What can Milwaukee Washington do to Dethrone the Nicolet Superteam?
It’s not often Nicolet looks beatable on the basketball court. So when it happens, it’s telling. It was a brief span of basketball, but when Nicolet drew Kaukauna in the second round of sectionals, the Ghosts would engineer a 17-8…
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Continue ReadingIt’s not often Nicolet looks beatable on the basketball court. So when it happens, it’s telling.
It was a brief span of basketball, but when Nicolet drew Kaukauna in the second round of sectionals, the Ghosts would engineer a 17-8 lead early on.
Yes, Nicolet would ultimately regain their footing, and the lead, but that run gave us the closest thing to a framework for toppling the Knights. So, in preparation for tonight’s title clash with Nicolet and Milwaukee Washington, I caught up with Kaukauna guard, Keaton Ferris to ask him what they did to hit the ground running in their sectional matchup.
Me: You guys played Nicolet really tough early on and it was really the only time that Nicolet wasn’t in the driver’s seat in a game this year. What did you do to combat their star power?
Ferris: We were pretty sharp early on, hitting a few shots to get things started. We used a packed 1-3-1 to contain their athleticism and not let them get to the rim. We knew they were a great team so we really had to execute our plan.
Me: The other thing I noticed was how well you shot the ball, you and Logan particularly. Do you think your style of play affected them at all?
Ferris: We had a very hot start, but then we struggled shooting the ball early in the 2nd half, which did cost us…I was very proud of our team for playing with so much heart against such a great team.
Me: If you played this game again, what would you do differently?
Ferris: Nothing. I think coach Schalow had a great game plan coming into the game. Obviously hitting more shots would’ve been great, but we can’t control that.
So, how can we apply an eight minute snippet to the Nicolet, Milwaukee Washington title game today? (First, to get this out of the way, I’m au courant with high school basketball, I know Kaukauna and Milwaukee Washington are vastly different. But, that’s not to say they can’t follow the same path, or same principles when playing the Knights)
In line with Ferris’ comments, Milwaukee Washington is going to have to connect on some outside shots as Kaukauna did early on. That’ll be atypical for them offensively, but Nicolet’s size will throw a wrench in their paint style basketball. Nicolet extends their zone pretty far out too, and they occasional press full court, so they’ll have to be patient waiting for an avenue to either shoot or create for teammates.
Equally as important, and Milwaukee Washington can follow this to a tee, is how they go about defending the do-it-all Nicolet offense. If we’re sticking to Kaukauna template, Milwaukee Washington will need to bait the outside shot, ideally with a zone look. When Kaukauna compressed their 1-3-1, they also cut off creases and driving lanes. Now, Jalen Johnson won’t start the game 1-7, but if you keep him out of the paint and prevent him from facilitating then you’ve done enough on that end.
Lastly, and this probably goes without saying, is that you need to play to your best basketball. Milwaukee Washington is a great team, but extended scoring droughts, like Kaukauna in the second half, will put you in a quicksand of Nicolet dunks and a whole lot of Jalen Johnson.