West Salem pulls away in the second half, ending Osceola’s season

A back-and-forth first half resulted but in the second half, the Panthers put on a shooting and defensive performance Osceola had no answer for, pulling away for the 68-46 win at Osseo-Fairchild. 

West Salem outscored the Chieftains by 20 in the second half, including a 16-4 run over the first seven minutes. 

“We felt if we could keep the game within a few possessions up until that five-minute mark left in the game, we’d give ourselves a good shot,” OHS coach Tyler Olson explained. “However, West Salem just opened it up a little too much a little too soon.

“They are obviously an incredibly talented team that has a strong chance to win the Division 3 state title for a reason.” 

The Panthers (27-1 overall) earned the top seed in the Division 3 bracket and will play Milwaukee Academy of Science in one semifinal 1:35 p.m., March 16 at the Kohl Center in Madison. Brillion plays Lakeside Lutheran in the other semifinal. The two winners will play for the state title March 18. 

In that second half, West Salem made seven three-pointers and 12 overall.

Brett McConkey led three Panthers in double figures with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Carson Koepnick finished with 16 points and five rebounds. The pair were a combined 8-for-17 from three-point range. 

Peter Lattos added 12 points and eight rebounds. Tamarrein Henderson recorded eight points. 

West Salem also finished with 12 steals as McConkey had six. 

“Their defensive pressure, and relentlessness comes at you in waves and is tough to withstand for a full game,” Olson stated. “I think it says a lot about our team the way we battled and competed with them.” 

The Panthers shot 39.7 percent from the field overall. West Salem had two more rebounds, four more assists and eight more steals than Osceola. 

The first half ended with West Salem having a two-point lead, a scenario Olson was happy with. 

“Very proud of the way our guys came out to start the game,” he said. “Our players were excited and up for the challenge of playing the top-ranked team in the state. We talked about trying to slow the game down, control the pace, and make them play offense in the half court and I thought we did that those first 18 minutes.” 

Brayden Bradway led Osceola (25-2) with 20 points and eight rebounds. He did struggle from three-point range, going 2-for-10. Carson Hollman recorded 12 points and five rebounds. Ethan Hall added six. 

Aiden Steffen pulled down five rebounds and dished out three assists. Teagan Viebrock pulled down six rebounds. Osceola shot 43.1 percent from the field overall but made only three three-pointers to West Salem’s 12. 

“Our entire team has a lot to be proud of this season,” Olson mentioned. “Ending with a 25-2 season record, a Conference and Regional championship, and a sectional final appearance are impressive accomplishments. 

“Most importantly, our players made our fans, school, and community proud to be supporters of Osceola Basketball by the way they represented themselves on and off the court.” 

Next year’s Chieftain roster will look different as Bradway, Hollman, Steffen and Dylan Salewski will graduate. 

“Aiden Steffen, Dylan Salewski, Carson Hollman, and Brayden Bradway have left an incredible impact on our program,” Olson concluded. “All four seniors were captains and incredible leaders for our team, and their senior season will always be one to remember.” 

Osceola 67, Prescott 52

The two best teams in the Middle Border Conference met for the fourth time in 370 days in front of a full house at River Falls March 9 for the sectional semifinal. 

A familiar refrain developed from previous games as a close first half (a 30-27 Osceola lead) resulted with the second half seeing Osceola pulling away. 

“At this point in the season, there were no secrets between our two teams,” Olson said. “We knew we needed to hang our hat on our defense, and once again I thought we did an outstanding job of making them work hard for their points on that end.” 

Brayden Bradway reached the 20-point plateau for the 15^th time this season with 23 points to lead the Chieftains. 

Yet, it was Ethan Hall’s offense which told the story. Hall shot 4-for-5 from three-point range to finish with 19 points. He was 6-for-9 from three-point range in Osceola’s last two games. 

Graden Mork and Teagan Viebrock finished with seven points each while Carson Hollman and Aiden Steffen recorded four points each. 

“There was going to come a moment in the game where we needed to make a big shot or two, and we found some crucial baskets midway through the second half to give us some separation,” Olson explained. “Rebounding and free throws helped closed it out and gave us a really impressive win against a well-coached, great team.” 

Osceola dominated at the free throw line going, 18-for-24 compared to Prescott’s 4-for-5. 

The Chieftains also controlled the rebounding advantage, 39-23 as Bradway and Hollman recorded 11 each. Viebrock pulled down seven with Hall chipping in with six. Viebrock and Steffen led the team in assists with three each. 

Osceola shot 39.4 percent from the field overall. 

“It was an incredible atmosphere in the gym tonight – one that we will never forget,” Olson added. “Sports can have a great way of uniting people, and to see the show of support from Prescott and Osceola fans alike towards Carson and the entire Hollman family (Carson’s mom Robi died March 5 due to Breast Cancer) was really impactful.” 

Jordan Malmlov led the Cardinals with 18 points. Dallas Wallin recorded 14 while Brandon Stuart chipped in with nine. The Cardinals shot 36.3 percent from the field. 

Prescott scored less than 60 points in six games this season, three of them were against Osceola. 

“I’m just so incredibly proud of our players for their toughness, poise, and resiliency,” Olson concluded. “This was a really well-played game from start to finish. To get a Sectional Final appearance is a fantastic accomplishment for our program.”