LUTHERAN’S BASKETBALL TEAM is headed to the state tournament Friday in Madison. The Crusaders beat Almond-Bancroft on Saturday night to get there. – Submitted photo

There’s a whole bunch of reasons Lutheran’s boys basketball team is going to the state tournament.

Just ask coach Nick Verhagen.

He lists chemistry, cohesiveness, focus on defense, selflessness on offense, a team-first mentality and a we-over-me attitude as to why his squad gets to face Abundant Life in a Division 5 semifinal at approximately 10:45 a.m. Friday at the Kohl Center in Madison.

“I think what helps is the history of the program and the culture of the program breeds an attitude and a work ethic of nothing but excellence,” he said. “We have alumni that are so ingrained with the betterment of our program, and families, and that in turn makes these guys really hungry to feel what (going to state) feels like. 

“I know what it feels and looks like because I’ve been there before, but Andrew Krueger doesn’t. You know? He hasn’t been there. He hears about it. He was there as a fan and he really understood this is his last run at it.

“And last night showed that. I mean, he was so impactful offensively and defensively. He had just a will to win and get himself and his whole crew there.”

To get to state for the fourth time in school history, Lutheran defeated Almond-Bancroft, 67-37, Saturday night in a sectional final at Pulaski.

Krueger finished with a game-high 21 points, Zach Leonhard added 17 and Brennen Hackbarth chipped in with 12.

“So in the past, we’ve had high-level offensively-skilled alphas in Sam (Dekker) and J.O. (Jacob Ognacevic) and Casey (Verhagen) and others,” the coach added. “This year we don’t. You don’t know who’s going to be the highest scorer. You don’t know who’s going to be the most impactful guy. 

“Whereas in years past, you could kind of check the box. J.O. is going to score 25 or Sam is going to score 25. And now you don’t know that. You look at the box scores and it varies so much.”

For example, Marion Boyland was Lutheran’s lone first-team all-Big East Conference South Division pick, and he had five points against Almond-Bancroft.

But Friday in a sectional semifinal win, he led the Crusaders with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Blame the computer

The WIAA uses a computer formula to re-seed the schools that reach state.

On Sunday morning, Lutheran was seeded second, despite being ranked No. 2 in the final state coaches’ poll.

The No. 1 seed went to Cochrane-Fountain City, which was ranked eighth.

To make matters worse, the Crusaders’ sectional final opponent, Almond-Bancroft, was ranked ninth in the state.

The Pirates’ opponent on Saturday was not even in the poll.

“There’s a handful of other teams that probably feel one way or another about how the seedings are done,” Verhagen said. “I only know seedings being done by conversation and negotiation and kind of proving your worth. And I’ll just say that we weren’t provided the opportunities to do that.

“I trust that with our resume I would have had a good argument for the one seed, given the strength of schedule. The losses are the losses, but I think that’s what you focus on right now. Our losses are against really solid competition. I think what matters is at this time of year, those losses and the strength of schedule and the wins that we have against really good opponents.”

Lutheran is 24-4, with two losses against Koehler by a total of just four points. The Crusaders lost at Howards Grove by five and at Laconia by seven.

Those three teams finished with a combined record of 63-13.

Cochrane-Fountain City is 26-2, but the losses were to Arcadia (13-12 record) and Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (16-9).

If the seeds hold true, Lutheran and CFC would play for the state championship at 11:05 a.m. Saturday.

SCHEDULE

State Boys Basketball Tournament
Thursday-Saturday

Kohl Center, Madison

DIVISION 5
Friday
#1 Cochrane-Fountain City (26-2) vs. #4 Turtle Lake (21-5) – 9:05 a.m.

#2 Sheboygan Lutheran (24-4) vs. #3 Abundant Life Christian (23-6) – 10:45

Saturday
Semifinal winners – 11:05 a.m.

DIVISION 1
Friday

#1 Wisconsin Lutheran (26-2) vs. #4 Oshkosh North (19-9) – 6:35 p.m.
#2 Waunakee (23-5) vs. #3 Marshfield (22-6) – 8:05

Saturday

Semifinal winners – 8:10 p.m.

DIVISION 2
Friday

#1 Racine Park (26-2) vs. #4 Cedarburg (20-8) – 1:35 p.m.
#2 Wauwatosa West (22-6) vs. #3 Wausau East (20-7) – 3 p.m.

Saturday

Semifinal winners – 6:35 p.m.

DIVISION 3
Thursday

#1 Freedom (27-1) vs. #4 Elk Mound (24-4) – 1:35 p.m.
#2 Milwaukee Academy of Science (23-1) vs. #3 Lake Mills (24-4) – 3 p.m.

Saturday
Semifinal winners – 2:05 p.m.

of Game-1 vs. Winner of Game-2 – 15 mins. following Div. 4 final

DIVISION 4
Semifinals 

Game-1:  #1 Bonduel (27-1) vs. #4 The Prairie School (14-15) – 6:35 p.m.
Game-2:  #2 Mineral Point (27-1) vs. #3 Aquinas (24-3) – 15 mins. folllowing Game-1
Saturday

Semifinal winners – 12:40 p.m.