The Arrowhead boys basketball team had their season come to an end on Saturday, March 2nd. The Warhawks who obtained the four seed in the WIAA State Tournament lost to the visiting fifth seed Homestead. The Warhawks lost by a score of 79 to 69 making Homestead the 2019 WIAA Division 1 Regional Champions.

The Warhawks were down at half, 38-30. Arrowhead could not keep up with Hamilton, who shot 65% from the floor, making 30 of their 46 shots. Arrowhead shot 41% from the field and missed 22 shots from behind the three-point arc, making 10 of their 32 attempts.   

The Warhawks could not stop Homestead’s senior guard Ryan Waddell who dropped 30 points in the game. Arrowhead Junior Forward, Carter Gilmore had 26 points and 9 rebounds to lead the team. Senior Guard Tyler Gouin had 20 points, Sophomore Forward, Sam Hytinen had 12, and Senior Guard, Cole Kyle, led the team with five assists.

Gilmore was named the 2019 Classic 8 Conference player of the year. Along with being named the player of the year, Gouin was named to the Classic 8 Conference first team, Kyle was named to the second team, and Senior Jack Hazod was given an honorable mention.  

Dominic Siriani, a super fan of the Arrowhead boys basketball team, shared his thoughts on the game and the season coming to an end. “Personally I think it sucks. I think the team should have played better on defense and used Jacob Boray more off the bench. The officiating was horrible, there were some terrible calls, and it seemed to me that the officials and one of the Homestead coaches were buddies and were somehow colluding, number 15 [Ryan Waddell]. [It] was insane. He rarely missed a shot [so I have to] give him so[me] credit,” said Siriani.  

The Warhawks will be playing next year without the following senior players Gouin, Kyle, Hazod, Jacob Boray, and Barrin Griffin. Boray gave some insight on what it was like playing his last basketball game in the Arrowhead uniform.

“At the time I really was not sure that it would be the last game of my career or this team’s last game of the season, but I am very proud of what we had accomplished as a team and I am extremely happy that I was given an amazing opportunity to play for such a great program,” said Boray.

 The Warhawks finished their season with a 19-5 record. Homestead continued their season playing Sussex Hamilton and Patrick Baldiwn Jr. (ranked the number one overall recruit for the 2021 class by ESPN) on Thursday, March 7th at Hartford High School. Sussex Hamilton won that game,  73-60. Baldiwn Jr. had 15 points for Hamilton and Waddell led Homestead with 19 points. Hamilton will face Brookfield Central in the Sectional Finals.