Division 5 State Tournament Recap

<p><strong>LA CROSSE --   </strong>In a new format, the entire Division 5 state tournament was played on Thursday, featuring semifinal play in the morning followed by the title game at 7 p.m.  After surviving a bit of a scare in the semifinals, Hustisford put on a show in the state championship game, cruising to a blowout victory to take home the gold ball...</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Alex Eggleston - 2021 - PF - Hustisford</strong></p> <p>Eggleston owned the paint on both ends during Thursday’s win over Wauzeka-Steuben. The senior forward had 19 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Going a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, Eggleston caught in traffic and scored  at will around the rim. A 6-foot-7, lanky forward that can move, Eggleston was blocking and altering shots all game long. Scoring 10 points in the second half, the Falcons opened up a double-digit lead behind Eggelston’s flurry.  As good as he was in the semifinals, Eggleston was even better in the title game. He finished with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 13 in the first half as Hustisford put the game away early. Eggleston also grabbed 11 rebounds and tied a state tournament record with seven rebounds.</p> <p><strong>Logan Hughes - 2021 - G - McDonell Central Catholic</strong></p> <p>A solid, all-around player, Hughes plays on and off the ball for Central, able to impact the game as both a scorer and facilitator.  The senior guard has a smooth and sweet stroke from beyond the arc, can break people down off the dribble, and pushes the pace/sees the floor in transition. In the second half, Hughes helped break the game open with a couple dribble drives to the rim, showing the ability to finish with his left and dump the ball off to his bigs for easy buckets. Hughes would finish with 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the semifinals. In the championship game loss to Hustisford, Hughes had a team-high 12 points, hitting some tough shots off the bounce.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="764119" first="Dylan" last="Kuehl"] - 2021 - F - Hustisford</p> <p>Wauzeka-Steuben had a good game plan against Kuehl, playing him with a guard, sitting a help defender in the paint, and sending a double team if Kuehl caught in the post. For most of the first half, it kept the Northern Michigan commit in check.  However, Kuehl was able to get some transition buckets in the second half and Hustisford never looked back. Kuehl finished with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 10 rebounds. As usual, Kuehl had a couple of big plays above the rim. The 6-foot-5 senior did an excellent job of playing in traffic against a loaded paint, maneuvering around defenders  with his footwork, kicking out to open 3-point shooters, or dumping the ball inside in the high-low game. Down the stretch, Kuehl served as an extra ball handler and once the Hornets had to guard him on the arc and couldn’t sag in the paint,  he really took advantage. Kuehl went to put on a show in the championship game win over McDonnel Central Catholic.  He dropped 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks in a rout.  Kuehl also dazzled the crowd with a whopping seven dunks.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="de">Northern Michigan commit [player_tooltip player_id="764119" first="Dylan" last="Kuehl"] with the steal and slam.<a href="https://twitter.com/DylanKuehl1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DylanKuehl1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wisbb?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wisbb</a> <a href="https://t.co/pZxdYGBYFM">pic.twitter.com/pZxdYGBYFM</a></p> — Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) <a href="https://twitter.com/Evan_Flood/status/1367509823659638789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="879992" first="Gavin" last="Ralph"] - 2021 - SF - Wauzeka-Steuben</p> <p>Ralph was very patient, but effective offensively. Arguably his biggest contribution in the first half against Hustisford was getting Kuehl three fouls and forcing the Hustisford star to dial down his aggressiveness. Ralph finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting --  numbers that are skewed a bit as Ralph needed to take more shots with Hustisford pulling away down the stretch. The senior wing did a little bit of everything on Thursday, tallying six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. Playing poised and under control through the game, no matter the time and score, Ralph gave 33 really good minutes in his last game as a Hornet. Ralph will take his talents to Upper Iowa next season.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Upper Iowa commit [player_tooltip player_id="879992" first="Gavin" last="Ralph"] had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in the Division 5 semifinals.<a href="https://twitter.com/GavinRalph3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GavinRalph3</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wisbb?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wisbb</a> <a href="https://t.co/UAXuuTZYoD">pic.twitter.com/UAXuuTZYoD</a></p> — Prep Hoops Wisconsin (@PrepHoops_WI) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepHoops_WI/status/1367524932029153280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Tristian Lynch - 2023 - F - NEW Lutheran</strong></p> <p>Lynch did a fantastic job all game long of playing vertical and protecting the rim. The 6-foot-6 sophomore has some length and gets off the ground quickly to block/alter shots. Offensively, Lynch caught the ball in some difficult areas, but was able to stay composed and finish at the rim in traffic. By the end of the first half, Lynch was already flirting with a double-double, posting eight points and eight rebounds.  He would finish with 10 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in a loss to McDonell Central Catholic.</p> <p><strong>Jake  Siegenthaler - 2021 - G - McDonell Central Catholic</strong></p> <p>Siegenthaler stepped up and made timely shots for the Macks, including a 3-pointer that opened the lead up to 10 points early in the second half followed by a steal and scored that pushed the lead to 14. During Central’s 16-1 run between the first and second halves,  Siegenthaler scored 11 of those points, including three-straight triples.  Siegenthaler just never cooled off, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a semifinal win over N.E.W. Lutheran. He also tallied six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. </p> <p><strong>RESULTS</strong></p> <p>Semifinals</p> <p>Hustisford 65 Wauzeka-Steuben 53</p> <p>McDonell Central Catholic 67 N.E.W. Lutheran 40</p> <p>State Championship Game</p> <p>Hustisford  69 McDonell Central Cathlic 35</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>