Falcons Breeze Through Regional with Blowout Victory

If seniors Bryan Nagy and Stephen Pelkofer delivered a 1-2 punch that put the New Berlin West Vikings on their heels, it was Ian Ray who delivered the blow that turned out the Vikings’ light.

Ray drilled three 3-pointers in a 2 ½-minute stretch in the third quarter to give the Falcons an insurmountable third-quarter lead in route to a 69-49 win over the Vikings at home in a WIAA Division 2 regional final.

“He busted it open,” Whitnall coach Kent Kroupa said. “He created the separation that we needed. He makes those couple and West kind of goes, ‘Oh man, this is going to be an uphill climb.’”

The top-seeded Falcons (22-2) advanced to Thursday’s sectional semifinal at where they will play second-seeded Pius (21-3) at 7 p.m. The sectional final is Saturday at West Allis Central.

Ray finished with 12 points, all on 3-pointers. His long-distance shot with 4 minutes, 38 seconds left in the third put the Falcons up, 46-33, and less than a minute later, he drilled another for a 49-33 lead. His final bucket of the game with 2:10 left in the third put Whitnall ahead, 54-37.

Ray’s big shots came with the Vikings (17-7) already teetering on the brink of collapse, thanks to Nagy and Pelkofer’s first-half efforts. Nagy was active in the paint on both ends of the floor and scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter, including a turnaround jumper at the buzzer that put the Falcons up 23-13.

“He’s a senior who has gotten better for us at the end of the season,” Kroupa said. “He was a difference-maker in the post area, just that quick move, the left hand. Aggressive around the rim and a great vertical. He set the tone.”

And if Nagy set the tone, Pelkofer picked up the beat in the second quarter. He scored his team’s first 11 points, including three 3-pointers, en route to a game-high 19.

“We’ve been together a long time,” Kroupa said. “This was our house, our time. We weren’t going to be denied. Those guys were not going to go home losers, at least not in our home gym. They’ve played together forever. They have a special bond, they read each other. Bryan took over in the first and Stephen took over in the second."

Senior Luke Mentkowski chipped in 15 points for the Falcons, who avenged one of their two losses with Saturday’s victory. The Vikings beat the Falcons, 51-50, in December, but Whitnall was not going to be denied the second time around.

“We’re playing good basketball and the competition is going to get tougher as we move along,” Kroupa said. “But we got ourselves in a position to achieve our second goal and that’s to go to state. But it’s going to be very difficult with the teams we’ll have to play.”