Milton’s Matt Kirk scores on a layup during the Red Hawks’ regional quarterfinal game against Baraboo in Milton in February. Kirk led his team in scoring with 21 points.
The Milton boys basketball team capped off another great season with a third-place conference finish and a playoff victory.
Backcourt play keyed the Red Hawks’ success this season. Senior guard Matt Kirk and junior guard Ayden Goll led the team in scoring with 14 and 14.9 points per game, respectively.
Milton’s Matt Kirk scores on a layup during the Red Hawks’ regional quarterfinal game against Baraboo in Milton in February. Kirk led his team in scoring with 21 points.
Anthony Wahl
Both guards created offense and anchored Milton’s perimeter defense.
Right behind the duo was senior 6-foot-6 forward Brogan McIntyre, who scored 13.7 points a game.
Brogan McIntyre of Milton throws down a two-handed slam on a fast break in the first half a game against Oregon at Milton High School in December.
Anthony Wahl
“They improved so much as far as making their teammates and each other better,” Milton coach Alex Olson said about the three players. “That gave us an opportunity to win toward the end of the year and finish top three in the Badger Conference. All three of those guys are going to be in the record books in some form or fashion, and Ayden’s got another year, too.”
Milton’s Ayden Goll challenges the shot of Fort Atkinson’s Eli Cosson during a Badger East Conference game at Milton High in February.
Anthony Wahl
Kirk, Goll and McIntyre might have headlined the Red Hawks’ roster, but Milton’s depth contributed to its 15-11 record.
At the outset of the season, depth was a concern for the Red Hawks, but the rotation quickly grew, found consistency with one another and played important roles.
“To be honest, one of my concerns going into this season was our depth,” Olson said. “We had a lot of guys in a lot of new roles. I was concerned about our four through 10 and what that would look like. Going into Senior Night and games in the playoffs, that’s not something that I was too concerned about.”
Guard Logan Branch scored five points per contest and guard Laine Twist scored six points per game and earned Milton’s most improved player award.
Milton played hard in every game this season that featured three different three-game winning streaks. The Red Hawks closed out their regular season with wins over Fort Atkinson, Monona Grove and DeForest.
The Red Hawks were playing their most consistent basketball heading into their first regional game and it showed in their 66-52 win over Baraboo.
“Every year is so different, and I would say the thing with this group is we could literally beat anyone,” Olson said about what made this year’s team special. “Anyone that played us knew the danger that we were going to give them. I felt like toward the end of the year, we are kind of striving toward that consistency, which is the word we talked about. We ended the regular season on the longest win streak of the year, and we were finally defending at an extremely high level.”
While Milton ended its season with a 67-45 loss to Mount Horeb in regional play, Olson sees the success of the season and play of the Red Hawks’ top three players as more fuel to Milton’s dominant run.
“We’re kind of in a golden age of Milton basketball and hopefully it’s something where these guys break records and the fellas watching them in the stands can break them five or eight years from now,” Olson said. “We really want to make this thing sustainable.”
