By Jason Arndt
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Seniors Brandon Vandehei and Ben Heiligenthal were the jolt the No. 3 Hilltoppers needed to oust No. 1 seeded Hustisford in the WIAA Division 5 sectional title game.
Six minutes into the second half, Burlington Catholic Central trailed, 28-25, before Vandehei drilled a game-tying 3-pointer, en route to a 48-42 defeat of the Falcons.
Heiligenthal, meanwhile, scored a game-high 23 points, including 9-for-11 from the free-throw line and had seven rebounds for Hilltoppers.
“It was about powering through and giving it all you got,” Heiligenthal said. “It feels amazing, I have been waiting for this for four years.”
The 6-foot-3 Heiligenthal scored 13 of his 23 points in the Hilltoppers’ 23-18 first half.
Entering the second half, Hustisford poured on an 8-0 run which included five from Falcons’ leading scorer David Elliott, who finished with 15 points.
Heiligenthal noted Elliott’s ability to draw contact in the paint, leading a 4-for-8 performance from the charity stripe.
“He had a great game, he had some really great drives and getting fouled,” Heiligenthal said.
Heiligenthal, who stopped the run with a layup, acknowledged it would be a difficult contest to win.
“We knew Hustisford was a good team going in, with a great record,” Heiligenthal said. “It was about our game plan, we knew the games late in the season would be close, it was about letting the chips fall wherever they may.”
Following the 6-3 senior’s lay-up, the Falcons answered with a Benjamin Rode jumper, but VandeHei chipped in a game-tying shot from the perimeter.
“They played really played tight man on us and it gave us a really good opportunity to get them off the dribble,” said VandeHei, who scored nine points and had a team-leading three steals.
Cole Pankau, a 6-3 junior, added a basket followed by two free throws to put the Hilltoppers ahead 32-28.
Pankau scored six points and produced a game-high 10 boards.
The teams swapped buckets the rest of the game, but the Hilltoppers prevailed, which was a challenge according to Catholic Central coach Kyle Scott.
“Hustisford is tough, they are a well-coached team, we tried to take away their 3-point shot,” Scott said. “And to their credit, they pounded it in inside.”
Scott, who played for the 2001 state champion squad, said the sectional title carried a special meaning.
“It feels great, our sectional is brutal,” he said. “We had a rough road, but we have won 11 of 13 now.”
“I was a player on the 2001 state championship team, and we actually won the sectional final on this court,” he said.
Hustisford coach Jake Falkenthal said the Hilltoppers’ strong-will was the key ingredient for Catholic Central’s Saturday sectional win.
“They are a very disciplined team, offensively and defensively, they are fundamentally sound,” said Falkenthal, whose team dropped to 21-4.
Catholic Central (17-9) opens its state tournament against No. 2 Barneveld, who defeated Bangor 57-55 at La Crosse Logan High School.
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