The Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) boys
basketball team and Amherst
High School boys
basketball team will both compete in Sectional play this week, as they look to
advance to next week’s State Tournament at the Kohl Center
in Madison.

Top-ranked and defending WIAA Division 1 State Champion
SPASH (24-0, 12-0) will take on fourth-seeded Superior (21-3) in a Sectional
Semifinal at Wausau West at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10, with the winner to
advance to the Sectional Final at Marshfield at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 12,
where a trip to state will be on the line.

Sixth-ranked and top-seeded Amherst (23-1, 14-0) will take
on second-seeded Algoma (17-7) in a WIAA Division 4 Sectional Semifinal at
Green Bay Southwest at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the winner to move on to the
Sectional Final to face 10th-ranked and second-seeded Marathon at 5 p.m. Saturday at Appleton East.

Top-seeded SPASH continued its dominating run this season by
rolling past 16th-seeded Appleton North in its playoff opener at home Friday,
March 4.

The Panthers went into a halftime with a 49-6 lead over
North and went on to a 72-36 win in the Regional Semifinal, as sophomore
forward Joey Hauser had 20 points, senior guard Trev Anderson finished with 17,
and senior forward Sam Hauser totaled 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and
five blocks.

SPASH was back at home the next night for the Regional
Finals against eighth-seeded Chippewa
Falls Saturday, March
5, where the Panthers built a 41-10 lead with less than six minutes to play in
the first half.

SPASH rolled to a 105-57 win, as Anderson scored 26 points,
Joey Hauser had 19, sophomore guard Drew Blair added 12 off the bench, and Sam
Hauser totaled 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the Panthers’ final
home game this season.

Amherst
opened the postseason at home against ninth-seeded Mishicot in the Regional
Final Friday night, where the Falcons went into halftime with a 27-17 lead.

Amherst outscored Mishicot 38-15 in the second half to pull
away for the 65-32 win, as senior guard Garrett Groshek finished with 16
points, senior forward Tyler Biadasz had 10, and senior forward Cam Gaulke
added eight.

The Falcons were at home again Saturday night for the
Regional Final against fifth-seeded Iola-Scandinavia (17-8, 9-5), where they
carried an 18-15 lead into halftime.

For the second night in a row, Amherst put the game away in
the second half, as it outscored Iola 27-14 after intermission to close out a
45-29 victory, led by Biadasz with 12 points, Groshek with nine, and Gaulke and
sophomore guard Colton Groholski with eight apiece.

The Falcons will be back in action Thursday night at Green
Bay Southwest to face Algoma in the Sectional Semifinal.

Amherst won 63-53 Dec. 19 at Algoma, which beat third-seeded
Brillion 50-48 in the Regional Final last Saturday and is led this season by 6-2
senior forward Alex Dellis (20.7 points, 9.9 rebounds per game), 6-3 senior
forward Jacob Lifto (10.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists) and 6-2 senior
forward Caleb Lohenry (7.7 points).

The winner will advance to the Sectional Final Saturday at
Appleton East to take on 10th-ranked and
second-seeded Marathon (22-3) with a berth in
the WIAA Division 4 State Semifinals on the line.

In an early Sectional Semifinal, Marathon beat top-seeded Edgar (22-4) 46-43 at D.C. Everest Wednesday, March 9, to advance to the Sectional Final Saturday.

Marathon is led this season by 6-1 senior forward Preston Wirkus (12.3 points, 4.4
rebounds), 6-1 senior guard Xavier Lechleitner (11.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5
assists, 3.5 steals, 43.1 percent on three-pointers), 6-4 sophomore forward
Nathan Stoffel (7.5 points) and 5-10 senior guard Karter Underwood (7.3 points,
45.2 percent on three-pointers).

The WIAA Division 4 State Semifinals are set to begin at 8:15 p.m. at the Kohl Center
in Madison
Thursday, March 17, with the WIAA Division 4 State Championship Game set for 12:45 p.m. Saturday, March 19.

SPASH will meet Superior
in a Division 1 Sectional Semifinal Thursday night at Wausau West, after the
Panthers beat Superior
52-31 at Wausau West in the Sectional Finals last year.

Hosting fifth-seeded Neenah (13-11) last Saturday, Superior
6-7 senior forward Brandon Myer, an NCAA Division II Minnesota-Duluth recruit,
hit a pair of free throws with 21.4 seconds left to tie the game at 52-52 and
blocked a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer to force overtime, where
Superior won 62-55. Superior is led this season by Myer (20.8 points, 7.9
rebounds, 44.8 percent on three-pointers), 6-0 senior point guard Brett Lozon
(10.3 points, 4.4 assists, 39.5 percent on three-pointers) and 6-2 junior
guard/forward Justin Reinkall (9.2 points, 41.7 percent on three-pointers).

The winner Thursday will advance to the Sectional Final at Marshfield Saturday at 1 p.m. to take on either second-seeded
Appleton West (18-6) or third-seeded Oshkosh North (19-5), with a berth in the
WIAA Division 1 State Semifinals at stake.

Appleton West, which split a pair of meetings with Oshkosh
North during the regular season, won 57-55 at home over Oshkosh North Jan. 22,
and is led this season by 6-7 senior forward Jack Flynn (18.3 points), 6-6
junior forward Jack Mahoney (11.2 points) and 6-3 senior guard Pierre Majors
(10.2 points).

Oshkosh North won 68-54 at home over Appleton West in the
regular-season finale Feb. 25 and is led by 5-7 junior point guard Shane
Wissink (14.8 points, 43 percent on three-pointers), 6-5 sophomore guard Tyrese
Haliburton (14.8 points, 45.9 percent on three-pointers), 6-2 senior guard
Austin Trochinski (8.7 points) and 6-2 junior guard Brett Ellestad (8 points,
42.2 percent on three-pointers), while 6-6 junior guard and Wisconsin Rapids
transfer Philip Flory (14.9 points per game last season), ranked No. 4 in the
WisSports.net Class of 2017 Rankings, has missed most of this season after he
suffered a foot injury in the off-season.

The WIAA Division 1 State Semifinals are set for 8:15 p.m. at the Kohl Center
Friday, March 18, with the WIAA Division 1 State Championship at approximately 8:15 p.m. Saturday, March 19.

SPASH is currently ranked No. 14 in the nation in the USA
Today Super 25 Computer Rankings, and No. 7 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25
National Boys Basketball Rankings.