First trip to sectional finals

Athens boys make school history in ‘22

By Casey Krautkramer

The Athens varsity boys basketball team showed a great deal of resiliency in knocking off Turtle Lake, 34-31, in a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal on Thursday in the Eau Claire North High School gym. With the victory, Athens created school history by advancing to play in its first sectional championship.

Athens led for the majority of the game until Turtle Lake took its first lead, 31-30, on senior guard Joel Humphrey’s floater in the lane with four minutes and 24 seconds left in regulation.

During Turtle Lake’s next offensive possession, Athens junior center Aiden Janke blocked a shot and then grabbed the ball in the air. Bluejays head coach Jeramie Penney called a full timeout with two-and-a-half minutes left, while the Athens fans chanted, “If you are a Bluejays fan, stand up and clap your hands.”

After the timeout, Athens senior Kody Lepak hit a basket to give the Bluejays a precarious 32-31 advantage with just under two minutes left to play.

Once Athens regained possession of the ball again, Turtle Lake still had four fouls left to give before putting the Bluejays in the bonus. A Lakers player fouled Athens senior point guard Cooper Diedrich with only 10.4 seconds remaining to force Diedrich to the free-throw line to attempt a bonus free throw. Diedrich calmly sank both bonus free throws to give the Bluejays a 34-31 lead, to ensure the best the Lakers could do is drain a three pointer to tie the game and force overtime. That didn’t happen.

Diedrich spoke after the sectional semifinal victory about what was going through his mind while he attempted the crucial free throws near the end of the game.

“It was a back-and-forth battle against Turtle Lake until the end and I knew when I got to the free throw line that I needed to put both of them in to feel a little comfortable,” Diedrich said. “Turtle Lake has some nice three point shooters and I didn’t want them to hit a nice one like that at the end to beat us.”

Coach Penney said he and his assistant coaches John Keefe and Mike Wolf preach to the players to “never give up” in games and it worked out for the Bluejays against the Lakers. Coach Penney commented on how big of a win it was for the Athens boys basketball program.

“This win is huge; five years ago I said we just need to start a culture here of winning and I think we are doing it,” Coach Penney said. “I hope more kids get on board with our boys basketball program because our numbers are down, but if they watch these seniors play they’ll see they have heart and desire. I’m not the easiest guy to play for sometimes but I think it’s paying off.”

Janke recalls as an eighth grader watching the Athens 2018-19 squad play in a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal against Chippewa Falls Mc-Donell in the Eau Claire Memorial High School gym. His cousin, Cameron Ford, was a junior center on that Athens team. The Bluejays unfortunately lost to the Macks in the sectional semifinal to finish the season with a 16-9 record.

“It’s a surreal feeling to make it to the sectional final,” Janke said. “I remember four years ago the Athens boys basketball team made it to the sectional semifinal and that was just a big deal for our school. I was an eighth grader then but I just remember watching the team and wanting to be in that position one day, and I guess we made it happen and it’s just an amazing feeling.”

Athens jumped out to a 20-12 halftime lead. Junior guard Connor Sheahan sank a three pointer to start the game and senior Kody Lepak later sank a three pointer of his own to give the Bluejays a 7-2 lead against the Lakers. Janke scored a basket and Diedrich drained a pair of free throws to give Athens an 11-2 advantage. After Turtle Lake scored a basket, Sheahan answered with a reverse layup to give Athens a 13-4 lead. The Bluejays took a 20-12 halftime lead against the Lakers.

Janke kept blocking Turtle Lake players’ shots throughout the sectional semifinal. He finished the sectional semifinal with a team-high 12 points, 17 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

“Our coaches talk about being straight up and not getting fouls, and that’s kinda what I tried to do and it worked pretty well,” Janke said of about his defensive prowess. “I just tried to stay in front and get my hand up every time a shot is taken, and luckily the ball hit my hand.”

Coach Penney became Athens’ sole head boys basketball coach this season, after Aaron Ellenbecker resigned as co-head coach following the 2020-21 season when the Bluejays won their first conference championship since 1950. After last season concluded, coach Penney realized his squad needed to dedicate itself to playing a tough man-to-man defense for entire games if it wanted to advance far in the playoffs this season.

“If we played a 2-3 zone defense, then I don’t think we are coming out on top against Turtle Lake,” Penney said. “That’s a tough Turtle Lake team that has three scorers and they play hard, so we knew it would be a battle. Turtle Lake only scored 31 points against us and I think it averages 64 or 65 points per game.”

There was a stretch during the game when Turtle Lake’s head coach was forced to call a timeout because his offense couldn’t get anything going against Athens’ stifling man-to-man defense.

“We just practice playing defense,” Penney said. “I don’t think we ever practiced playing man-to-man defense in our prior three years; we always practiced our 2-3 zone.”

Diedrich was second on the team with 11 rebounds in the victory against Turtle Lake. He also was second on the Bluejays with three assists and he led the team with three steals. Sheahan contributed eight points against the Lakers while Diedrich and Lepak added seven points apiece.

Athens improved its record to 22-6 following its sectional semifinal win against Turtle Lake. The Lakers, meanwhile, finished their season with a 21-7 record.

CELEBRATING THE SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL WIN- The 2021-22 Athens Bluejays varsity boys basketball team enjoys its 34-31 WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinals win against Turtle Lake, propelling the Bluejays into the sectional championship. Athens players pictured, from left to right, are: sophomore Andy Schaer, senior Andrew Frick, sophomore Ty Johnson, junior Nathan Wolf, junior Connor Komarek, junior Connor Sheahan, sophomore Ryan Peel and senior Kody Lepak.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

HUMAN ERASER- Bluejays junior center Aiden Janke (25) blocks Lakers senior point guard Blake Thill’s shot from behind during Athens’ 34-31 WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal victory on Thursday night in the Eau Claire North High School gym. Janke posted a team-high eight blocks. His Athens teammates pictured are seniors Kody Lepak (23) and Cooper Diedrich (2).STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

FINDING ROOM ALONG THE BASELINE- Athens junior guard Connor Sheahan blows past a Turtle Lake defenders on the baseline in front of his head coach, Jeramie Penney, on the team’s bench.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER