Iola-Scandinavia boys win regional championship
By Greg Seubert
Late-season championships are starting to add up for the Iola-Scandinavia boys’ basketball program.
Not only did the Thunderbirds wrap up a third straight Central Wisconsin Conference-East title, they also won the program’s third regional championship in a row Feb. 20 with a 67-55 win over Auburndale in Iola.
The T-Birds improved to 14-3 on the season and will head to Blair Thursday, Feb. 25, for a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal with Blair-Taylor. Iola-Scandinavia received a No. 3 seed in the four-team sectional bracket, while the 22-1 Wildcats are a No. 2 seed. Top-seeded Luther will host No. 4 Necedah in the other semifinal, with both games slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
The winners will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, in a sectional final, with the highest seed hosting.
Iola-Scandinavia only trailed once against the Eagles, 5-4 in the opening minute.
Brye Hardel scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and the T-Birds had a 41-19 lead at the break.
The Eagles trailed by as many as 23 points before a 15-2 run cut the T-Birds’ lead to 48-38. A basket from Hardel and a three-pointer from Marcus Jaworski pushed the lead back to 15 points, but Jaworski’s three turned out to be the T-Birds’ final basket of the night. The team’s final 14 points came from the free-throw line.
The Eagles were able to cut the lead to seven points twice in the final three minutes, but never got any closer.
“In order for them to get back in the ballgame, they needed to stop the clock and it worked in their favor,” coach Sam Bertsch said. “With such a big lead, a lot of things still had to go their way, though. When we knew it got to double free throws, at that point, it became, ‘OK, make one out of two.’”
Parker Prahl and Jaworski also finished in double figures for the T-Birds with 18 and 12 points, respectively.
Terrance Cottrell-Roberson led Auburndale with 18 points and Hunter Wright and Alex Willfahrt chipped in with 11 each.
The T-Birds received a No. 1 seed for the tournament and after having a bye in the first round, opened postseason play Feb. 19 with a 58-30 win over Wild Rose.
Iola-Scandinavia held the Wildcats to 10 points in the first half and outscored them 27-20 after taking a 31-10 halftime lead.
“We have to be happy that we’re still playing basketball,” Bertsch said. “The important thing is we’re still playing basketball.”