MADISON — In their first appearance in program history at the boys state basketball tournament in Madison, the No. 1 Bonduel Bears looked just like the top-seed they were billed to be.
From start to finish, the Bears looked in control of their Division 4 state semifinal game against No. 4 The Prairie School and they won handily, 59-41.
Bears junior Ryan Westrich had a dominant game, almost finishing with a double-double (10 points & 7 rebounds) in the first half. He would finish their victory with that double-double, shooting 50% from the floor for a game-high 20 points and 12 boards.
"I'll tell you what, through the tournament run he has really carried us," said Bears head coach Duke Copp. "We don't feel there's many guys who can guard him, he's just a big strong guy. He's an animal."
"He's a unique player to say the least," said Hawks head coach Jason Atanasoff of the Bears 6-foot-6 big man. "Certainly a unique player to prepare for and he had a heck of a ball game.
His teammates, sophomore Quinn Wesenberg (14) and senior Race Anvelink (10) also finished in double-figures.
"It's pretty awesome, we've all dreamed of this since the beginning of this season," said Avelink. "I had a vision starting from summer to get to this point and I'm really proud of these guys who have played way past their years in this playoff run."
Head coach Duke Copp said a loss to Roncalli back in mid-February was a wake up call for his team as they've now won 8-straight heading into the Division 4 state title game, which will be against Aquinas.
"Since that night and the next day in practice, we just simply changed the way we were going to play," Copp said. "We played a lot harder, tougher defense and we've been rolling since then."
