MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Kaylor Zimmerman from Green Bay NEW Lutheran attempted to steal the spotlight from Randolph, which nearly squandered a 21-point lead in a WIAA Division 5 state boys basketball semifinal.
Aaron Retzlaff and T.J. Huizenga scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, to lift the Rockets to a 56-49 victory against Green Bay NEW Lutheran Friday in a state semifinal Friday at the Kohl Center.
Randolph (24-3) will vie for its ninth tournament title Saturday in the championship game against Clayton (25-1). The Rockets, who are the defending state champs, have been to state in eight out of the past 10 seasons.
The Rockets bolted to a 27-13 lead through two quarters, and after a Huizenga layup, felt confident with a 41-20 margin with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
But Zimmerman, who scored 17 of his game high 22 points in the fourth quarter, was relentless in helping the Blazers contend over the final minutes.
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A basket and free throw by Matt Irizarry helped Lutheran pull within seven at 43-36 with 5:07 to go in the game. Zimmerman then assumed control, but his effort fell short.
Zimmerman strung together a 13-0 run of his own in the final 3:41 of the game, and the senior's 3-pointer from the top of the key cut the lead to two at 48-46 with 1:45 to go.
"What Kaylor Zimmerman did -- that's one of the greatest performances I've ever seen an individual do under those circumstances," said coach Bob Haffele, who has been at the helm at Randolph for 21 seasons.
"We tried different (defenders) on Zimmerman and different defenses. We had opportunities in the fourth quarter, and things can go the other way. We were fortunate enough to hold on this time"
Senior forward Aaron Gosse added 14 for Lutheran. The Blazers (22-5) were making their second consecutive trip to the tournament after a runner-up finish to Randolph in 2010.
Lutheran coach Mark Meerstein said the Blazers could not recover from digging such a deep hole at the start of the game. Furthermore, it didn't help that the Rockets shot 20-for-26 from the free-throw line.
Despite the setback, Meerstein said his squad enjoys running up and down the floor, and persevered with a fast pace in the fourth quarter.
"We started too slow and made that push in the fourth," Meerstein said. "Kaylor missed a couple shots early and his confidence wasn't there to start.
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"We continued to battle and he just took it upon himself to get shots and do what he needed to do to get us back in contention."
