Boys Basketball Roundup
Sometimes life just isn’t fair.
Take the Grantsburg Pirates for instance.
The senior-dominated Pirates racked up a 13-2 season record and won the Lakeland West Conference title with a 9-0 record.
They were supposed to play in the regionals on Friday after earning a first-round bye. But they won’t be there due to the team having to quarantine due to a close contact with their team. Their season ended before anyone was ready.
It not only short-circuited the Pirates in the playoffs but caused them to cancel a much-anticipated matchup with undefeated Lakeland Central Champion Clear Lake (18-0).
Also, it left hanging the Pirates’ big center, Jared Van Watermeulen, who was left out of the 1,000-point circle by about 25 points.
As a result, the second-place team behind Grantsburg, the Webster Tigers, will get a free pass into the regional title game.
“I would like to say my heart goes out to coach (Nick) Hallberg and his players. Basketball is a long season. Coaches and players work hard every night for four months, not to mention the off-season work. Then to add Covid to things you have to worry about makes it mentally and physically exhausting,” said Webster Coach Chad Stenberg.
While Stenberg will take his team into the regional finals, he felt for the Pirates. “To have a great season like Grantsburg had and have it come to end because of Covid is heartbreaking, especially for the talented seniors they had. My team knows we would have had to play a perfect game, to be in a position to beat them in the playoffs.”
Then the Tiger coach concluded, “This is not how my team wanted to get to the regional final.”
Webster beat Boyceville 64-37 to move onto the Regional Final game
They got there with a 64-37 victory over Boyceville (1-20) in the tournament’s opening round.
Awaiting Webster in the region finals will be Clear Lake, the No. 1-ranked team in the sections with an 18-0 record — or, Glenwood City, who beat Shell Lake, 61-42 in the first round.
If Clear Lake gets to the finals, they will host Webster at 7 p.m. Friday. The Tigers finished the regular season at 15-5.
Because of the season, Grantsburg had, few paid much attention to the Webster Tigers, yet they fashioned an admirable campaign. “This season has not been without its challenges,” said the first-year coach.
“When we started, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the kids or Covid. We talked at length about taking care of yourself and understanding the risks of losing games if teams get or have covid.
“Although it’s been a challenge the season has been flawless. We haven’t lost many games other than what was caused. By the shorter season — and the kids have been healthy and done a good job keeping themselves safe,” said Coach Stenberg.
As for Webster’s rise, Coach Stenberg said, “I think the biggest surprise from this team is how they have bought what we need to win.”
He added, “Everything I have asked them to do they have done with total commitment.”
At the top of the list were veterans Owen Washburn and Carsen Stenberg. They averaged 14 and eight points per game and got a nice surprise from Tristen Benjamin, who came on strong with 12 points per game. Mason Gustafson also had a nice season with eight points per game.
“This starts with the seniors. his group of seniors may not be the most talented basketball players, but they come to work every night and have challenged each other to get better. They are very unselfish, athletic, and have been leaders at practice and games,” said Coach Stenberg.
Maybe the first thing a coach learns is, “A coach is only as good as his players, and this group has made it fun to coach and work extremely hard to get better, because of this, they have made a had great season better,” the coach said. He added, “Better than I think a lot of people thought.”
So now it comes down to the regional finals and a tough matchup.
“Whether we play Clear Lake or Glenwood City, both are very good teams. Glenwood is playing some of its best basketball right now and play in a tough conference, so their win total may not show how good they are. Clear lake is ranked in the state for Division 4, undefeated, and is the one seed. Both teams are athletic and pressure you the entire game. They have some excellent basketball players. We will need to be at the top of our game, limit our turnovers and be patient if we are going to win against either team,” the coach said.
Regional Playoffs
Webster 64, Boyceville 37
WEBSTER (Points) Tristen Benjamin 23, Owen Washburn 15, Carsen Stenberg 11, Mason Gustafson 6, Austin Sigfrids, 5, Ian McFaggen 2, Chase Caddott 2.
Playoff roundup …
AND WHILE Grantsburg is sitting at home watching, all of the other three teams in their conference are still rolling.
Frederic, with just three wins all year, defeated Prairie Farm, 56-36 in Tuesday’s first game, and will play Turtle Lake in a Division 4 regional game.
Siren went to 10-10 on the year with a tournament-opening 71-40 win over Clayton, a team with just one win all year.
The Dragons will take on Luck in their next Division 5 regional showdown Friday at Luck. The winner of that game takes on the winner of the Northwood vs. Lac Courte Oreillies game. LCO was an 82-64 winner over Winter in the first round.
In other playoff action, Unity won its first game over Bloomer, 50-37, and Barron ended its season by losing to Ladysmith, 49-44.
Unity, in Division 3, will play 19-2 St. Croix Central, the Middle Border Champion. St. Croix Falls matches up with Elk Mound at St. Croix Falls.
Osceola, which had a Middle Border record of 2-12 and 3-16 overall, picked up a 54-45 victory over Hayward, which finished 8-13 on the year. Osceola will take on Rice Lake (7-12 overall and 2-10 in the Big River Conference) at 7 p.m. Friday in Rice Lake.
Brackets