FOND DU LAC – When the Fond du Lac boys basketball team is clicking, this is what it’s capable of.
The Cardinals have all the pieces. Put them together and watch out.
Caleb Goldstein and Luke Loewe both scored 19 points as No. 5 seed Fond du Lac opened the playoffs with a 81-38 thumping of No. 12 seed Sheboygan South in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal on Friday at Fond du Lac.
The Cardinals advance to Saturday’s regional final, where they will face No. 4 seed Menomonee Falls. The Indians defeated Waukesha West 98-82 in a regional semifinal.
Friday’s game against Sheboygan South saw Fond du Lac (15-8) fall behind 4-0 early on before dominating the Redwings the rest of the way en route to the lopsided victory.
“We said at the beginning, we talked to our kids and said we’ve got a veteran team and I thought we played like we have a veteran team in both halves,” Fond du Lac coach Mark Ziebell said. “I thought the last eight minutes, our defense was really, really good and we had some really good combinations in there. I thought everybody came in and really stuck with the scouting report. And offensively, it always looks good when you make shots. But I just think about this game and I think of a veteran team doing what a veteran team does.”
The Cardinals quickly took the lead following the Redwings’ 4-0 start and held it the rest of the way. Leading 12-10, Fond du Lac ended the first half on a 32-13 run and the game was never in doubt after that.
Draining 11 3-pointers on the night, including six from Goldstein, the Cardinals simply shot too well for Sheboygan South (10-13) to hang around.
“We didn’t come out the fastest, but we played hard and played together and just tried to put them away as fast as we could,” Loewe said.
Fond du Lac hit four of its 3-pointers during the first-half run. Holding a 44-23 advantage at halftime, the Cardinals were able to stretch their lead to as many as 45 points in the second half as the Redwings had no answers on either end of the court.
Ziebell was especially impressed with his team’s defensive effort against an offensively-talented Sheboygan South squad.
“First of all, it started with No. 3 (Josh Govek), staying in front of him. Drew (Jorgensen) did a really nice job of staying in front of the freshman, he’s really a fantastic player — gets to the rim, can shoot the 3,” Ziebell said. “Because he was able to stay in front, it allowed us to stay a little bit tighter to their shooters. Sheboygan has some guys that can put it into the hoop. They had 15 3-pointers in their last regular-season game, so I thought the key was controlling No. 3 and staying in front.”
Aside from Goldstein and Loewe, Jack Cole added 10 points for Fond du Lac, while Jorgensen had nine points. The Cardinals had 11 different players find the scoring column on Friday.
Jared Splittgerber and Govek both had nine points to pace Sheboygan South, while Zachary Kaffine chipped in seven points.
In advancing to face Menomonee Falls on Saturday, the Cardinals get a rematch with the team that crushed them 81-61 back on Nov. 29. Loewe, who was recovering from a car accident at the time, did not play in that game.
“It will be a tremendous challenge,” Ziebell said of Menomonee Falls. “The way they play is unique, at least to us in the FVA. There’s really nobody like them that presses for the full game and runs guys in waves of five. It will be unique from that standpoint. I think we’re playing really, really well right now and we’re in a good place as a team. I think we’re prepared for the challenge that they’re going to face.”
| SHEBOYGAN SOUTH | 23 | 15 | — 38 |
| Fond du Lac | 44 | 37 | — 81 |
Sheboygan South — Jared Splittgerber 9, Josh Govek 9, Jared Govek 6, Zachary Kaffine 7, Dylan Martens 4, Michael Rank Jr. 3. 3-pointers: 6 (Splittgerber, Jo. Govek, Ja. Govek 2, Kaffine, Rank Jr.). FTs: 4-6. Fouls: 14.
Fond du Lac — Caleb Goldstein 19, Drew Jorgensen 9, Hunter Smit 2, Jack Cole 10, Sam Fredrickson 4, Peyton Head 2, Damon Johnson 2, Luke Loewe 19, Trevor Taylor 3, Jack Rusch 4, Devon Krzanowski 7. 3-pointers: 11 (Goldstein 6, Jorgensen 3, Cole 2). FTs: 8-12. Fouls: 12.