Boys upend WEM but fall short against Bluejays
The end of the road is always bittersweet. And for the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton boys’ basketball team, that road was paved with a demanding schedule of games.
After obtaining a 22-6 record to enter the Subsection 2AA South tournament as the third seed, the Bulldogs defeated WEM 84-53 on Tuesday, March 5. However, on the following Thursday their hopes of making it far in the playoffs were upended by the only team capable of beating them by double digits this season: Waseca.
As a JWP alumnus who witnessed how hard the boys’ basketball team worked this season, this editor will find it especially tough to be impartial and unbiased. Those who were at the game against Waseca in Fairmont will understand.
Bulldogs 84, Buccaneers 53
Although the score may suggest a blowout from the beginning, the Bulldogs had themselves a sloppy start. WEM led by as much as eight points in the opening minutes. While Head Coach Nick James gave some credit for the slow start to not playing a game in a week, he felt like the boys made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
But they figured things out. After being down 28-23 with about seven minutes left in the first half, they went on a 21-0 run to get ahead 44-28 by halftime.
The second half was one of their best starts. WEM was stunned by the Bulldogs’ 31-7 second-half start and had no solutions to slow down senior Memphis James or the others. The Bulldogs were able to show off some of their transitioning on the court, which helped 8th-grader Gavin Bauer score eight points through easy layups in less than three minutes.
The Bulldogs forced mercy rule within the final minutes and coasted to an 84-53 victory.
Although some may call this an excellent game for the Bulldogs, Coach James said it was an alright one for them, mainly attributing his opinion to the sloppy start. “That was not one of our better starts,” he admitted. “But I’m proud of how we came out in the second half. That’s how we need to start our next game.”
WEM’s boys didn’t feel bad for long, though. Although their season was over, the girls won the Section 2AA tournament this past weekend.
Bluejays 74, Bulldogs 52
Unlike how they began their game against WEM, the Bulldogs showed up to the Fairmont court and played much better in the opening minutes of the first half against Waseca. After an initial back-and-forth, JWP pulled ahead to a double-digit lead, forcing Waseca Head Coach Seth Anderson to use a timeout after sophomore Daulton Bauer sank a three.
However, the first timeout wasn’t enough. The Bulldogs gained confidence in the paint and were more daring with their layup shot attempts. While most of them missed the mark, they were able to trigger fouls and pad their double-digit lead, forcing Waseca to call a timeout again.
If they kept staying aggressive on offense and getting steals for fast breaks to the basket, they could have taken complete control of the game and won it. However, the boys lost momentum in the first half’s closing minutes as the Bluejays started getting aggressive on offense. Jays junior Damarius Russell, who’s always been a talented player, was especially tough to stop. Still, they held a 36-30 lead by halftime.
JWP came out of the second half with the same energy as the first. However, Waseca was determined to get out of the slump they put themselves in. Despite some great defensive play in the opening minutes, the Bluejays flexed some of their offense, contributing to JWP’s only double-digit loss in the regular season.
As Waseca climbed back into it with a 43-43 tie, the Bulldogs started missing a few shots. Some attempts at a bit of hero ball also failed, while the Bluejays hit most of their threes and used their height to bully their way to the basket.
What didn’t help the Bulldogs was the “foul trouble.” Some might say many controversial calls and non-calls were made, including a questionable travel on Daulton Bauer when he had to sidestep and pivot his feet to keep the ball in his hands. A few minutes earlier, Bulldog fans took exception to a Waseca player not getting a travel called on them while JWP was charged a foul one second later to allow the Bluejays a free throw opportunity.
Although Coach James usually refrains from commenting on the officiating, he addressed one call that he felt wasn’t right. “There was one call on Memphis for charging that I definitely disagreed with. That was a big one. If he made that basket, that puts us up 7 or 8 when they called it. Instead, they called the charging, and they ended up scoring 3. That’s a five-point swing there.”
That call contributed to Memphis James fouling out with less than five minutes left in the game.
Despite that, Coach James knew that wasn’t why the team lost. After all, you don’t lose by over 20 just from questionable officiating. He admitted that the team’s downfall was due to some “silly turnovers. “We just gave them way too many easy ones. I thought our defense did pretty well, but they got too many easy buckets where they didn’t have to work. I think our execution overall in the second half wasn’t quite there.”
Once again, Waseca gave JWP a loss by double digits this season. This time, the loss kicked JWP out of the playoffs.
Although this was another one of those harsh losses JWP rarely went through, it was a great season overall. The 22-7 record is their best in over two decades. 2023-24 was also the first time the boys reached 20 wins in a season since 2007-08, when the team went 20-11. It was also the first time since 2006 that the boys competed in the Gopher Conference championship.
Coach James couldn’t choose a favorite moment from this season but said he tried to appreciate everything the boys did the entire season.
Eight seniors will leave the team: Captains Memphis James and Ryan Kronbach, Cole Schlueter, Austin Quast, Steven Dimmel, Austin Carda, Carter Miller, and manager Steven Denn, who also played on the varsity squad last season.
“No matter how it ended, seeing those boys go was going to be tough for me,” James admitted. “And it’s not just my son Memphis. It’s all the seniors. I’ve coached them when they were 5th and 6th graders. I spent a lot of time with them. It’s as hard as it gets seeing them go.”
On advice he’d give to all them: “Like we said in the locker room, sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you might run into somebody better. It just encourages you to do better. So, work hard and hope the good things come from that.”
We talked to senior captains Memphis James and Ryan Kronbach and got some of their opinions on the Waseca game and this season.
It was a brutal end to the season. What were your thoughts on how you guys played tonight?
M. James: “I thought we had them there when we had that big run in the first half. But in the second half, we couldn’t find the shooters.”
Kronbach: “It was a tough end there for sure. We just struggled against their 2-3 defense.”
What was one of your favorite moments from this season?
M. James: “I think making the Conference Championship was a pretty awesome moment for us.”
Kronbach: “I agree. Getting to slamdunk a few times was also pretty fun for me to do this season.”
Who would you like to thank for your support?
M. James: “I’d like to thank my family and friends for being there for us and coming out to support us. I also want to thank my coaches for helping me get to where I am today.”
Kronbach: “Definitely want to thank the coaches, my family, and our fans as well. The student section always came out and supported us. It was great seeing them all season.”
Since you’re leaving the team this season, what advice would you give to your underclassmen?
M. James: “Work hard. Don’t give up.”
Kronbach: “If they put in the work, they can get right back to the same place we got this year, if not farther. They’ve got the squad to do it.”
The loss marked the end of winter sports for JWP. Although it was bittersweet, each team had moments to shine this year, with everyone improving from the previous season. With the boys’ basketball program on the up at all levels, everyone is hopeful to see them achieve the same level of success next year — or as Kronbach said, do even better.
