Tigers win playoff opener; NHS girls lose two in a row

The Northwestern Tigers boys basketball team opened WIAA Division 3 regional play with a 50-40 win over the Osceola Chieftains Tuesday night in Maple.

The Tigers improve to 10-13 on the season and will next play at No. 1 Bloomer (19-3) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Osceola’s season ends with a 10-13 record.

The Tigers led 23-19 late in the second quarter, but the Chieftains scored the final four points and then seven of the of the next nine points in the third quarter for a 30-25 lead that led to Northwestern calling a time out.

Back-to-back baskets by Dylan Jardine and a deuce by Grant Pearson gave the Tigers the lead back at 31-30.

After ties at 31-31 and 36-36, a 3-pointer and two free throws by Nolan Graff gave the Tigers a 43-39 lead with 1:29 left in the fourth quarter.

Northwestern wrapped up its victory by sinking 7-of-8 free throws.

Lincoln Howard led Osceola with 12 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots. Trevor Pauley added 10 points and Michael Henck had nine.

Osceola was just 4-of-13 from the free-throw line compared to 13-of-17 for the Tigers.

Graff led the Tigers with 15 points. Jardine added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots; Justin Alexson had 11 points and eight rebounds; Grant Pearson had nine points, and Gabe Dinkel made a 3-pointer and dished out six assists.

Osceola 9 12 10 9 — 40

Northwestern 13 10 11 16 — 50

Osceola — Trevor Carlson 2, Andrew Salewski 3, Michael Henck 9, Trevor Pauley 10, Mark Johnson-Trice 2, Jared Cutts 2, Lincoln Howard 12. 3-point goals — Salewski, Henck, Pauley 2.

Northwestern — Justin Alexon 11, Nolan Graff 15, Grant Pearson 9, Gabe Dinkel 3, Dylan Jardine 12.

3-point goals — Graff 3, Pearson, Dinkel.

Tigers win finale

The Tigers wrapped up their regular season Friday with an 80-58 victory over the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Bulldogs.

The Tigers took a five-point lead after one quarter and then outscored Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 21-13 in the second quarter to lead 41-28 at halftime.

Chetek-Weyerhaeuser made up one point in the third quarter but couldn’t find an answer for Dylan Jardine in the fourth quarter as he scored nine of his game-high 17 points.

Justin Alexson was just behind Jardine in scoring with 16 points, Nolan Graff had 12 and Micah Olson had 10 points.

Andrew Kaminski, Sid Jacob and Taylor Gilbertson all finished with 10 points to lead the Bulldogs.

Friday’s game

Northwestern 20 21 18 21 — 80

Chetek-Weyer. 15 13 19 11 — 58

Northwestern — Dylan Jardine 17, Justin Alexson 16, Nolan Graff 12, Micah Olson 10, Zak Anttila 8, Grant Pearson 8, Brayden Bartelt 7, Gabe Dinkel 2.

3-point goals — Graff 2, Olson 2, Bartelt, Pearson, Alexson.

Chetek-Weyerhaeuser — Andrew Kaminski 10, Sid Jacob 10, Taylor Gilbertson 10, Quinn Steiner 7, Max Niemcewicz 7, Max Reisner 6, Jacob Schofield 4, Shaun Schwartzhuber 2. 3-point goals — Jacob 2, Reisner 2, Niemcewicz.

Tiger girls

The Ladysmith girls basketball team remained undefeated on the season with a 67-34 win over the Northwestern Tigers Thursday in Maple.

Ladysmith improves to 21-0 and 13-0 in the Heart O’ North Conference, while the Tigers fall to 6-15 and 2-11.

Haley Seifert and Karleigh Cody led Ladysmith with 12 points apiece.

Ally May led the Tigers with a game-high 15 points.

The Tigers, who also lost to Hurley 67-53 Monday night at home, wrap up their regular season by hosting the Spooner Rails at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The NHS girls were given the No. 10 seed for the upcoming playoffs and will play at No. 7 Osceola at 7 p.m. on March 6.

Northwestern 6 5 11 12 — 34

Ladysmith 21 25 9 12 — 67

Northwestern — Ally May 15, Lynsey Anttila 8, Aliex Friend 2, Katie Hansen 2, Gwen LaPole 4, Hailey Eller 3. Totals 14 3-4 34.

3-point goals — Anttila 2, Eller.

Ladysmith — Brittnee Zuck 7, Haley Seifert 12, Bailey Keeble 8, Erin Molstad 8, Jessica Hamilton 3, Jade Effertz 8, Jenna Lent 2, Mariah Stoll 7, Karleigh Cody 12. Totals 21 17-25 67.

3-point goals — Seifert 2, Keeble, Molstad, Hamilton, Stoll, Cody 2.

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