The Hatchet boys’ super post-season run ended with Thursday’s 58-44 sectional semi-final loss to Little Chute.
“They really did a good job moving the ball on us,” THS coach Tim Albert said. “We wanted to take away their three top shooters, and I thought we did that pretty well, but that had some other guys step up and hit shots.”
The Mustangs worked an 11-7 edge in the first quarter of Tomahawk’s first sectional contest since the 2000-01 season.
“I thought we played a pretty decent first quarter,” Albert said. “We did a good job executing offensively and got good looks, but a couple of those open shots didn’t fall for us.
“On defense, we tried to limit their penetration and take away their shooters, which we did fairly well. They did a good job being patient and broke us down for a couple easy ones.”
Little Chute’s D.J. DeValk scored four quick points to kick off the second quarter, but the Hatchets were able to respond and end their run with a basket. The Mustangs also hit a late basket to end the half with a 27-18 lead.
“Offensively we continued to be patient and run our stuff, we limited our turnovers, we just didn’t shoot very well,” Albert said. “On the other end of the floor, Little Chute did a nice job of executing their stuff and hit some perimeter shots.”
The Mustangs made a critical run in the third, knocking down 22 points while limiting THS to just 12, for a 49-30 margin heading into the fourth.
There Tomahawk out-scored the Little Chute 14-9.
“As has been the case all season, the Hatchets didn’t quit,” Alberts said. “They were able to cut the Little Chute lead to 12 in the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t get that lead to single digits. Little Chute scored seven points from the free throw line in the fourth.”
Little Chute improved to 18-6 with the victory, but lost the sectional final and its accompanying state berth in Saturday’s 65-50 game with Roncalli.
Jared Jarvensivu used five three-pointers to push his scoring to a team-high 21 points. Fletcher Schoone (11), Justin Jarvensivu (5), Lorne Ahrens (4) and Jordan Roessler (3) chipped in points.
Tomahawk closed out its season at 12-13 overall.
“The seven seniors have really left their mark on this basketball program,” Albert said. “They have had great success on the basketball floor, in the classroom and in their community. They are a great group of men and will be very successful. We will really miss them next season and we wish them the best of luck.
“As a program, we continue to build. We have won at least one playoff game the last three seasons, and this year we won three and earned the Regional Championship. I am very proud of the guys, they worked hard all season and continued to improve throughout. We had a great playoff run and appreciate all the support we received during the run from our parents and team members, the school district and the community. It was a great atmosphere to be a part of on Thursday night, something we’ll never forget.”