Better “Lake” than never
A dominant first quarter helped propel No. 4 Wilson to its first sectional title in program history, downing No. 7 Allegany-Limestone 56-47 in the Section VI Class B2 championship game Saturday afternoon at Buffalo State University.
For head coach Brett Sippel, who’s in his 25th year at the helm of Wilson, the win was the culmination of a lifetime’s goal.
“It couldn’t really happen to a better group of kids, I just love those kids so much,” Sippel said. “I played here as a kid, I’ve been involved in the program since I was 10 years old. … I knew it was going to happen at some point.”
If the Lakemen (17-6) had any nerves heading into the title game, they didn’t show it out of the gate.
A set play off the opening tip, the same one they ran successfully in their semifinal upset win over Salamanca, resulted in Wilson’s Aidan Neumann scoring an easy layup under five seconds into the game. From there, the Lakemen avalanche commenced.
Wilson ended up winning the first quarter 23-2, with two emphatic transition dunks from Ryan Hough highlighting the dominant run. Defensively, the Lakemen’s signature aggression and trapping suffocated the Gators, holding them scoreless for over six minutes to start the game.
“I can’t explain it, we just got a good start,” Sippel said. “The starts have been huge for us, confidence coming into both games, especially the Salamanca game but even today. I think we surprised ourselves how well the first quarter went for us.”
Wilson’s offensive output slowed down the rest of the way, leaving a door open for Allegany-Limestone (15-9) to get back into the game. After winning the second quarter 13-7, the Gators continued to battle well into the second half, cutting their deficit down to single digits at multiple points.
However, right when it seemed Wilson was beginning to crumble, it found an answer – and more often than not, it was courtesy of Neumann. The junior scored 12 of Wilson’s 18 fourth quarter points, many of which coming on clutch free throws, and finished with a game-high 27.
“He does it all for us,” Sippel said of Neumann. “We always want the ball in his hands all the time. He doesn’t shy away from pressure situations, he misses a shot, he’s going to come down and take another for us.”
“As a team, we came into this game thinking we were going to win,” Neumann added. “We believe in each other every second of the game. We’re family. … We knew it would take a lot to get to this point, and I’m so happy.”
The Gators managed to get within six late in the fourth quarter and held Wilson to just five Wilson field goals in the second half, but a strong rally after their slow start wasn’t enough.
Carson Kwiatkowski led Allegany-Limestone with 15 points.
The Lakemen will face the winner of the Class B1 title game between Akron and Olmsted in the Class B crossover game, with the winner advancing to the Far West Regionals.
“We know it’s going to be a really hard one,” Neumann said. “We’re going to have to be gritty, determined to win that game. We can’t doubt ourselves one bit.”
The Class B crossover is slated for 5 p.m. Tuesday at Buff State.
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