Cyclones Come Up Short In WJCAA Title Game

The UW-Waukesha Cougars held off an inspired second half charge by the UW-Fox Valley Cyclones today to win the 2009-2010 WJCAA State Championship 75–73.  Wes Brown poured in 26 to lead the Cougars, while UW-Fox Valley was paced by Cole Meyer and Karl Sachs, each with 15.

In a “tale of two halves” game, UW-Waukesha coasted through the first half, getting the Cyclones into early foul trouble and converting from the free throw line.  UW-Fox Valley had trouble finding the range on their open three-point attempts and taking care of the ball, finishing the game shooting only 23% from long range, and committing 14 first half turnovers.  Behind Brown’s solid scoring and free throw shooting, the Cougars finished the half with a comfortable 15 point margin at 41-26.  

The second half started with more of the same from UW-Waukesha, converting in transition early behind more scoring from Brown, and the lead ballooned to as much as 24.  If UW-Waukesha had a major advantage in free throw attempts (12/15) in the first half however, it was the Cyclones (12/16) turn in the second half, getting Waukesha into the bonus before the halfway mark of the second half.  

Along with excellent free throw shooting from Sachs and point-guard Chris Searl, the Cyclones switched to a 1-3-1 half-court defense and started to chip away at the double-digit deficit.  With just under 6 minutes left they had fought their way back to within 6 behind two strong post moves and a medium-range jumper from Meyer, all in succession, and strong defensive play from Phil Landua.  

UW-Waukesha was able to outlast the Cyclones in the final minutes however, converting a key offensive rebound off of a missed free-throw, and a fumbled outlet pass into a lay-up.   UW-Fox Valley would get no closer than the two-point final margin.   

Each team had four players in double figures, with Tony Debrozzo and Joe Veasy each adding 14 for the Cougars along with Adonis Joiner who had 13.  Phil Landua had 14 for UW-Fox Valley to go along with Searl’s 10. 

Meyer and Landua were named to the 5 man all-tournament team.  With the loss the Cyclones finish the season at 22-6.

Contributed by:  Andrew Hanlon