I-S prevails in regional final
By Greg Seubert
Two more wins.
That’s all that stands in the way of the Iola-Scandinavia boys’ basketball team from its first trip to state since 2008.
The Thunderbirds opened WIAA state tournament play March 1 with a 73-43 win over Coleman and followed that up the following day with a 69-62 win over Shiocton in a regional final.
The win over Shiocton – the only team to beat the T-Birds this season – means second-seeded Iola-Scandinavia will face top-seeded Lourdes Academy at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in a sectional semifinal in Crivitz. The winner of that game will then meet Auburndale or Marathon at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9, in a sectional final at Neillsville High School.
I-S 69, Shiocton 62
The Chiefs handed the T-Birds a 61-55 loss Feb. 5 and both teams went on to share the Central Wisconsin East Division championship.
Iola-Scandinavia led by as many as 17 points in the second half only to see the Chiefs cut the deficit to four in the final minute.
The T-Birds outscored the Chiefs 35-31 in the first half and opened the second half with a 10-4 run to take a 45-35 lead.
Connor Kurki left the game after picking up his fourth foul for the T-Birds with 10:50 remaining in the game and teammate Charlie Stockwell took his seat on the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 8:27 to go.
The Chiefs didn’t take advantage with both players on the bench, however, as the lead went from 10 to 17 points.
“The bench really stepped it up,” coach Sam Bertsch said. “I think everybody that saw the floor tonight did something for us. In that first half when we were in foul trouble, Gavin McClellan gets in there, gets an offensive board, gets fouled, two free throws. He’s our eighth man and doesn’t always get a lot of minutes, but those minutes were very important for us tonight.”
The Chiefs cut the lead to 61-56 on Derek Bedor’s three-pointer with 1:12 to go and to 63-59 on Jack Fielding’s three with 56 second remaining, but never got any closer.
Seven of the T-Birds’ final nine points came at the free-throw line.
“They had to foul and we knocked down free throws,” Bertsch said. “We felt pretty good about that. We’ve been in some pressure situations this year and that experience carried over into this one.”
Kurki scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the first half. Alex Sharp and Justin Sivertson also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Corbin Lorge led the Chiefs with 21 and Bedor chipped in with 17.
“We really wanted to give these guys a little added motivation,” Bertsch said. “We have some good underclassmen, but at the same time, our nucleus is that senior crew. We said. ‘Gentlemen, this is your last game on this floor ever, let’s make it a good one, make the last game on this floor a good one.’ I think we did with a regional championship.”
I-S 73, Coleman 43
The T-Birds outscored the Cougars 43-15 in the first half and 30-28 in the second behind 22 points from Sivertson, 13 from Kurki and 12 from Carter Kurki.
“I think this is a pretty good example of why home-court advantage is so important,” Bertsch said. “Coleman came in here with a lot of energy, but they did have to travel on a bus for two hours where we had a little rest after school. Plus, with the (first-round) bye, we were fresh and ready to go. The guys came in with a lot of confidence and you saw that right from the tip. That’s what we needed.”
The T-Birds improved to 22-1 with the wins. Lourdes Academy is now 23-1 after the Knights’ 100-66 win over Manawa in another Division 4 regional final.
“We’re able to play the next game,” Bertsch said. “We’ve always been a team that’s extremely well-prepared. We’ll be prepared for Lourdes. They’re a very athletic team, their basketball IQ is amazing and they’re extremely quick. We’ll have to play extra-special to knock them off.”