D4 Championship: Juneau seals a historic season in Madison

It is championship Saturday in Madison, and fans got their money's worth with the division four state championship in the second game of session one. Cambridge continued their Cinderella Postseason run when they upset #1 seeded Bonduel on Thursday Night at the Kohl Center. To the surprise to some fans in the building, the Blue Jays led in the first half over the heavily favored Pioneers. Cambridge runs a five out motion offensive system and had a hard time reversing the basketball throughout the game. Head Coach Alex Ranney made an adjustment after a media timeout, demanding that his team look for backdoor cuts, slips, and curls to neutralize the pressure defense of Juneau. "It is difficult to reverse the basketball, so we had to look back door. We had a lot of turnovers, but it was a big reason why were in the game," Blue Jay coach Alex Ranney said. Because of some hot shooting, and executing the game plan, Cambridge took a 32-30 lead into the halftime intermission.   Prolific junior and Gonzaga commit [player_tooltip player_id='2194315' first='Dooney' last='Johnson'] was nothing short of flawless in the first half, as he filled up the scoring stat sheet with 19 points. Johnson hit step-back threes, attacked the basket relentlessly downhill, and played with a high level of confidence throughout this game. [player_tooltip player_id='2758142' first='Jett' last='Horton'], who left the game early due to an injury, returned the game with a sense of urgency and finished the first half with 11 points.   Out of the half, Torre Johnson's Juneau squad turned up the pressure defensively forcing several live ball turnovers that lead to easy run-out buckets for the Pioneers. From the 16:04- 10:54 mark Cambridge struggled with this pressure and had five turnovers. The Blue Jays finished with 19 turnovers, simply too many to upset a juggernaut like Milwaukee Juneau in the state title. This game of course came with some controversy, as Juneau opted to hold the ball at half court for three minutes and 30 seconds to shorten the game up and control the pace of the contest. Milwaukee Juneau played six players over 20 minutes and the stall allowed for their main contributors to rest on the offensive end and take away the momentum from a pesky Cambridge squad. [player_tooltip player_id='2400094' first='Jaden' last='Hardiman'] showcased his out of this world athletic ability slamming down several thunderous dunks and coming up clutch with timely free throw makes to ice out the game. Hardiman finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds.   [player_tooltip player_id='2194315' first='Dooney' last='Johnson'] led the scoring efforts finishing the game with 23 points and 7 rebounds for Milwaukee Juneau, while [player_tooltip player_id='2758142' first='Jett' last='Horton'] finished his career with 14 points for Cambridge.   This year's state run for Cambridge was their first in their program's history, and finished the year with a record of 20-9. Milwaukee Juneau earned their first state tournament title in the school history by finishing the year 28-1 and sealing their spot in the history books. The title victory was the first for a Milwaukee Public School since 2004.   Box Score:   Milwaukee Juneau (28+34=62)   Johnson 23, Tyler 7, Dennis 7, Collins 6, Hardiman 17, Ceballos 2. FT's 13-18. 3FG: 3-9. Players Fouled Out: None.   Cambridge (30+24= 54)   Horton 14, Harbort 11, Nottestad 7, Crawford 8, Brown 6, Baker 8. FT's 9-11. 3FG: 5-15. Players Fouled Out: Horton

It is championship Saturday in Madison, and fans got their money's worth with the division four state championship in the second game of session one. Cambridge continued their Cinderella Postseason run when they upset #1 seeded Bonduel on Thursday Night at the Kohl Center. To the surprise to some fans in the building, the Blue Jays led in the first half over the heavily favored Pioneers. Cambridge runs a five out motion offensive system and had a hard time reversing the basketball throughout the game. Head Coach Alex Ranney made an adjustment after a media timeout, demanding that his team look for backdoor cuts, slips, and curls to neutralize the pressure defense of Juneau. "It is difficult to reverse the basketball, so we had to look back door. We had a lot of turnovers, but it was a big reason why were in the game," Blue Jay coach Alex Ranney said. Because of some hot shooting, and executing the game plan, Cambridge took a 32-30 lead into the halftime intermission.