March 21, 2026 – Madison, WI – It wasn’t the ending Slinger imagined, but it doesn’t erase what this group built.
The Owls ran into a relentless Whitefish Bay squad Saturday night in the WIAA Division 2 state championship, falling 77–46 in a game that tilted early and never quite leveled out.
“First off, congratulations to Whitefish Bay. Really good team,” head coach Alex Lavine said. “We had some really good games this season against them. They were just better than us tonight… in every facet unfortunately.”
From the opening minutes, Slinger struggled to find rhythm offensively while Whitefish Bay dictated pace and physicality. The Owls never fully recovered from the slow start.
“I thought offensively early on, we just really couldn’t get a basket to go,” Lavine said. “Then we ended up eventually in the second half kind of finding an offensive rhythm, but then we couldn’t stop them. They were more physical than us and their speed bothered us a lot.”
Lavine said, as the game progressed… things “just snowballed.”
“We got off to kind of a slow start… and just never able to kind of string anything meaningful together,” he said.
Still, the final score told only part of the story.
Lavine made it clear that, beyond the scoreboard, this team’s legacy is already cemented.
“Let’s just put the basketball aside… we’re just really proud of our kids and what they’ve done,” he said. “They’ve elevated the level of the program. What they’ve done for this community is so special.”
That legacy is rooted in a senior class that helped transform Slinger into a state contender. Lavine reflected emotionally on coaching Brett Palm, Bryson Fogle, Colton Mantz, and Devin Berger—players he’s known since childhood.
“Whether we won or lost today was going to be a sad day for me… just because of what these seniors have meant to us,” he said. “Who they are as people and what they’ve been willing to do… their willingness to embrace hard things, to give us everything that they had, and they did that.”
And in no uncertain terms, Lavine put this team in historic context.
“I told them this in the locker room… it’s not up for debate… this is the best team that’s ever come out of Slinger,” he said. “So let’s recognize that this is a really special group.”
Senior Bryson Fogle echoed that pride, even through the sting of the loss.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I mean, I love the guys. Just every playoff game, we just wanted 36 more minutes… to play with each other, play for each other.”
Slinger’s path to the title game was anything but easy. The Owls battled through a loaded North Shore Conference and a gauntlet postseason that included wins over Nicolet, Port Washington, Green Bay Notre Dame and McFarland.
“There was no easy way,” Lavine said. “They just went one game at a time, 36 minutes at a time. They just bought into the work and they did it again and again and again.”
That journey made Saturday’s result feel even more out of character.
“Tonight… it’s just not who we are, to be honest,” Lavine said. “We haven’t been beat like this… it’s just uncharacteristic.”
Whitefish Bay’s zone defense and depth proved difficult to crack for a third time this season.
“Their zone… it’s presented a lot of challenges for us all year,” said Jack Kohnen, who finished with 13 points. “Tonight, shots weren’t falling, their shots were falling… it was their night and we just couldn’t get it going.”
Even in defeat, the Owls understand what they accomplished—and what they’ve set in motion for the future.
“It was definitely in our minds,” Fogle said of reaching state. “But we kind of just took it one game at a time… this loss hopefully will carry on next year… a little motivation.”
On a side note:
-Post-game stats show Slinger shot 27 percent from the field compared to WFB 62 percent.
-The Kohnen brothers had a difficult time from the floor. Joey shot 2 for 17 and Jack, who finished with 35 pointes the night before, was 3 for 15 from the floor. Bryson Fogle led the Owls with 20 points including 4 three pointers.
-Whitefish Bay had four players in double figures including Jack Broderson who led the team with 23.
-The Blue Dukes advanced to the championship round with a 64-58 win over West Salem.
-Entering the game, Slinger was 2-0 vs. Whitefish Bay this season. The first encounter the Owls won 56-55 and later in the season Slinger came home with another win, 58-56.
