Three local boys teams advance, two do not
By Hub City Times staff
MARSHFIELD – Three local boys basketball teams are moving on in postseason play, while two have seen their seasons come to an end.
The Marshfield Tigers are one of those two teams. The Tigers lost their Division 1 regional championship contest at Hudson on March 2, falling to the Raiders 68-55. The Tigers could not erase a 20-point halftime deficit, even though they outscored Hudson 43-36 in the second half.
Marshfield shot just 38 percent from the floor, and 32 percent from 3-point range, connecting on just 9-of-28 from beyond the arch. Tommy Olson had the best shooting performance for the Tigers, connecting on 5-of-8, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Olson led the Tigers with 14 points. Isaac Meverden added 13 points, Preston Wagner had 10, and Addison Hill had 8.
The Tigers advanced to the regional final by defeating Oshkosh-West in an exciting regional semifinal on March 1 at the MHS Fieldhouse 53-50. Three free throws from Brant Bohman with under a minute to play put that game away for the Tigers, who finish their season 16-7. Marshfield also finished with a share of the Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) championship, and Bohman was named WVC Co-Player of the Year.
Stratford has advanced in the Division 3 playoffs. The Tigers easily dispatched Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau on March 2 in a regional final 63-27 at Stratford High School. Vaughn Breit led Stratford with 21 points. Ben Barten had 15, and Chandler Schmidt added 14.
The Tigers remained undefeated on the season at 24-0, after knocking out Adams-Friendship in a regional semifinal contest 57-42 on March 1, also played in Stratford. The Tigers face Wisconsin Dells in a D-3 sectional semifinal on March 7 in Wisconsin Dells.
In Division 4, the Auburndale Apaches are still alive in the playoffs. The Apaches got by Thorp 40-31 in a regional championship contest at Auburndale High School on March 2. Hunter Wright led Auburndale with 17 points.
The win came the night after the Apaches held off the Spencer Rockets 69-52 in a regional semifinal contest on March 1, also played in Auburndale.
Colton Wright led the Apaches with 22 points. Cooper Weinfurter added 17. Austin Bacon had 19 for the Rockets, who defeated Necedah 61-50 in a D-4 regional quarterfinal contest on Feb. 26 at Spencer High School. The Rockets end their season 8-16.
The Apaches, meanwhile, will see a familiar opponent in a sectional semifinal contest on March 7. Auburndale faces Marathon, who competes in the same South Division of the Marawood Conference as the Apaches do. The Red Raiders demolished Neillsville in a regional final on March 2 at Marathon High School 81-43.
The Division 5 sectional semifinal brackets are set, and they include the Columbus Dons of Marshfield. The Dons handled Edgar on March 2 in a regional final at Columbus Catholic High School in Marshfield, 58-39.
The Dons were led by Ethan Meece with 15 points. Bryce Fuerlinger had 13 points, and Noah Taylor added 12. Edgar was led by Konnor Wolf and Karson Butt, who each had eight points. But the Wildcats were missing Drew Guden, who was suspended for the game after coming off the bench during an incident the night before in Edgar’s regional semifinal win over Rosholt at Edgar High School on March 1. The move is an automatic one-game suspension under WIAA rules. Guden is Edgar’s second-leading scorer, and the son of Edgar School Superintendent Cari Guden.
The Dons, meanwhile, move on to face Almond-Bancroft in a sectional semifinal contest on March 7 at Wausau East High School. Both teams are 23-3 heading into that matchup. Should Columbus win that game, they could potentially face the team that prevented them from their second consecutive trip to the state tournament a season ago. Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran takes on Gibraltar in a sectional semifinal at Ashwaubenon on March 7. The winner of that contest faces the Columbus/Almond-Bancroft winner in a sectional championship game on March 9 at Wausau West High School. Green Bay beat Columbus in the sectional final round a year ago, 57-56, at Antigo High School.