cheered and heckled loudly with every possession, despite the deficit. A two-minute cold streak loomed for the Panthers that couldn’t be snapped after two missed free throws from Braden Pierce of St. Croix, who also had a failed layup that was stopped by the Thunder’s Marks.
After another timeout, Marks scored a layup in the paint with little to no resistance. The lead grew to 61-41 after a Jordan Krause layup.
The Panthers began to pressure the Thunder as time started to wind down. Seymour chewed the clock down, taking advantage of the no-shot clock rule in WIAA high school basketball.
The Panthers tried to score quickly, but there wasn’t enough time. The clock struck zero as the Thunder moved on to the title game after a 67-49 blowout.
Coming Up:
Seymour will now move on to face the winner of Lake Mills vs. Racine St. Catherine’s with a chance at its first title in 20 years.