Matt Trowbridge
Rockford Register Star
Published 4:49 a.m. CT March 10, 2023
CHAMPAIGN — Scales Mound coach Erik Kudronowicz gets the “Cinderella” references for a school of 68 kids that graduated all five starters last year but will play in the Class 1A state title game Saturday.
“We had that once in a lifetime team. … You don’t replace those kids this quickly,” he said after Thursday’s 40-27 semifinal win over Tuscola.
You do if Cinderella wears work boots instead of glass slippers.
Scales Mound shot a brutal 19 percent in the first half and only 28 percent from the game. But the Hornets hounded Tuscola, a team averaging 73 points in the postseason, into its worst game of the season, shooting 8-for-40.
“With this group, defense has always been a calling card all year," Kudronowicz said. "We’ve had to find different ways to win defensively. You saw at least three of those ways.”
Scales Mound started playing man-to-man, then switched to a 2-3 zone, then a 2-3 matchup zone for most of the game, then a 3-2 zone in the final minutes with an extra man outside to try to prevent 3-pointers as they clung to a seven-point lead.
“You can see the chess match that is being played,” Kudronowicz said.
In this chess match, no Hornet was a pawn. They all stepped up to play shut-down defense.
“They put up a lot of good pressure on us in the zone,” said Josiah Hortin, who shot 2-for-8 for Tuscola (30-7). “They made us speed it up. Credit to their defense, they made it tough to get it anywhere.”
The Warriors said they assumed they would be able to get the ball inside more against Scales Mound, whose tallest starter is 6-3. But they couldn’t. Nor could they find many open 3-pointers, shooting a brutal 3-for-23 from long range.
“It wasn’t so much the switching back and forth,” Tuscola coach Justin Bozarth said, “it was how well they guarded us.”
That was especially apparent in the final minutes. Tuscola would throw skip passes from one side of the court to another, finding a teammate with no one close to him. But by the time the ball arrived, a Hornet would be in his face, denying an open shot.
“That goes to our practices,” Scales Mound point guard Charlie Wiegel (six points, four assists) said. “They aren’t fun, but they help our close-outs. We know we’re not the biggest team, so we can’t let them drive past us. Once they get past our initial defense, if they are bigger and stronger, they can finish easily.”
Nor could Scales Mound afford to let Tuscola shoot an open 3.
“This is a really good shooting team,” Tuscola’s Bozarth said. “It’s the strength of our team. Our perimeter shooting all year has been impressive.”
But this time Tuscola couldn’t get open to shoot in rhythm. Not even playing in a Big Ten arena at the State Farm Center.
“We anticipated playing on a bigger court that we would have more space,” said Jordan Quinn, who shot 2-for-11 for Tuscola. “They were very active on the top of that 2-3. They worked really hard to cover us up and close out on our shooters.”
That team defense was backed up by team offense. Scales Mound made only 13 field goals, but all eight Hornets who played had at least one.
“As long as you are on the court, you are getting the job done,,” said Jacob Duerr, who had eight points and five rebounds and was one of three Hornets who played all 32 minutes. “That’s how all of us here play.”
“They’ve always been there,” said second-team All-Stater Thomas Hereau, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds. “When we need someone to rely on, we can have just about anyone come off the bench and help us.”
Dylan Slavenburg, a 6-8 exchange student from the Netherlands, came off the bench to deliver seven points and seven rebounds. Tuscola’s Bozarth also said Slavenburg was a big part of that suffocating defense.
“It comes down to practice,” Slavenburg said. “We practice so much. We work on defense. That’s what we are known for. They kept missing. Everything was going our way. We were unstoppable.”
Scales Mound will now play Waterloo Gibault Catholic (31-7), which hammered Bloomington Cornerstone Christian 70-46, for the state title Saturday. The Hornets now have gone even farther than their “team of a lifetime,” which finished third last year.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
