GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – The Roncalli Jets upset the top seed Milwaukee Academy of Science on Saturday to claim the second state championship in program history.
The Novas of MAS could have been considered the favorites to bring home gold in division four, and cruised to an 86-59 victory over Cameron in the semifinals.
The Jets had other plans.
“They just fought. A lot of people wrote us off, we saw some social media today about how we didn’t have a chance. I said, ‘everybody else might not believe in us, but I knew that we believed in us,” said head coach Joe Garcau.
Roncalli hung with MAS in the first half, and pulled in front on a late bucket by Reece Stangel ahead of the halftime horn. Coming out of the locker room the Jets kept piling it on. Opening the second half with a 10-0 by attacking the basket.
The Jets did most of their damage by getting into the paint. Scoring 30 points inside on 15 lay-ups, they were able to seize control early in the second half.
At the same time they were stout defensively. Holding Milwaukee Academy of Science to just 24 percent from the field and a season low 45 points. Leading to a 55-45 victory and a state title for Roncalli.
“We’re not going to back down from anyone just because they’re ranked number one, or their name is Milwaukee Academy of Science, we’re going to stay in there, battle for each other. When we believed in each other, we knew we could do it.”
“One of our goals at the beginning of the season, we wanted to make a run to state. We made it, we won, and now we get to go back to Roncalli with a gold ball,” said senior Reece Stangel.
“I remember the last time we won it in 2018, going to the middle school, and these guys were sitting in the gym as we paraded through the school. You know, those young guys like my son, the look up to these guys like they’re NBA players. It inspires them,” said Garceau.
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