Tigers play top-ranked Oshkosh North in sectional semifinal Thursday at Appleton North

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

NEENAH — Ethan Posteluk scored off a rebound with three seconds left to lift the Marshfield boys basketball team to a come-from-behind 70-69 win over Neenah in a WIAA Division 1 regional final Saturday night at Neenah High School.

After a timeout, Neenah turned the ball over out of bounds with 1.1 seconds to go. Marshfield threw the ball down court and Neenah intercepted, but the Rockets’ heave from three-quarters court missed left, giving the Tigers the win.

The Tigers (16-8), winners of eight straight, move on to a sectional semifinal against the top-ranked team in Division 1, Oshkosh North (24-0), at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Appleton North. Marshfield lost to Oshkosh North 74-46 in its season-opener back on Nov. 25.

The winner moves on to a sectional final Saturday, March 11. If Marshfield wins, the game will be played at a site to be announced. If Oshkosh North wins, the game will be played at Marshfield at 4 p.m. Two-time defending Division 1 state champion Stevens Point (20-4) and Eau Claire North (20-4) play in the other sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday at Eau Claire Memorial.

“Win or lose, it was a great high school basketball game,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “It was a very well-played game, and it’s one of those where it is unfortunate someone had to lose. I’m really happy for our guys, especially to come back from eight down and pull it out.”

Marshfield jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led for nearly the entire first half. Neenah crawled back to take a 31-30 lead before Adam Hauge made layup at the halftime buzzer to put the Tigers up 34-33 at the break.

Neenah (15-9) built a 59-52 lead midway through the half before the Tigers mounted a comeback.

Marshfield went on a 7-0 run to tie it, capped off by two free throws from Reed Miller.

The game was tight the rest of the way. Seth Anderson made two free throws to tie the game at 68-68 with approximately 15 seconds to go. Neenah then made one of two free throws at the line before Posteluk’s game-winner.

Posteluk finished with 22 points, and Anderson and Alec Hinson each had 12 for Marshfield.

The Tigers made 23 of 27 free throws in the win.

“We came ready to play,” Scheuer said. “We shot the ball well initially. (At the end), there was no action on the play I set up. We worked through all the options, and the thing I said during the timeout (before the final possession) was we had to make sure we rebounded, have five guys in the lane if we miss. Ethan was in the right place at the right time and put it in the basket.”

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Tigers 70, Rockets 69

Marshfield 34 36 – 70

Neenah 33 36 – 69

MARSHFIELD (70): Ethan Posteluk 7-14 6-6 22, Brant Bohman 0-3 0-0 0, Seth Anderson 4-7 4-5 12, Reed Miller 2-6 4-4 8, Alec Hinson 2-4 7-10 12, Grant Michaelis 3-9 2-2 10, Nathan McGrath 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Meverden 1-2 0-0 2, Adam Hauge 1-1 0-0 2, Nick Stewart 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 21-48. FT: 23-27. 3-pointers: 5-16 (Michaelis 2-5, Posteluk 2-5, Hinson 1-3, Bohman 0-1, Miller 0-2). Rebounds: 25 (Anderson 6). Assists: 13 (Michaelis 4). Turnovers: 4. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: none. Record: 16-8.

NEENAH (69): Statistics not provided. Record: 15-9.