Four teams advanced to the finals at the 2014 State Boys Basketball Tournament Thursday with their victories in the semifinal round at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Two-time defending champion Dominican (24-3) advanced to the Division 4 championship game with a 78-47 win over Brillion in its semifinal tilt.
Diamond Stone score 18 of his game-high 30 points in the first half to lead the Knights. Dominican took control of the game with a 16-0 run that began at the 3:46 mark of the first quarter and extended to the 5:56 point of the second quarter.
Stone also posted 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Tywon Bressler contributed 16 points, and Jack Jelacic recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Knights. Tyler Lemke led the Lions scoring attack with 17 points.
Dominican shot 52 percent from the field and held a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint and a 13-2 edge in fast-break points. The Lions were held to 32 percent shooting for the game.
Blair-Taylor (23-3) advanced to the final following a 47-32 win over Unity in its semifinal. The Wildcats took advantage on an early scoring run to take a 21-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter and never trailed.
The closest the Eagles would get in the second half was seven points at 35-28 with 3:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, the Wildcats scored the game’s next six points to squelch any hopes of an Eagles’ comeback.
Unity was victim of a cold shooting hand, converting on just 27 percent of its field goals for the game, and the Wildcats held a 12-0 advantage in points on turnovers. Dalton Soto led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points, and Simeon Pooler and Brett Ladsten added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Unity was led in scoring by Zak Johnson with nine points.
Dominican will play for its third straight championship against Blair-Taylor Saturday 12:45 p.m.
In Division 5, Green Bay N.E.W Lutheran ran its record to 27-1 with a 77-63 win over Sheboygan Lutheran. The Blazers erased a 30-29 halftime deficit by outscoring the Crusaders 19-7 in the third quarter. An 11-3 run in the final 3:18 seconds of the period opened an 11-point advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Dakota Zinzer led all scorers by pouring in 33 points for the Blazers, hitting 10-of-12 shots from the floor and hauling in 10 rebounds. Nathan Toenjes added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kristian Zimmerman contributed 13 points.
Jeff Hess led the Crusaders with 22 points, and Juke Jurss added 20. The Blazers shot 55 percent for the game and outrebounded the Crusaders 39-40.
In the second game of the session, Thorp (18-9) held off Cochrane-Fountain City 54-52 to advance to the final. The Cardinals opened the game with a 9-0 run and held the Pirates scoreless until two seconds left in the quarter.
Cochrane-Fountain City trailed the entire game but fought back to narrow the deficit to two points with 28 seconds to go and then again at 11 seconds remaining. However, a last-second desperation shot fell short off the front of the rim.
Dakota Lindgren led the Cardinals with 17 points and 16 rebounds, which is one carom short of a Division 5 tournament record. Jordan Eikamp led the Pirates with 17 points, and Garrett Marklowitz added 12 points.
The Division 5 final features Thorp versus Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran Saturday at 11:05 a.m.