The Brillion Lions fell to West Salem by a score of 71 – 61 in a Division 3 State Semifinal on Thursday at the WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Brillion Head Coach Chad Shimek says you have to give credit where credit is due to West Salem.
“They’re a really good team, and if you just look at their starting five, some of their guys that aren’t even their top scorers, they’re just big individuals, muscular, strong.”
He added, “They overwhelmed us in some of those rebounds and some of those loose ball situations. We just weren’t strong enough to make the play.”
The Lions fell behind by as many as 17 in the second half, cutting the deficit to nine, but could get no closer.
Coach Shimek noted, “It’s just not in their M.O. to get caught up in themselves and feel sorry for themselves and quit. Every timeout, we just talked about getting a little bit closer, getting to single digits. I’m proud of the fact that we hung in there. We didn’t have everything go our way, but we definitely competed ’til the end.”
Despite coming up short. Shimek says he couldn’t be prouder of his team.
“I’m just happy that I’ve been able to get a good group of basketball players and young men to a point where they can experience this because everyone should experience it.” He also attributed the work of the kids and their parents, “It’s all of their hard work and their parents’, but I’m just happy to be somebody that didn’t hold them back, that was somebody that was able to get them to this level.”
Jeremy Lorenz led the Lions with 22 points, while Carson Koepnick led West Salem and all scorers with 26 points. Brillion finishes their season with a record of 27 – 3.
West Salem improves to 27 – 1 and will play Lake Country Lutheran for the Division 3 Championship Saturday afternoon.
