MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Feb. 17–24)
SWAL BOYS BASKETBALL: Southwestern 47, #6 Darlington 46
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Wildcats rally to stun #6 Redbirds, 47–46
HAZEL GREEN — As area high school boys’ basketball teams are putting the wraps on their regular-season schedule this week, coach Clint Nemitz and his Southwestern Wildcats obviously want to close things out on a high note in preparation for a strong playoff showing.
Last Friday evening the Wildcats did what no other team in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League has been able to do this season, which was to hand league-leading Darlington a conference loss.
After trailing the Redbirds 20–17 at the half, and then 44–27 with 5:35 to play in the contest, coach Nemitz’ Wildcats completed an improbably comeback to defeat their visitors from Darlington, 47–46.
With the victory, coach Nemitz’ squad improved to 9–4 in SWAL play and 19–5 overall. The Wildcats sit third in the league standings behind the Redbirds (12–1) and Pointers (11–2) with one game remaining in the regular season.
While Friday night’s victory over Darlington did little to shake up the league standings, it did help the Wildcats earn the No. 3 seed in their Division 5 tournament bracket, which was unveiled the following Sunday morning.
Against the Redbirds, things may have looked bleak for the Wildcats late in the second half, but their unwillingness to throw in the towel paid dividends down the stretch.
With 5:35 to play it had seemed as if the writing was on the wall, as coach Nemitz’ Wildcats trailed the Redbirds by 17 points, and with just four minutes to play trailed by 15.
Southwestern junior Carsen Splinter started the Southwestern comeback, knocking down a 3-pointer on an inbounds play with 3:36 showing on the clock, trimming Darlington’s lead to 10.
With just under two minutes to play the Wildcats’ deficit was up to 12 again, but a second 3-pointer by Splinter cut it to nine, as coach Nemitz took a quick timeout to set up his full court press.
A foul that sent Darlington’s Ryder Fitzsimons to the line resulted in a miss on the front end of a bonus try.
On a missed shot at the other end by the Wildcats, Southwestern freshman Sam Martin came down with an offensive rebound and was sent to the line where he knocked down two free throws.
Trailing by seven points with 54.4 seconds to play, Southwestern senior Aiden Keleher got a deflection on defense that resulted in Splinter finishing at the other end with a basket to pull within 46-41.
The Wildcats were then forced to foul immediately on the inbounds pass, where Darlington again obliged by missing the front end of a bonus try.
Keleher then took full advantage of the situation by knocking down a 3-pointer at the other end to make it 46-44.
Following one last timeout by coach Nemitz for a defensive substitution, Southwestern sophomore Landon Reuter came up big by forcing Darlington into a crucial turnover.
With one last chance to win or tie, a missed shot by Keleher was kept alive by the hustle of Cayden DeMuth and Carsen Splinter, as Splinter found Drew Martin open in the corner for the game-winning 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds to play. Darlington did have one last possession, but missed a half court shot at the buzzer.
“With any game you play, you have to be lucky and good,” explained coach Nemitz. “We had some things bounce our way, but the players earned every bit of it and put themselves in a position to get those bounces.”
“We just needed shots to fall, which they eventually did, to turn the tide,” added Nemitz. “It was the best execution these guys have put into a game for 36 minutes all year.”
Finishing with a team-high 18 points was Splinter, who knocked down four 3-pointers and a was a perfect 2-for-2 at the free throw line.
The Wildcats got scoring balance from DeMuth, who finished with nine point, and was followed by Sam Martin with eight and Keleher with seven.
As a team, the Wildcats made 17-of-54 (31%) shot attempts, including 6-of-20 (30%) from long distance. They were 7-of-10 (70%) from the free throw line and committed 13 turnovers.
“We had a game plan coming in to eat the clock, take our time on defense and play at a different pace,” said coach Nemitz. “We also knew we had to limit transition points.”
“The kids did an outstanding job taking care of the basketball all night. We had some keys defensively that were critical in us limiting them in the paint, and also on the 3-point line. It all added up to a very low-scoring game,” Nemitz concluded.
Friday night’s win over the Redbirds came three nights after the Wildcats defeated host Riverdale, 79–61.
Southwestern will close out the regular season Thursday night against visiting Fennimore. As the No. 3 seed in their division 5 sectional bracket, the Wildcats will begin tournament play on Tuesday, March 3, against No. 14 seed Riverdale. The top seed in the bracket belongs to North Crawford (18–4) and the No. 2 seed to Kickapoo (21–2). The Wildcats lost to North Crawford, 86–66, earlier in the season on Jan. 13.
Southwestern 47, Darlington 46
(from Friday, Feb. 20, at Hazel Green)
Darlington............20 26 – 46
Southwestern......17 30 – 47
Darlington - Dante Glendenning 5, Grady O’Brien 4, Broker Buschor 15, Zeke Zuberbuhler 18, Ryder Fitzsimons 3. Totals - 15 13-17 46.
Southwestern - Remi Lawrence 2, Aiden Keleher 7, Carsen Splinter 18, Sam Martin 8, Cayden DeMuth 9, Drew Martin 3. Totals - 17-54, 7-10 47.
3-point goals - D: Buschor 2, Fitzsimons 1; SW: (6-20) Splinter 4, A. Keleher 1, D. Martin 1. Team fouls - D 16, SW 16. Fouled out - Lawrence (SW).
