Spartans, Tigers open sectional play

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• Superior Basketball v Marshfield
• Northwestern basketball v New Richmond by Dan Kontny

The Superior High School Spartans and Northwestern High School Tigers are both two games away from advancing to their respective WIAA State Basketball Tournaments. Standing in the way will be sectional tournaments tonight and Saturday.

Following is a preview of all four Section 1 divisions.

Division 1: ‘Star Wars’

Each of the four remaining teams in the Division 1 Marshfield Sectional is blessed with one major college prospect.

The No. 2 ranked Antigo Red Robins are 22-0 and the No. 1 seed in the section. They feature Jordan Mach, who averages 29.5 points per game.

They will face off against defending sectional champ Eau Claire North, who has 6-foot-10 Evan Anderson, ho has a Wisconsin Badger scholarship in hand for next season. ECN (18-6) had a slightly disappointing season but has come on strong in recent weeks. Those teams will play at Marshfield at 6 p.m. Friday

At 8 p.m. today, the Merrill Bluejays (19-5), with Paul Jespersen, will play Dave Kontny’s Superior Spartans. Jespersen is a 6-7 outside shooter averaging more than 20 points a game and who is on the radar of UW coach Bo Ryan. Superior’s star is 6-2 junior point guard Joel Lindberg, who averages 21.6 ppg. Many favor Superior (20-3) because of their depth and defense. Rob Kraft (15.1 ppg) and 6-5 junior center Josh Kimmes (12.5 ppg) are also high scorers and Zach Colvin and Jake Turkowski are tenacious defensive players. That Spartan depth is provided mostly by Andy Heytens, Jake Lindberg, Dustin Hobson and Mike LaValley.

Superior is our pick in this sectional based on both facts and our emotions.

Division 2: A Tiger repeat.

Northwestern’s chances to get back to Madison were helped immeasurably last week when Steve Tecker’s doctor cleared him to begin playing. A solid team (21-4) with great height now can bring an all-state player off of the bench. Donnie Hissa (6-8), Timmy Follis (6-5), Tyler Forsythe (6-5), Lee Brown (6-3) and Johnnie Darwin (6-2) give coach Dan Cowley impressive size in the starting lineup, with Kendall Abrahamzon, Justin Alexson, Jake Dunphy, (and now) Steve Tecker coming off the bench.

Tonight in Amery, Northwestern will play a Baldwin-Woodville team that has great talent but has been beset by injuries. Leading scorer is sophomore point guard Ryan Benoy, the coach’s son. Their big man inside is Jake Keefer, a 6-4 football player who has numerous scholarship offers on the table.

In the other semifinal, Adams Friendship is an underdog but has a stifling 1-3-1 defense and a legendary coach Steve Klaas (more than 400 career coaching wins) in his last year who provides the Green Devils an emotional lift. Onalaska was the odds on favorite to get to Madison pre-Tecker and have a 6-8 sophomore center in Nick Arenz, a freshman sharpshooter in Matt Thomas and a true athlete in Tyler Adams.

We predict a repeat of last year’ sectional final, sending Northwestern to Madison with a win over Onalaska.

Division 3: Private Party?

With three of the four No. 1 seeds (Hurley, St. Croix Central, Fall Creek) getting knocked off in the regionals, Eau Claire Regis is the clear favorite in this sectional. The Webster Tigers will get the first shot at Regis on Friday at Somerset. The other semi has Ladysmith and Thorp looking to extend their season and get to the big dance. The Ladysmith Lumberjacks have yet another Effertz (guard Eric) and the Thorp Cardinals have a bunch of players whose names are hard to pronounce.

Regis will be tough to beat in this one.

Division 4: No Antholtz?

Historic Antholtz Gymnasium in Spooner which has hosted sectional games for decades, will NOT be the site for this year’ games. Instead, Spooner will show off their beautiful new gym. This move is much to the chagrin of basketball purists, many of whom have made the annual sojourn to Antholtz Gym for 50 years. The new gym seats 1,400 while Antholtz’ capacity was listed as 2,500 last year. We believe it held over 3,500 some years ago before fire marshals decided to limit the crowd for safety reasons. Fans will have to exit after Friday’s 6 p.m. game and re-enter for the 8 p.m. game. Despite the angst, fans will get to see two great Division 4 games on Friday and another on Saturday. Oh, who’s playing? Josh Hanson’s upstart Drummond Lumberjacks will play the No. 4 ranked Clayton Bears and the ninth-ranked Prentice Buccaneers, featuring the Erickson brothers (Nate and Nick), will play the small-but quick Marshfield Columbus Catholic Dons. We guess Clayton is favored but we predict a Greg Jarecki three at the buzzer on Saturday night sends Drummond to Madison!

Boyleing in the Pirkolater

Don’t forget the Superior Spartan girls who will also be in Marshfield this weekend to face Marshfield Tigers in the WIAA Regional Final at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Northwestern girls were also still alive before last night’s game with Hayward, and Northwood, the number one Division 4 team in the State, continues their quest for “gold at the end of the basketball rainbow.”

Opinions and/or story ideas can be e-mailed to wgranlund@centurytel.net

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