MADISON (NBC 26) — Brillion junior Jeremy Lorenz etched his name in the WIAA history books on Thursday, tallying a Division 3 state tournament record nine blocks in the Lions' state semifinal game against West Salem.
Unfortunately, his near-triple double wasn't enough as Brillion lost 71-61, falling short of the Division 3 state championship.
"I had no idea what the record was or how many I had," Lorenz said. "But a big part of my game is I pride myself on playing defense and trying to contest every shot without fouling.
"We needed it," he added of his performance.
Lorenz finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and the nine blocks.
"It's probably fitting that he was close to a triple double because he does so many things for us," Brillion coach Chad Shimek said. "I thought he just competed the entire game. Every time there was an opportunity... Jeremy was there. That's something we never question from him."
West Salem jumped out to an early double digit lead in the first half, but Lorenz led a rally that pulled the Lions back within two at 20-18.
However, West Salem closed the first half on a 10-3 run, including a three just before the buzzer to take a 30-21 lead into half.
The Panthers extended that lead to as many as 17 in the second half. A late Brillion burst cut the deficit to single digits, but the Lions - who overcame a 13-point deficit in their sectional final win - couldn't get over the hump this time.
"There was a lot of opportunities there where we could have packed it in and we kept grinding and kept fighting and turned it into a 10-point loss," Shimek said. "I'm extremely proud of the opportunity that we had an I'm proud of the way that our young men and student athletes represented themselves."
This was Brillion's fourth trip to state. All four appearances have come since 2010. The Lions won their only state boys basketball championship in 2012.
