State Basketball: Marquette, Wisconsin Lutheran, and St. Thomas More clinch state titles

MADISON — From winning a program's first-ever gold ball to snapping a multi-year hiatus, three Milwaukee area teams clinched state championships Saturday at the Kohl Center: Marquette (Division 1), Wisconsin Lutheran (Division 2), and St. Thomas More (Division 3).

Marquette Hilltoppers 84, Arrowhead 62

Partly like it's 1999.

After a record-breaking performance from the three-point line by Marquette, the Hilltoppers are back on top again with an 84-62 victory over Arrowhead.

The program's last state championship came in 1999 when Marquette was still a member of the WISAA.

Marquette set a Division 1 state tournament record with 12 three-pointers in Saturday's title game, while also finishing with 23 assists.

Senior shooting guard Nolan Minessale pace the Hilltoppers with a monster 29-point performance, while also tallying six rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.

"I'm just so proud of how these guys played from start to finish," Marquette coach Casey Kowalewski said. "We wanna play fast, share the ball, move with pace. We knew the night before that they had a long game and we emphasized our desire to play fast and get the ball moving and these guys shared the ball extremely well."

After a 13-3 run in the middle of the first half that built Marquette's lead to 11 points, Arrowhead was never able to chip away the Hilltoppers' lead to more than six.

This is Marquette's second WIAA state title in less than four months with seven Hilltoppers also apart of the school's Division 1 football championship against Franklin this past November.

"People texted us around the football team and told us, 'It's your guys' turn. Let's go get one," junior Jeremiah Johnson added.

Along with Minessale's performance, two other Hilltoppers finished in double figures: Jeremiah Johnson (14) and Cade Kohnen (10).

Arrowhead was paced by Bennett Basich's 17 points while Jace Gilbert and Sam Leoni eached added 14.

Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings 83, Pewaukee Pirates 62

For three-straight years Pewaukee single handedly kept Wisconsin Lutheran out of the state tournament with sectional final wins.

However, the Vikings got their revenge by not only snapping the Pirate's three-year reign in Division 2 with an 83-62 victory, but by also capturing the program's first gold ball since 2014.

"It's funny what God does," senior Kon Knueppel chuckled post game. "He has a sense of humor... "I think Jimmy Butler said this, but you get the same test until you pass it, so I'm glad we passed it tonight."

The Vikings controlled the pace of Saturday's championship from the tip with Zavier Zens drilling a three-pointer on their first possession.

While holding Pewaukee's Nick Janowski to only two points at the half, Wisconsin Lutheran closed out the first frame on a 22-7 run to lead by 18 points going into the break, 38-20.

"We talked before the game about the fact that we have not played our best game yet, and we felt very confident having beaten them twice before that if we played well and played our best game that we would have a positive outcome," Vikings head coach Ryan Walz smiled. "Low and behold, they came out and played the best game we have all year."

The Vikings set new WIAA State Tournament records for Division 2 with 22 assists in Saturday's game, while also shooting 34-of-50 from the field (68%).

All five of Wisconsin Lutheran's starters finishing in double digits: Logan Rindfleisch (20), Zavier Zens (16), Alex Greene (11), Isaiah Mellock (11), and Kon Knueppel (11).

Knueppel also recorded the game's only double double with 11 assists and five rebounds.

"We got taken to the woodshed today by a team that was just about perfect," Pirates head coach David Burkemper said.

The Pirates were paced by Nick Janowski and Luka Momcilovic's 13 points.

St. Thomas More Cavaliers 65, Lakeside Lutheran Warriors 54

For the first time in program history, St. Thomas More (29-1) are WIAA State Champions.

While the Cavaliers struggled finishing around the rim in the first half shooting 13-of-36 (36.1%) from the field, St. Thomas More found their rhythm after the break to beat Lakeside Lutheran 65-54.

Down 32-29 at the half, the Cavaliers rallied in the second frame with an 18-3 run sparked by Kyle Alivo. With under 10 minutes to play. the senior point guard buried a pair of triples.

"He always does the things we need him to do no matter if he's hitting shots or not," senior Sekou Konneh said post-game. "He'll always be the factor we need."

Watch: Ashley Washburn recaps St. Thomas More's victory over Lakeside Lutheran:

St. Thomas More finished the second half shooting 16-of-23 (69.6%), while 49.2% (29-59) overall.

Alivo scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half. Two Cavaliers also recorded double doubles Saturday: Konneh (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Amari McCottry (11 points, 11 rebounds).

Four scorers from Lakeside Lutheran finished in double figures: Kaycee Guzman (16), Alex Reinke (13), Wes Rahn (13), and Kooper Mlsna (10).

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