Hortonville nails game-winner in final seconds to edge Appleton North boys basketball

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – A late surge gave the Appleton North boys basketball team to steal a win, but in the end the big comeback from the Lightning was in vain.

Appleton North stormed back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game with 50 seconds to go on Ben Zdizieblowski’s second 3-pointer in the span of a minute only to have Hortonville’s Ethan Joling counter with a one-handed shot in the lane with 2.5 seconds to go to lift the Polar Bears to a 56-54 win in the Fox Valley Association opener for both teams on Friday night at Appleton North High School.

“I give credit to Hortonville,” Appleton North coach Chris Kellett said. “They were more physical, dictated the tempo, and got looks they wanted. They played harder than we did. We didn’t deserve to win.”

Hortonville led 27-18 after a sluggish first half for the Lightning.

North (1-1 overall) shot just 29 percent (7-for-24) from the field but were able to hang close due to nine Hortonville turnovers.

The Polar Bears (3-0 overall) had a 6-0 run to open up an 11-point lead and a basket by Joling off an offensive rebound as time expired gave Hortonville the nine-point halftime advantage.

North started the second half by scoring the first four points as Hortonville didn’t make a basket for nearly four minutes, but as was the case throughout most of the second half, every time the Lightning made a push, the Polar Bears pushed back.

Hortonville’s lead fluctuated between four to nine points for a large chunk of the second half.

A three-point play by Zbzieblowski, who finished with 11 points, with 9:09 left brought the Lightning to within four at 41-37 only to see Riley Mueller respond with two quick baskets to up Hortonville’s lead back to eight.

North finally made the big run it needed in the final five minutes.

Freshman Matt Rosplochowski drilled a 3-pointer to cap a team-high 15-point night, and following a pair of free throws from Hortonville’s Aiden Rogers, Zbzieblowski hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second with 50 seconds left, to knot the score at 54-54.

Hortonville ran the clock down to 13 seconds before calling a timeout and turned to the 6-foot-6 junior Joling, who crossed the lane and put in a 5-footer with 2.5 seconds to go to give the Polar Bears the lead.

Out of a timeout, Grant Hardy took a pass, crossed midcourt and attempted a long 3-pointer to win it, but it was blocked by Rogers as the buzzer sounded.

Mueller, Joling and Rogers all finished with 12 points for Hortonville.

Appleton North will be back in action next Friday, Dec. 13, against Appleton West as part of a girls-boys doubleheader. The girls game begins at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow at approximately 7:45 p.m.

Polar Bears 56, Lightning 54
Hortonville   27   29   –   56
Appleton North   18   36   –   54
HORTONVILLE (56): Riley Mueller 6-7 0-0 12, Ethan Joling 6-11 0-0 12, Elliott Vedder 1-3 0-0 2, Max Chan 0-4 0-1 0, Aiden Rogers 2-7 7-8 12, Aiden Sweeney 2-3 0-1 4, Owen Sipes 1-4 1-2 3, Blake Eidahl 4-8 0-0 11. FG: 22-47. FT: 8-12. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Eidahl 3-4, Rogers 1-4, Sweeney 0-1, Mueller 0-1, Joling 0-1, Vedder 0-1, Chan 0-1). Rebounds: 32 (Joling 7). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-0, 1-0 Fox Valley Association.
APPLETON NORTH (54): Will Sweeney 3-6 2-2 8, Matt Rosplochowski 6-13 1-2 15, Sam Kuehl 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Ramus 3-11 0-0 8, Grant Hardy 1-7 2-4 5, Abraham Tomori 2-4 0-0 5, Ben Zdzieblowski 4-5 1-1 11, Ethan Aftt 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 20-47. FT: 6-9. 3-pointers: 8-23 (Zdzieblowski 2-2, Ramus 2-5, Rosplochowski 2-7, Tomori 1-1, Hardy 1-6, Sweeney 0-2). Rebounds: 20 (Sweeney 5, Ramus 5). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-1, 0-1 Fox Valley Association.