Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – No. 1 seed Wausau Newman Catholic jumped on Spencer early and ended the Rockets’ Cinderella playoff run with a 73-45 victory over the No. 13 seed Rockets in a WIAA Division 5 regional final Saturday night at Newman Catholic High School.
Spencer, who pulled off two road wins against No. 4 seed Almond-Bancroft and No. 5 Port Edwards on Tuesday and Friday to start the playoffs, ran out of gas against the top-seeded Cardinals, who jumped out to a 42-17 lead by halftime.
Jackson Pfender made three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 17 points in the first-half run for Newman Catholic.
Mason Prey finished with a team-high 19 points, Isaac Seidel added 14, and Jacob Pfiffner had 10 of his 12 points in the first half for the Cardinals.
Kaleb Brandt made five 3-pointers, four in the second half, and had a game-high 22 points for Spencer (9-18). Noah Schultz added 13 points, going 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
Newman Catholic (20-7) will take on Marshfield Columbus Catholic (23-4) in a Division 5 sectional semifinal Thursday at a site to be determined.
Cardinals 73, Rockets 45
Spencer 17 28 – 45
Newman Catholic 42 31 – 73
SPENCER (45): Noah Schultz 3 6-6 13, Nathan Rucker 0 4-4 4, Luke Roehrborn 2 0-1 4, Caleb Rucker 0 0-2 0, Carson Schmidt 0 0-2 0, Kaleb Brandt 5 7-11 22, Reed Knecht 0 0-2 0, Degan Kind 0 0-2 0, Carter Luepke 1 0-0 2. FG: 11. FT: 17-40. 3-pointers: 6 (Brandt 5, Schultz 1). Record: 9-18.
NEWMAN CATHOLIC (73): Mason Prey 8 3-3 19, Jackson Pfender 6 0-0 17, Zongcha Lo 1 0-0 3, Connor Krach 0 0-0 0, Jacob Pfiffner 5 1-2 12, Owen Sullivan 2 0-1 4, Isaac Seidel 3 7-9 14, Eli Gustafson 1 0-0 2, Charlie Shields 1 0-1 2. FG: 27. FT: 11-16. 3-pointers: 8 (Pfender 5, Lo 1, Pfiffner 1, Seidel 1). Record: 20-7.
