Scales Mound basketball goes out the way it came in. With a victory

The semifinal game wasn’t Scales Mound.

This, this is who Scales Mound is.

The Little School That Could recovered from a Thursday afternoon semifinal beatdown by Liberty to roll over Steeleville 55-34 seven hours later to claim third place in the Class 1A state boys basketball finals at State Farm Center in Champaign.

"That was extremely important. And pleasing," coach Erik Kudronowicz said. "All credit to Liberty for making us uncomfortable and making us look like who we aren't, but that was the whole game plan, to get back to playing Hornet basketball and represent NUIC basketball and Joe Daviess County."

Scales Mound, the sixth-smallest public school in the state with 77 students, took control early, ending the first quarter with a 12-point run to move ahead 14-5. Steeleville never got closer than seven points again.

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Charlie Wiegel, a junior reserve, ended the quarter with a 3 at the buzzer. That continued a theme for the day. Scales Mound has been carried by its five senior starters most of the year, but all 15 Hornets got to play in both games Thursday, with 12 of them attempting at least one shot in the semifinal. In the third-place game, Wiegel and junior guard Jacob Duerr got in the game in the very first quarter. Also, Kudronowicz pulled all five senior starters with 2:58 to play and the Hornets ahead by 21.

"When you get Downstate, the experience is for everyone," Kudronowicz said. "We have a great starting five, one of the best in 1A, but we also have a bench that has worked all season and deserves to get in the game. All 15 players got in both games. That was important to me and to the program."

The two 6-foot-4 Bens, who have been Scales Mound’s two leading scorers and rebounders for three years, led the Hornets to their third-place finish, as they quickly recovered from their 75-41 loss to Liberty. Ben Werner had 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The eight assists were especially big, with Scales Mound's 6-4 center finishing with 153 assists on the season, only eight short of Fosler's team lead.

"That's part of his game we have been developing the last two years," Kudronowicz said. "When he was a freshman and a sophomore, he was a very good player, but he played with his back to the basket. If we were to be the team we thought we could be, he had to be the distributor of the basketball. You saw the benefit of that today. When they started double- and triple-teaming him, he found his teammates. That made us such a better team."

Werner also made 5 of 6 shots. Benjamin Vandigo, a first-team all-stater who was held to 3 points and only attempted five shots in the semifinal loss, had a game-high 16 points. He made 7 of 14 shots as Scales Mound shot 48 percent as a team (21 of 44).

"Give credit to Liberty in that first game; they were physical with him and did things to take him away," Kudronowicz said. "In this game, the kids did a great job of giving him the ball where he could take advantage of his size. Also, Benjamin knew this was his last game and he went out and put on a show for everybody."

The entire starting five nearly shot 50 percent, with Zayden Ellsworth (7 points on 3-for-8 shooting) missing by one basket. Sam Cocagne had seven points on 3-for-6 shooting and Collin Fosler nine points on 2-for-3 shooting, plus 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.

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No player from Steeleville made half of his shots. The Warriors shot 31 percent (13-for-42), including 1-for-10 from 3-point range. Jacob Gross (4-for-9) led Steeleville with 11 points.

Scales Mound, a team that refused to split up even during its summer AAU seasons, showed its teamwork by finishing with 14 assists, to only four for Steeleville, which finished 29-8. The Hornets also showed their balance on the boards, holding a 33-20 rebounding advantage. Four Hornets grabbed at least five rebounds: Werner with 10, Vandigo with six and Ellsworth and Fosler with five each. Steeleville had only one player with more than four, Zach Mevert with seven.

Scales Mound finished 36-3. That is the most wins ever by any Rockford-area basketball team. The previous record by any NIC-10, NUIC or Big Northern team was East’s 34-4 mark in 2019, when the E-Rabs finished fourth in the state in Class 4A.

Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @MattTrowbridge. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA basketball state playoffs: Scales Mound wins third in Class 1A