Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau East boys basketball team is heading to sectionals after a hard-fought 55-53 overtime win over Rice Lake in a WIAA Division 2 regional final Saturday night at East High School.
Rice Lake tied the game with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left in regulation. Following a timeout with six seconds left, Caden Werth just missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Rice Lake scored first and the two-point lead held until a free throw by Jesse Napgezek for East with 1:35 to go.
Napgezek gave East the lead on a steal and layup with 32 seconds to go. Rice Lake couldn’t covert on the other end as it turned it over with a travel with 3 seconds to go. Following a Warriors’ foul, Napgezek made a free throw with 1.5 seconds left and Rice Lake’s heave from just past half-court hit rim but was off, sealing the regional title for the Lumberjacks.
Napgezek finished with 33 points, going 14-for-18 from the field, and also had nine rebounds in the victory for Wausau East. Charlie Cayley added eight points and 10 rebounds, and Isaac Rozwadowski had nine points for the Lumberjacks.
No. 1 seed Wausau East (19-7) will take on No. 2 River Falls (19-7) in a sectional semifinal Thursday at a site to be announced. River Falls whipped New Richmond 77-50 on Saturday.
Lumberjacks 55, Warriors 53 (OT)
Rice Lake 23 28 2 – 53
Wausau East 23 28 4 – 55
RICE LAKE (53): Statistics not provided. Record: 15-11.
WAUSAU EAST (55): Caden Werth 1-7 2-2 5, Jaydan Garrett 0-3 0-0 0, Jesse Napgezek 14-18 3-5 33, Isaac Rozwadowski 4-6 0-0 9, Jack Barthels 0-3 0-0 0, Jed VanderSanden 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Cayley 4-5 0-0 8. FG: 23-42. FT: 5-7. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Napgezek 2-2, Rozwadowski 1-3, Werth 1-3, Garrett 0-2, Barthels 0-3). Rebounds: 25 (Cayley 10). Record: 19-7.
