This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
Click here for video of the final minute of overtime
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Oshkosh West’s Connor Miller took one shot during the WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal game against Marshfield on Friday, and it was the biggest of the season for the Wildcats.
Miller drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer of overtime to lift West to a 75-72 victory over Marshfield to send the Wildcats into the next round and end the Tigers’ season in heartbreaking fashion.
With the score tied at 72-72, Marshfield ran the clock down searching for a final shot. Instead, West’s Ben Kohl stole a pass with about eight seconds left and Blake Johnson found an open Miller in the left corner where he nailed the 3-pointer for the win.
West (9-14) moves on to a regional final at crosstown-rival Oshkosh North (18-5) on Saturday night. Marshfield’s season ends with a 14-9 record.
“I saw this on film, they can flat out shoot it and Johnson is really good,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “You can’t go, ‘If this would have happened, if that would have happened,’ you just have to put the ball in the basket.”
Marshfield trailed 30-25 at halftime and came out on fire after the break. The Tigers made their first six shots – including 3-pointers by Alec Hinson and Adam Fravert – to claw back in it.
A basket by Grant Michaelis tied the game at 42-42 with 13:33 left.
Marshfield eventually pulled ahead 66-60 after a Michaelis layup with 2:47 left, but the Wildcats would close the gap quickly.
Marshfield made just one of four free throws in the final 2:14 and West chipped away. A basket by Spencer Henke cut the Tigers’ lead to 66-65 with 1:11 to go. After Fravert made one of two free throws, Johnson scored on a drive with 29 seconds left.
Marshfield ran the clock down but Michaelis missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
In the overtime, Fravert made three of four free throws and Michaelis scored to put the Tigers up 72-71 with 1:15 remaining.
Johnson made one of two at the line to tie the game with 1:04 left before Marshfield took over and whittled the clock down before Kohl’s steal set up the game-winning shot.
Marshfield ended up just 13 of 28 at the free throw line, but made 11 of 25 3-pointers to stay in it.
“If you’re not shooting free throws well, you have to shoot 3s,” Scheuer said. “That’s a fools-gold in my opinion.
“When you look at any sport you look at where you started and where you finished. Did we get better? I think from our first practice, to tonight, even though we lost, we got better. Our consistency improved. When you go 11-3 in a 14-game stretch, you have to be doing something right. It’s just tough.”
Hinson scored a game-high 25 points, which included 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Michaelis added 16 and Fravert, who sat out all but the first 2½ minutes of the first half with two fouls, ended up with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Tony Lancaste had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Johnson and Grant Abraham each had 14 points for West. All of Johnson’s points came in the second half and overtime.
Wildcats 75, Tigers 72 (OT)
Oshkosh West 30 37 8 – 75
Marshfield 25 42 5 – 72
OSHKOSH WEST (75): Ben Kohl 3-8 0-0 7, Joe Vils 0-4 0-1 0, Tony Lancaste 7-8 1-1 18, Blake Johnson 6-10 2-4 14, Grant Abraham 5-9 1-3 14, Connor Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Derek Kroll 3-9 3-4 9, Spencer Henke 4-7 1-2 10. FG: 29-56. FT: 8-15. 3-pointers: 9-21 (Lancaste 3-4, Abraham 3-7, Miller 1-1, Kohl 1-3, Henke 1-4, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds: 32 (Kroll 8). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: none. Record: 9-14.
MARSHFIELD (72): Ethan Posteluk 1-4 2-4 5, Trevor Schwecke 2-5 0-4 4, Ethan Voss 3-8 0-0 6, Tyson Slade 1-3 0-2 2, Alec Hinson 8-12 2-4 25, Grant Michaelis 6-14 2-4 16, Isaac Huettl 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Fravert 2-4 7-10 12, Nathan McGrath 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Stewart 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 24-52. FT: 13-28. 3-pointers: 11-25 (Hinson 7-11, Michaels 2-5, Fravert 1-2, Posteluk 1-3, Voss 0-2, Slade 0-2). Rebounds: 30 (Fravert 8). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 14-9.