King scores 9, McCabe goes for 31
MADISON — The season came to a disappointing end Friday for the Central High School boys basketball team.
In a rematch with No. 2-ranked Kaukauna, the fourth-ranked Red Raiders couldn’t score.
The Ghosts win in a 72-56 blowout at the Kohl Center in the WIAA Division 2 state tournament semifinals.
Central (22-5) shot just 17-for-60 from the field (28.3 percent) and 5-for-22 from beyond the arc – 0-for-10 from deep in the second half.
Kobe King, a University of Wisconsin commit, scored just nine points. Junior shot just 3-for-15 from the field, while teammate Kale Bailey was 6-for-23 and, a baffling 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in scoring 13 for the Red Raiders, who were making their first trip to state since 1986.
Kaukauna phenom Jordan McCabe was hot. The sophomore phenom scored 31, going 5-for-10 from deep. The Ghosts (25-2) shot 23-for-49 from the field (46.9%) and 9-for-22 from deep (40.9%).
The last time these two teams played, King had 26 and McCabe scored 20 in an 80-65 Central loss on Jan. 16 at the La Crosse Center.
In this one, it was a 33-23 lead for Kaukauna at halftime and was never closer than that in the second half.
Bailey hit a jumper – and was fouled but missed the free throw – with 6:10 remaining to pull the Red Raiders within 13 points, and then things got really out of hand.
Kaukauna finished the game on a 20-6 run.