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East Troy boys advance to sectional finals

Photo

Alex Bondar puts up a shot over Madison Edgewood’s Christian Wabers during East Troy’s sectional semifinal victory.

JANESVILLE — East Troy High School’s boys basketball team threw a changeup that Madison Edgewood couldn’t deal with Friday night.

The Trojans (21-2), ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press Division 2 poll, got recognition for their outside attack all year.

Against the Crusaders (12-11), the Trojans decided to pound the ball inside to 6-foot-8 center Alex Bondar. Despite being double-teamed most of the game, Bondar scored 16 points, including 12 in a decisive first half, as East Troy beat Edgewood, 53-39, in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal at Janesville Parker.

The Trojans earn a date at 7 tonight in Sun Prairie against third-ranked and defending state champion Monroe (22-2).

“I feel relieved,” East Troy coach Darin Lottig said. “The pressure has been on us to get to this point since the buzzer sounded to end the last game last year.”

After watching Edgewood use a 12-2 run to close the first quarter with a 12-9 lead, East Troy found its rhythm in a big second quarter in which the Trojans hit eight of 10 shots to grab a 27-19 halftime advantage.

Bondar scored six short field goals in the first half, with Jory Tess assisting on five. Bondar’s biggest basket came in the final two seconds of the half. After Edgewood’s Matt Lindholm missed a three-pointer, the Trojans got the ball with less than 15 seconds on the clock. East Troy ran a well-disciplined play, with Tess feeding Bondar for the half’s final basket.

“We pretty much stink at the end of quarters,” Lottig said. “That’s only the fourth or fifth time all year we’ve scored at the end of a quarter.”

But it was a key blow this time.

“That was big,” Edgewood coach Chris Zwettler said. “The mood swing there was pretty drastic.”

Bondar said East Troy’s decision to look inside for points was a product of Edgewood’s defense.

“It was just what was open,” Bondar said.

He also had praise for Tess’ pinpoint passes.

“Jory just knows when to pass it and exactly where to pass it,” Bondar said of the well-placed lobs that put him in position for several easy finishes.

“I love to feed him,” Tess said. “He makes me look good. I see his hands and throw to the open spaces and he grabs it and scores.”

“Jory has embraced the role of having seven or eight assists per game,” Lottig said.

Tess finished with seven assists, five points and five rebounds.

Edgewood, which got a team-high 10 points from Lindholm, scored the first basket of the second half, but that was as close as the Crusaders got.

The Trojans led by as many as 18 points, 49-31, as Allan Loth scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. East Troy made just 13 of 22 fourth-quarter free throws, but Edgewood, which made just 15 of 45 shots, hit only 7 of 21 in the final quarter and was unable to rally.

The shaky free-throw shooting troubled Lottig as his team prepares for a sectional title game and hopes of East Troy’s first trip to the state tournament since 1989.

“Our free-throw shooting was terrible,” he said. “We’re not going to state shooting free throws like that.”

EAST TROY 53, EDGEWOOD 39

Edgewood (39)—J. Lindholm, 2-0-5; Meloy, 1-0-3; M. Lindholm, 4-1-10; Braucht, 2-2-6; Minnaert, 0-1-1; Fox, 2-0-5; Longley, 2-0-4. Totals: 15-4-39.

East Troy (53)—Tess, 0-5-5; Jones, 3-2-9; Manschot, 1-1-3; Loth, 5-6-17; Bondar, 8-0-16; Douglas, 1-1-4. Totals: 16-14-53

Edgewood 12 7 4 16—39

East Troy 9 18 9 17—53

Three-point goals—Edgewood 4 (J. Lindholm, Meloy, M. Lindholm, Fox), East Troy 3 (Jones, Loth, Douglas). Free throws missed—Edgewood 2, East Troy 9. Total fouls—Edgewood 21, East Troy 13.

n Monroe 45, Wisconsin Dells 25—The defending Division 2 champion Cheesemakers cruised to the sectional semifinal win.

Monroe will play top-ranked East Troy today at 7 p.m. at Sun Prairie.

Mitch Tordoff paced the Cheesemakers with 13 points, and Tony Cates added 11.

MONROE 45, WISCONSIN DELLS 25

Wisconsin Dells (25)—Royston, 7; Gibson, 4; Field, 2; Buesing, 2; Wenkman, 10. Totals: 9-4-25.

Monroe (45)—McArdle, 9; Stangel, 7; M. Tordorff, 13; Cates, 11; Turek, 1. Totals: 16-9-45.

Wisconsin Dells 4 9 5 7—25

Monroe 10 13 9 13—45

Three-point goals—Wisconsin Dells 3 (Wenkman 2, Royston), Monroe 3 (McArdle 2, Tordoff). Free throws missed—Monroe 5. Total fouls—Wisconsin Dells 18, Monroe 9.