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Prep SportsDefending Champs Survive, Beat GermantownBy Katie DeLong
MADISON - The two-time defending champions weren't about to give up their title in the first round.
Oshkosh West got double-figure scoring from four players and rallied to beat Germantown 66-63 in overtime in Thursday's Division 1 quarterfinals of the Wisconsin state boys basketball tournament.
The Wildcats (18-7) got 15 points from Michael Maas, 13 each from Paul Wojahn and John Benkoske and 11 from David Anderson.
Germantown (22-2) was led by Nick Doedens with 20 points. Rick Bowers added 15 and Ben Averkamp had 11.
"What a high school basketball game ... unbelievable," Oshkosh coach Brad Clark said. "We did a great job defensively. We survived 3-point shots by Doedens -- what a shooter!"
The Wildcats will play highly touted Madison Memorial (22-2) in Friday's semifinals.
"This is a team of survival," Clark said. "We've got the most losses and the least amount of wins of all the teams here. But we're on a roll right now. What we have is tough kids who play hard."
His team got off to a slow start, falling behind 21-10. But they outscored Germantown 12-3 to trail 24-22 at halftime.
The Wildcats led 41-37 after three quarters and had a 58-55 lead when Bowers hit a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
"We got down, we fought back," Germantown coach Steve Showalter said. "We got down and fought back again. In overtime, it was anybody's game."
In the 4-minute extra period, Oshkosh West scored the first six points, but led 64-63 with 55 seconds left. Free throws by Jacob Mosling and Anderson, sandwiched around a Germantown turnover on an inbounds pass, set the stage for another exciting finish.
With 6.6 seconds left, the Warhawks brought the ball up court for what they hoped would be a shot to force another overtime. Bower passed to Averkamp, who seemingly had his 3-pointer on line, but it bounced off the rim.
"I loved our shot at the end," Showalter said. "That's as good a shot as we're going to get."
"You couldn't draw up a better play," Bowers said. "We fought back and it was there at the end."
The Warhawks were making their initial appearance in the state tournament.
"That's a wonderful feeling," Bowers said. "When I have kids down the line, I want to tell them I was a part of that."
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