The Lake Mills Bulldogs came in ranked fourth, seeded third, favored by ten, but knew that didn’t matter. North Union battled till the end of the game, giving the Bulldogs a test, but Lake Mills survived and advanced – winning 58-50.
Lake Mills started the game with a 12-point first-quarter lead, something to be expected as North Union debuted in Wells Fargo Arena. However, the Bulldogs knew more would be needed, playing two close games with North Union earlier this year. In December, the Bulldogs lost to North Union by four at home, and the Bulldogs got revenge in February, winning by two in Armstrong to claim the conference crown.
By the end of the opening quarter, Lake Mills was leading 16-7, but North Union opened the second quarter with a Preston Guerdet three-point basket. The Warriors dominated the opening half of the second frame when the score reached 19-18 Lake Mills two minutes into the quarter.
Thanks to back-to-back threes and a two by Logan Bacon and a transition bucket by Chace Gaetzke, Lake Mills was able to close the first half on a 15-7 run and head into halftime leading by nine 34-25.
Lake Mills extended that lead in the third quarter and led 47-34 heading into the final eight minutes.
North Union wasn’t ready to give up. They forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over six times in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. That lead that Lake Mills had 49-34 – after Lake Mills made the opening basket in the fourth quarter – was now gone. The Warriors scored 14 straight points on six made field goals, and those turnovers changed the entire game with just 2:52 remaining.
Lake Mills finally killed the run when Eli missed, Aiden Stensrud grabbed a rebound missed, and the third time, Stensrud got it to go, pushing the lead back to a full possession, 51-48.
Following a missed North Union shot, the Warriors quickly fouled Jackson Gaul – who made them pay, making both – giving Lake Mills a 53-48 advantage with 1:09 to play.
Guerdet was charged with an intentional foul; Helming made the free throws, Lake Mills got the ball, finally started winding down the clock, and won 58-50 to advance to the Class 1A semifinals.
(Bulldogs now 25-1, Warriors end the season 23-3)
STATS
LAKE MILLS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 02 Bacon, Logan........ * 4-6 2-3 3-7 2 5 7 1 13 0 4 0 0 29 03 Menke, Eli.......... * 4-13 2-8 0-0 1 4 5 2 10 1 0 0 1 31 04 Helming, Lance...... * 5-7 1-2 4-8 1 7 8 2 15 2 1 0 0 27 23 Stensrud, Aiden..... * 4-7 0-0 3-4 5 10 15 2 11 0 6 1 2 32 25 Gaul, Jackson....... * 2-7 1-4 2-4 0 4 4 2 7 6 3 0 2 32 01 Mannes, Alex........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 05 Koch, Kane.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 10 Delger, Nash........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 15 Wempen, Keaton...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 24 Honsey, Kyle........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 32 Gaetzke, Chace...... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 33 Huston, Tre......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ TEAM................ 1 1 2 2 Totals.............. 20-42 6-17 12-24 11 32 43 10 58 9 17 1 5 160 NORTH UNION
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Guerdet, Preston.... * 4-18 3-10 0-0 0 3 3 3 11 0 1 0 3 29 02 Fothergill, Danyal.. * 3-11 0-2 1-2 2 3 5 5 7 2 1 1 3 20 11 Jones, Kyan......... * 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 3 4 4 2 0 2 31 23 Lofstrom, Aiden..... * 6-8 1-2 0-0 0 5 5 2 13 1 0 0 0 29 33 Irmiter, Kody....... * 3-8 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 3 7 0 1 0 0 23 04 Walders, Caden...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 10 Colegrove, Greyson.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 12 Madden, Grady....... 2-5 2-5 1-2 1 1 2 4 7 4 0 0 1 24 13 Henderson, Drew..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 15 Jones, Khael........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 22 Beschorner, Bryce... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 30 Bruhn, Lane......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 20-56 7-24 3-6 5 18 23 21 50 12 6 1 9 160
Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total NORTH UNION................... 7 18 9 16 - 50 LAKE MILLS.................... 16 18 13 11 - 58
Lake Mills is making its second-straight trip to the semifinals after falling in the semis in 2022 to Grand View Christian. They will meet second-seeded (3rd-ranked) Marquette Catholic on Wednesday at 7:15 PM for a spot in the Class 1A finals at 1:00 PM Friday.
Marquette Catholic took down Gladbrook-Reinbeck in the quarterfinals before Lake Mills and North Union played.
Led by 3rd-year coach Isaac Sturm, The Defenders are 26-1 on the season. They had a BEDS enrollment (9-11) of just 48 and are making a ninth tournament appearance in school history. The Roman Catholic school in Bellevue, Iowa, is 220 miles from Wells Fargo Arena and 232 miles from Lake Mills. The town sits on the shores of the Mississippi River 24 miles south of Dubuque.
The school, founded in 1957, recently changed its mascot from the Mohawks to The Defenders. They last made the state tournament in 2006, when they lost in the 1A title game to George Little Rock 49-47. The Defenders last lost in the 2004 semifinals 66-50 to Manning.
Spencer Roeder has scored over 420 points this year, averaging 16 points a night. Eli Scott adds another 11.5 ppg. Kannon Still has made 51 three-pointers this season but was 0-4 in the opening-round win against the Rebels.
