A school that had never experienced playoff success until last year ended a second consecutive season full of achievements Friday. Onalaska dropped their regional final match with Palestine Westwood 96-77 at Hudson High School.
The two teams had split a pair of regular season contests, but the Panthers were the more physical team in the third. They also consistently beat Onalaska to their bucket, providing many more layups than the ‘Cats wished to surrender.
The Westwood attack had a clear objective to beat their opponents to the other end of the court, and they did so for much of the night. Meanwhile, the Panther defense was relentless, hounding Wildcat ball handlers and taking risks with double teams for four quarters.
For the Panthers, Kavian Bryant led with 29 points, Markel Morrow had 23, Kaden Bryant 19, and Sebastian Lathan 13. Onalaska’s leading scorers were Devon Vienneau with 25, Patrick Roth with 20, Jaden Wyatt 12 and Dillon Jennings 11.
The four seniors the Wildcats will lose to graduation have been the most successful class in Onalaska’s history. They include Vienneau, Jennings, Ryan Hansen and Wyatt Reyes.
