Milwaukee Academy of Science wins title

MADISON – For the first time in program history, Milwaukee Academy of Science boys basketball has a won a WIAA gold ball.

The Novas defeated Freedom, 57-54, in the WIAA Division 3 boys state basketball title game at the Kohl Center on Saturday. It was the third WIAA state tournament appearance for MAS in four seasons.

In 2022, the Novas lost 55-45 to Roncalli in the D4 state title game. The following year MAS made it back to state, but fell by a 93-65 margin to West Salem in the D3 semifinal. Another promising bid in 2024 was derailed by a sectional semifinal run-in with eventual D3 state champion St. Thomas More.

After three years of near misses, the sun finally shined on the Novas. MAS head coach Agape Keys thanked God and gave kudos to Freedom for a title game that was competitive to the very end.

“We had to fight today, we had to show some real resiliency,” Keys said. “It’s different winning the championship, and I know for us to be on this side of the playing field and them be on the other side, I feel like they’re still champions too. They played a real good game.”

Few fought harder or gave more to the cause than Devin Brown, who led the Novas with 17 points and 19 rebounds despite missing the final five minutes of the game. While defending 6-foot-8 Donovan Davis, who Brown held to four second-half points after a 13-point first half, Brown came down awkwardly on a previously fractured left foot he said was not fully healed.

“I’m in a little pain right now, but I just wanted a gold ball. It was worth it,” Brown said. “It wasn’t 100% I would say, about 90. I rushed it to just come back and be with my team and win the state championship, but it will be OK.”

Coach Keys shifted to a guard-heavy lineup after Brown’s exit with 4:59 remaining, with D’Anthony Brown taking the floor for Devin in the paint. Devin Brown’s four-year batterymate, Jamarion Batemon, reminded teammates they have been in similar situations before as the Novas clung to a 52-46 advantage.

“It just gave me another reason why I got to get it done,” Batemon said of Brown’s injury. “He couldn’t finish out, so I’m like, ‘Make it worth it. Make that injury going as hard as you can worth it to get the win.’ “

Freedom inched closer on layups by Drew Kortz and Davis to get within 55-50 with 1:27 remaining, followed by another Kortz layup with 59 seconds remaining. After a jump ball with possession favoring the Irish on the ensuing MAS inbound, Kortz knocked down a jumper to pull within 55-54 with 26.1 remaining. Amare Jackson scored a layup with 19 seconds left on a fast break to pull the lead back out to a full possession, before a close call with 10 seconds left all but clinched things for the Novas.

Kortz, who had 29 points for the game, drove the lane and drew a charge on contact with Novas guard Deuce Burkes. Freedom head coach Andrew Gibbons was asked about the close call after the game.

“We talk about things we can control, things we can’t,” Gibbons said. “Doesn’t really matter if we agree with it, that was the call and we came up short.”

Jackson missed the front-end of a one-and-one on the ensuing MAS possession, giving Freedom one last shot with nine seconds remaining. Irish senior AJ Wesoloski put up a last-second three that came up short of the basket, clinching the Novas’ four-year ascent to the D3 state title.

Batemon followed Brown with 16 points, with Jackson adding 10, Agape Keys Jr. scoring seven, Burkes with six and D’Anthony Brown adding one.

Coach Keys said Saturday’s title was the culmination of years of hard work, particularly for seniors Batemon, Brown, Jackson and Keys Jr..

“These kids coming from inner city Milwaukee, we all know it’s not promising for kids of their ages every day,” Keys said. “For them to wake up and say, ‘Hey, I want to play basketball. Hey, I want to be a 4.0 student, I want to go play college basketball.’ That’s a (difficult) decision to make, you know, in the city.”

Devin Brown was relishing the moment through the pain he was experiencing well after postgame festivities.

“Winning a state championship, period, is an awesome feeling, but especially since we lost in this championship freshman year and then next year we came up again and lost,” Brown said. “We know how it feels to lose. This year, we were like, ‘OK, we really got to buckle down, do whatever it takes to get over the hump,’ and we did it this year.”

The Novas reached the state final with a 65-61 win over Lake Mills on Thursday in the state semifinal. Batemon hit a go-ahead three to make it 63-61 with just under two minutes to play, before Devin Brown clinched the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.

On a team full of heroic performers in key moments, coach Keys said the lasting message to future teams will be to be a difference maker.

“Who gonna be a difference maker? You can dunk, you can shoot, you can slide … who gonna be the difference maker? And that’s gonna be the way the program is gonna be from here on out: Who gon’ make a difference?” Keys said. “That’s it, to get us from here to there. Who’s gonna embrace the complications to get us from here to there. That’s gonna be the message moving forward.”