Iola-Scandinavia boys now 24-0
By Holly Neumann
The Iola-Scandinavia boys’ basketball team will head into the WIAA state tournament with an undefeated record.
The Thunderbirds wrapped up the regular season Feb. 24 with a 70-25 nonconference win over Wabeno/Laona, a team that came into the game with a 19-3 record, an 11-game winning streak and a conference championship under its belt.
The T-Birds shook off a slow start against the Rebels and took a 28-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Iola-Scandinavia then outscored the Rebels 42-11 in the second half.
Parker Prahl, Kaden Jueds and Isaiah Hoyord led the T-Birds with 18, 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Reed Christianson led the Rebels with 12.
“We played much better in the second half,” coach Sam Bertsch said. “The kids have been working so hard on so many things outside of basketball. It will be nice to focus on basketball for the next few weeks.”
The T-Birds are now 24-0 on the season, received a No. 1 seed in Division 4 for the state tournament and will open the postseason at 7 p.m. Friday, March 4, by hosting No. 8 Markesan or No. 9 Princeton/Green Lake. The winner will play for a regional championship at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5.
“Going undefeated isn’t easy,” Bertsch said. “The last time that happened was during the 2006-07 season. That team finished the regular season at 20-0 and 23-1 overall.”