Upset-minded Goslings rocked, rattled by King

Madison Call it a fitting end to a hard-earned state championship.

Two rim-rattling dunks from senior Diante Flenorl in the final seconds of Rufus King's 77-62 win over Watertown Saturday in the WIAA Division 1 title game said it all. The Generals put to rest the disappointment of losing last year's championship game and let the celebrating begin at the UW Fieldhouse.

The first was of the alley-oop variety as Flenorl took senior Lucius Washington's lob and stuffed it with 29 seconds left. On the second dunk, Washington tossed the ball off the backboard to the 6-6 senior, who jammed it with two hands.

"We just wanted to send it out on a bang," said Flenorl, who finished with a team-high 17 points. "We knew we played hard so we wanted to end our senior year on a good note. That will be a play we can all sit down and laugh about 10 years down the line."

The Generals (26-1) will also probably laugh about how they had to overcome a feisty Watertown squad to capture the school's third state title. As it unfolded, however, the smiles were absent on the King bench.

Watertown (20-7) gave the Generals plenty to handle in the first three quarters. During those first 24 minutes, the Goslings hit almost everything in sight and responded to every King challenge.

The Goslings were shooting 71% (17 of 24) heading into the fourth quarter and led by 10 points on three occasions. They led by seven with under 35 seconds left in the third, but before the buzzer sounded, Watertown's dream tournament started to develop a nightmarish feel to it.

Six straight points, four off turnovers, cut the Goslings' lead to one, 44-43. And even though Watertown's Cale Vogel popped a jumper at the buzzer to push the lead back to three, the damage had already been done.

"Had we not got that (run), Watertown could have done some stuff to really deflate us," King Coach Jim Gosz said. "That was a big run. I knew we were capable of having a big run. I was just getting a little nervous there, but not panicking yet."

King's fourth quarter had to do wonders for Gosz's nerves. The Generals took their first lead of the game on a jumper Washington hit while being fouled. From that point on, King never looked back.

Washington, who finished with 11 points and nine assists, scored two baskets in a row then dished off to Corey Reed for a layup that gave the Generals a 52-47 lead with 5:43 left. The Goslings never came closer than three points after that.

King survived road games late in the season against Vincent and in the tournament against Wauwatosa East and Waukesha West. Saturday, its players drew from the experience.

"It showed us that when we get down we have to come together as a team and that's something we always do," said Reed, a senior. "We had a lot of games that were blowouts and if you go through a whole season and not have any pressure games, then you might see the team unfold."

King never came close to coming unglued, hitting 16 of 20 free throws in the fourth to seal the win. Senior Adriell Hughes, hit two down the stretch and finished with 13 points and sophomore Damien Ninkovic had 10 points and five rebounds, hitting four straight from the line in the final four minutes.

Junior Nathan Suhr and senior Cale Vogel led Watertown with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Sophomore Mike Oiler came off the bench for 10 points in 16 minutes.

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