Onalaska notched another breakthrough achievement Tuesday, winning a playoff basketball game for the first time in school history 89-58 over Boling at Houston ISD’s Pavilion. Last week, they were crowned sole district champions, also a Wildcat first on the court.
Boling showed the ability to get to the bucket in the first quarter, with most of their points coming from under the rim. Onalaska held a 16-13 lead at the end of the period with help from a few threes by Patrick Roth and Devon Vienneau.
Those two and Spencer Green were able to keep pouring in points from long range in the second. A total of five 3-pointers led to a 27-point second period. Onalaska led by as much as 20 points in the quarter. Turnovers led to easy shots, and the Wildcats grabbed three quick baskets in the final minute.
“I knew that we could outrun them and wear them out, and so the game plan was to get going and just play our tempo and pressure them,” Onalaska coach Nicholas Tyerman said. “A lot of it was to try and take (Kaden Lunford) away. He's a really good, big guard who can handle the ball and they like to constantly get him the ball, so we were trying to take that away early. It kind of helped he got into foul trouble early as well. From what I saw on film, they really didn't want to run, so I knew at some point we could pull away. Teams fall in love with it and they're having fun and then all of a sudden they hit the wall and they start running down.”
After the half, the Wildcats continued their pressure on the ball, leading to more steals and Bulldog errors. They were up by 30 at one point in the period, and had clear control of the game. The fourth quarter allowed the team to get its bench some playoff experience.
In all, the ‘Cats connected on 16 threes, accounting for more than half of their points. Green led the team with 21 points, Vienneau had 20, Roth 18, Dante Leleux 14, and Wyatt Reyes and Brayden Topkins had eight.
“I think we shot really well, probably one of our better games in an arena,” Tyerman said. “It is good confidence building from here on out, so now we don't have to stress about that and it can stay out of their heads. It was a complete game and a lot of that came from them hitting their shots from good ball movement. We worked it until extra pass to give the next person an open shot, and I think that really paid off.”
For the first time, Onalaska will play in an area postseason contest. They take on Pollok Central in Latexo at 6 p.m. Friday.
“I am wet because the boys celebrated and I'm super proud of them,” Tyerman said. “I know I can sometimes be the harshest critic, because I'm on them nonstop, but it’s because I know how good we can be. But, I'm super proud of them and it just feels amazing.
“I need to try and enjoy it a little bit more, but I don't want to ever let them down, so I'm always going to just push them as hard as I can.”
