Two minutes into the game with Lancaster in the D3 regional finals Mineral Point took advantage of baskets by Aiden Patterson and Drew Aschliman for a 4-3 lead.
But then the Flying Arrows put the ball in Dayne Kaufman’s hands and he, in turn, put it through the basket. By halftime Kaufman had 14 points in the book and, along with 23 more from Taylor Williams Lancaster led 37-23 at the break.
The Arrows had seven of their eight three pointers the first 28 minutes with Kaufman going deep for four of them. He finished the game with five.
Kaufman ended the night with 26 points and Williams netted 20. Zach Hermsen had a 12 point second half and added 16.
The Arrows were also coming through with some defensive stops. With a player following Aschliman around, staying with him everywhere but in the huddle, the senior was limited in opportunities to score.
Needing a spark the Pointers went to Thorin Vamstad who put up 16 points, all in the second half.
Keaton Dempsey led the Pointes with 21 markers and Patterson finished with 14.
The Pointers were able to erase a double digit deficit in the second half but the road to a comeback was too long.
Pointer coach Bret McGraw said the hot start by the Arrows dictated how the game would go.
“We ran into a Lancaster team that played very well together, shot the ball confidently and came ready to play on the defensive end,” said McGraw. “I thought we took a few too many quick shots early on and they were able to get a few too many open looks and their confidence built from there. We got down by more than 20 and still battled back to cut it to single digits to give ourselves a chance. In the end we just dug ourselves too big of a hole to be able to climb out’
McGraw pointed out some strong performances by some of the players.
“Drew and Keaton were great leaders all year but just couldn’t get some of those shots to fall, especially early. Lancaster did a good job of making it difficult for them to get going. Thorin Vamstad came in and gave us a lift knocking down some threes and playing extremely hard.”
McGraw reflected on his first year guiding the Pointer program. “I am incredibly proud of our guys for the season we had,” McGraw said. “Anytime you can win 20 games that is a mark of a team that consistently showed up to work and gave it everything they had.
“We started the season 3-3 and were able to come together and put together a heck of a run and beat some really good teams along the way. I feel for the seniors. They put in a lot of work over these past four years and having 11 seniors stick it out says something about the type of young men we have in our program. These boys were part of a state team appearance last year, and Drew and Keaton were on the State Championship team in 2024. They have created a lifetime of memories from their time in our program and I am going miss them a lot.
“Replacing experienced seniors is always tough especially when you lose 11. This group will always hold a special place in my heart since they were my first team as head coach. I am very lucky to start off with such a great group of young men.”
SCORE BY HALVES
Lancaster 37 42 79
Mineral Point 23 39 62
BOX SCORE:
LANCASTER 79 (fg-ft-tp): D. Kauffman 9-3-26, T. Williams 9-1- 20, Z. Hermsen 6-4-16, L. Weber 0-6-6, B. Mack 2-0-5, B. Schmitz 1-0-3, A. Busch 1-0-2, B. Crubel 0- 1-1, E. Cicero 0-0-0, A. Wilson 0- 0-0, M. Harris 0-0-0. Totals 28-15/25-79. Fouls- 14.
MINERAL POINT 62: K. Dempsey 8-2-21, T. Vamstad 6-0- 16, A. Patterson 6-0-14, D. Aschliman 3-1-9, H. Schroeder 0-1-1, C. Ripp 0-1-1, G. Finley 0-0-0, B. Bossert 0-0-0, B. Lee 0-0-0, G. Godfrey 0-0-0, K. Wenger 0-0-0, C. Schroeder 0-0-0, T. Sylvester 0- 0-0. Totals 23-5/12-62. 19.
3 Pointers Made:
LA-D. Kauffman 5, T. Williams 1, B. Mack 1.
MP- T. Vamstad 4, K. Dempsey 3, A. Patterson 2, D. Aschliman 2.