Wauwatosa West Boys Basketball seals a HUGE playoff victory in a 63-58 thriller in the Sectional Semifinal against co-conference champion Brookfield Central.
BOTTOM LINE: The Trojans started with an early lead in the opening minutes with both teams trading points against each other, Senior Jake Hansen was 3/3 beyond the arc. By halftime, the game was tied 28-28. As soon as the second half got started, the Lancers responded with a 7-0 run and continued their point melee against the Trojans. There were moments when the Trojans faced 7-8 point deficits. But realizing the previous playoff losses, spurred the Trojans to a 22-11 run, in the closing minutes each team traded blows between the lead before West found themselves pulling ahead of the Lancers with 2:53 left on their way to sealing the deal.
The Trojans will advance to the Sectional Final for the first time since 2020, this time with the season not being derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
- Sophomore Jalen Brown finished with 25 points, shooting 75% at the free-throw line, 40% at the three-point line, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
- Senior Jake Hansen finished with 23 points, shooting, 100% at the free-throw line, 38.4% at the 3-point line, and 2 steals.
- Junior MJ Kloskey finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, despite dealing with foul trouble with 4 personal fouls.
- The Trojans regained the lead with 2:53 left with Senior Jake Hansen’s 4 clutch free-throws to extend the lead to 5 and seal the Trojans’ second Sectional Final Appearance.
What’s Next?
The Trojans will play this Saturday, March 15 in the Sectional Final against Mount Horeb at Oconomowoc at 1:30 PM for a shot to punch their ticket to Madison.
If that happens, this will be the first-ever state appearance for the Wauwatosa West Boys Basketball program and the first time since the 2008 Boys Soccer team that a Wauwatosa West sports program has played in a state tournament.
Milestones currently for the 2024-2025 Wauwatosa West Boys Basketball team
- The first 20-win season for the Trojans Basketball program in school history
- Second conference championship in 3 years
- 7 straight wins against rival Tosa East in the last four years.
- Senior Jake Hansen broke Andre Carroll’s 1,384 record for most points in a career.
- MJ Kloskey surpassed 1000 points.
Players Thoughts:
“We played excellent defense at the end of the game and we made winning plays down the stretch to come out with the win.” Said Senior Jake Hansen
Our Thoughts:
And just like that, the Trojans return to the sectional final after five years, looking to punch their ticket to Madison for the first time in program history. At the moment of the 7-8 point deficit, the fans thought about previous playoff losses as that reality came back into mind, but the Trojans faithful continued to show their support and guided the team back into the game to eventually seal the deal, this win will give a reminder to the state that Tosa West is playing their best at the right time, it truly is one heck of an era of Trojan’s Basketball, it’s not that same 5-20 team back in the 2020-21 team with rival Tosa East winning state.
EXTRA, EXTRA:
