Sophomore shines on Senior Night

On a night that was set aside for the seniors, Brookfield Central sophomore Riley LaChance stole the spotlight in the Lancers' 60-50 Greater Metro Conference victory Friday at Central.

LaChance overcame early foul trouble - he had two fouls with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter and had to leave - to score a game-high 21 points. He spread his points out evenly each quarter, scoring five, six, five and five through the game.

"Riley is so battle-tested. He's smart; he has a high basketball IQ," Lancers coach Mark Adams said. "Sometimes I'm ready to yell something out and he's called it already. Usually you don't get that until the end of somebody's junior year and he's getting it as a sophomore.

"He is also very unselfish. He had about seven-eight assists tonight."

Upset with foul trouble

LaChance was upset with his early foul trouble.

"Nobody likes to sit on the bench," he said. "Especially with all the minutes I've played this season. It's something I'm not used to. But I supported my teammates; I think I did that. I cheered on the guys that were in there.

"I knew I couldn't get another one. I concentrated on my offense and tried to play smarter on defense."

Central was leading, 16-8, when the Red Raiders went on a 9-0 run. Nate Moore hit two free throws, Diamonte Mckinley hit a 3-pointer, Riley Poe scored on a putback and then added two free throws to give Tosa East a 17-16 lead.

At that point assistant coach Chris Foley suggested to Adams that they put LaChance back in the game with 3:48 left in the half.

First LaChance stole the ball and scored and then nailed a jumper for a 20-17 lead but Tosa East's Ben Carpenter nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game. But then Nick Olson put in a rebound shot, Matt Lauritzen scored on a drive and LaChance closed out the first half with two free throws for a 26-20 lead.

"There were different runs; a game within a game," Adams said. "I didn't like the way we started out, then we picked up some fouls and instead of playing through it, we didn't have the 'next play' mentality like we talked about."

Tosa East came out and Mckinley hit a jumper and two free throws to cut the lead to 26-24, but that was as close as the Red Raiders would get.

Mortag lends helping hand

Seth Mortag, who spent most of the first half on the bench with some quick foul trouble, then turned up his game, as he scored 10 of his 15 points in the third period.

Central went on a 12-2 run from 6:38 through 3:19, as Mortag and LaChance scored on jumpers before LaChance turned two steals into two assists when Mortag slammed in two dunks to bring the crowd to its feet.

After Tosa East's Ben Mihelich scored on a rebound, Mortag scored twice, the second on another assist from LaChance for a 38-26 lead.

The Red Raiders hung in there, staying within five to seven points but Central hit 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch.

Mortag also added two more dunks in the fourth quarter, giving him four for the game.

"We hang in there a lot, but hanging in there isn't good enough," a dejected Tim Arndorfer said. "We battle back, but we are so good at giving leads right back to them. We can close gaps and then let them extend leads. Unfortunately, that's what we've been very good at."

On a night where nine seniors played their last regular-season game, it was the sophomore who helped get the Lancers back on track.

"When he's in there, he does so much to make everyone else better," Adams said. "Whether pushing the ball up or finding people."

REGIONAL SEEDING

West Allis Central Regional

1. Milwaukee King (17-1)

2. Milwaukee Vincent (15-5)

3. West Allis Central (15-4)

4. Brookfield Central (16-5)

5. Milwaukee Riverside (15-5)

6. Brookfield East (9-12)

7. Marquette (7-13)

8. Milwaukee Bradley Tech (7-13)

9. West Allis Hale (5-16)

10. Milwaukee Lifelong Learning/Ronald Reagan

Local first-round games

Brookfield Central hosts Milwaukee Riverside on March 2 and Brookfield East travels to West Allis Central for a WIAA regional semifinal. Both are 7 p.m. games.