Gaining the upper hand

Raiders beat Cards in the battle to win the South

By Casey Krautkramer

The boys basketball playoffs don’t start until Tuesday, Feb. 28, but the standing room only crowd of Marathon thon and Newman Catholic fans that packed Maraniscent Marathon High School’s gym on Friday night was reminiscent of what occurs in a big postseason game with high stakes on the line.

Marathon avenged an early season loss to Newman Catholic in overtime to beat the Cardinals, 83-76, on Friday in a contest between Division 4 and 5 ranked teams in the state. The Red Raiders entered the Division 4 poll last week for the first time, ranked 10th, while the Cardinals were ranked third in Division 5 going into their matchup on Friday.

The Red Raiders’ victory against the Cardinals also gave them at least a share of the Marawood South Conference championship this season, so in essence this was similar to a playoff game atmosphere in the gym. Marathon can win the conference title outright with a road win against Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at 4:30 p.m.

this Friday, Feb. 24.

Marathon’s away game against Assumption was originally scheduled for this Thursday but it was moved to Friday because of Winter Storm Olive. The Red Raiders and Royals will play before the Assumption girls WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal home game at 7 p.m. against Stevens Point Pacelli.

It would take a total team effort from Marathon to defeat Newman Catholic on Friday, with contributions from all five starting players because Red Raiders junior six-foot-nine center Grant Warren wouldn’t be able to beat the senior-laden Cardinals himself. A coach from the UW-La Crosse men’s basketball team was in Marathon to scout Newman Catholic senior Mason Prey.

Warren ended up receiving plenty of help from his teammates on Friday

as the team’s other four starting players in seniors Drew Love and Mason Seehafer and juniors Cooper Hoeksema and Tyler Underwood consistently made clutch shots throughout the game.

Love, in particular, sank a pair of bonus free throws with 16 seconds left in the game and his basket after Marathon stole the basketball from Newman Catholic sealed the victory. He was obviously excited to help his team get the win to at least share the conference title this season.

“It was a huge win,” Love said when exiting the locker room after hearing the song “Hot Dog!” from Mickey Mouse Club that he and his teammates play after a win. “We circled our matchups against Newman Catholic before this season began, and we dropped the first matchup against them but this was a huge win at the end of the season.”

He loved playing in such a competitive back-and-forth battle between the Red Raiders and Cardinals in front of a standing room only crowd inside Marathon High School’s gym.

“I’m the kind of guy who just loves how competitive this atmosphere was, so I enjoyed every moment of it,” Love said.

Warren led Marathon with 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Hoeksema contributed 21 points while Underwood added 19 and Love had 14. Prey scored a game-high 42 points for Newman Catholic and senior Isaac Seidel added 17.

Marathon also celebrated Senior Night on Friday by honoring the team’s four senior players Love, Seehafer, Pierson Hamann and Daniel LaQua. They received gift bags for their dedication to basketball and they also handed gifts to Newman Catholic’s senior players.

Red Raiders head coach Adam Jacobson is proud of his team’s performance against the Cardinals.

“We knew there would be a lot of adversity in this game because you need to overcome them having seven seniors who are really talented,” he said. “Newman has a good chance to win a gold ball in Division 5 this year so for us to compete at that high of a level in this type of atmosphere, I mean this is what you want. I’m really happy, especially for our four seniors who are forever conference champions and that’s something they can really be excited about.”

Marathon won the outright Marawood South Conference championship last season, and the Red Raiders can make it two outright conference titles in a row if they beat the Assumption Royals on Friday.

The Red Raiders easily beat the Stanley-Boyd Orioles, 78-51, in Monday’s non-conference road game. Warren led Marathon with 18 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Underwood contributed 17 points and he paced Marathon with six assists. Hoeksema added 16 points and Love had 11. Marathon now has a 20-3 overall record this season.

Marathon was awarded a number one seed and a first-round bye in the WIAA Division 3 playoffs. Marathon will play a home regional semifinal at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 4, against this Tuesday’s winner between eighth seed Spencer versus ninth seed Westfi eld. Stratford, a fourth seed, is the highest seeded team on the other side in Marathon’s regional.

Bluejays are flying high

The Athens varsity boys basketball squad has won four straight games and nine of its last 10 contests going into its WIAA Division 5 home regional quarterfi nals game at 7 p.m. this Tuesday, February 28, against Rosholt. Athens, which has a 19-5 overall record this season, was awarded a third seed in the playoffs.

Athens downed Chequamegon, 7249, in Tuesday’s road game which was moved from this Thursday to Tuesday to get it in before Winter Storm Olive arrived and cancelled school on Thursday. Senior guard Connor Sheahan led Athens with 17 points while freshman Riley Schultz-Becker added 16 points and junior Andy Schaer had 15. Senior Aiden Janke paced the Bluejays with 11 rebounds and seven assists. Schultz-Becker led the squad with four steals.

Bluejays head coach Jeramie Penney earned his 100th career coaching win in the team’s 57-47 non-conference road victory against Spencer on Monday. Sheahan erupted to score 29 points. Janke added 16 points and he led Athens with 12 rebounds and four blocks. Schaer added 10 rebounds and senior Nathan Wolf had three blocks.

Janke achieved a double-double with 24 points and 16 rebounds in Athens’ 75-52 home win against Phillips on Friday. Sheahan contributed 17 points and four steals while senior Connor Komarek had 11 points.

Athens finishes its Marawood North Conference schedule with a 13-3 record to earn its third straight North title.

‘Cats edge Tigers

Edgar’s varsity basketball team beat Stratford, 55-52, on the road Friday. Junior guard Teegan Streit scored a game-high 21 points for Edgar. Junior Brett Baumgartner added 13 points and he paced the Wildcats with 10 rebounds.

HANGING TOUGH- Marathon junior guard Cooper Hoeksema on Friday hangs in the lane for a made shot against Newman Catholic senior Isaac Seidel during the Red Raiders pivotal 83-76 home win against the Cardinals to gain at least a share of the Marawood South Conference championship this season.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER