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Hortonville basketball shuts down Antigo

Polar Bears advance to regional semifinals

By Erik Buchinger


The seventh-seeded Hortonville boys’ basketball team beat No. 10 seed Antigo 66-43 at home in the WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

The Polar Bears advanced to the regional semifinals where they will play on Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m. against No. 2 seed Merrill, which was at the game getting an early look at Hortonville.

“I thought we played very well as a team, and I’m very excited to go to Merrill on Friday for some good competition,” Hortonville forward Chandler Guyette said.

Guyette led the Polar Bears with a team-high 12 points including eight in the first half.

“I was happy with [my performance],” Guyette said. “I came out aggressive and finished all my layups. I should have 12 every game but can’t finish my layups.”

Hortonville’s Parker Lawrence was the team’s second leading scorer with 11 points.

“We did really well, we executed everything in the game plan and made our shots,” Lawrence said.

In the first half, Lawrence saved a loose ball from going out of bounds and knocked down a 3-pointer later in the possession and made another shot from long range the next possession.

Lawrence scored eight of his points in the first half and finished with three 3-pointers.

Hortonville got off to a fast start and held a 25-5 lead midway through the first half.

Antigo cut the deficit to 33-20, but the Polar Bears went into halftime with a 38-24 lead.

Hortonville’s second half lead was never in jeopardy, as the Polar Bears finished with a 23-point win.

Antigo’s 43 points was the lowest point total Hortonville has allowed this season.

“They like to cut a lot, so you had to make sure the off-ball defense was good so you didn’t get front cut or back cut for an easy score,” Guyette said. “I thought our pressure was good on our press too. It really got them rattled.”

Lawrence said Hortonville’s defense was helped by a full-court press.

“In the other games previously, we haven’t been playing well defensively, but we stepped it up a lot and that’s helped,” Lawrence said.

Guyette said the Polar Bears excel in their full-court pressure defense, which led to steals and layups.

“I think it’s what we do best as a team overall just putting a lot of pressure on them, getting up and down with people and getting easy buckets,” Guyette said.

Hortonville’s Jay Welson scored 10 points, and Mason Thiel added nine, while Jayqon Owens and Cole Warning each had eight points for the Polar Bears.

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