The Milwaukee Juneau Pioneers won their first-ever gold ball by defeating Cambridge in the Division 4 title game in Madison, but their second-half strategy is drawing attention.
Taking advantage of the absence of a shot clock in Wisconsin high school basketball, Milwaukee Juneau held the ball for more than 90 seconds in the second half. Slowing the game down helped the Pioneers play their style of basketball.
Head Coach Torre Johnson Jr. explained how the strategy helped his team.
“There were a couple of drives where I felt the boys got hit a couple of times, and there were no calls being made. All right, we’re going to slow it down and bring it out and make those guys come out and guard. So when that happened, that forced them to come out, which opened up lanes for Jaden Hardiman. He has the guys one-on-one, and they can pack the paint, which opened up us getting a lot of dunks and weak-side baskets,” Johnson said…