Appleton North boys basketball blows past Superior in WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal

AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – A dominant first half set the tone as the Appleton North boys basketball team rolled to a 66-42 win over Superior in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Friday night at North High School.

The No. 5 seed Lightning (18-7) will host No. 13 seed Kimberly (11-13) in a D-1 regional final Saturday at 7 p.m. Kimberly upset No. 4 seed Holmen on the road Friday night, 80-60. The two Fox Valley Association rivals split their two conference matchups during the regular season.

Appleton North raced out to a 32-14 lead by halftime and were able to hold on the rest of the way, ending the season for Superior (14-11).

Ten different Lightning players scored in the win, with Will Sweeney leading the way with 13 points. Matt Rosplochowski and Grant Hardy both scored 11, and Nathan Ramus had 11 points to along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Lightning 66, Spartans 42
Superior   14   28   –   42
Appleton North   32   34   –   66
SUPERIOR (42): Statistics not reported. Record: 14-11.
APPLETON NORTH (66): Will Sweeney 3-5 4-4 13, Matt Rosplochowski 5-13 1-3 12, Sam Kuehl 3-4 0-1 6, Nathan Ramus 4-9 3-4 11, Grant Hardy 4-5 3-4 12, Ethan Eisenberg 0-1 0-0 0, Landen Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Abraham Tomori 0-5 1-2 1, Ben Zdzieblowski 2-3 2-2 6, Vaughn Yingling 0-0 0-0 0, Hallelujah Hibru 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Arft 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Guido 0-0 1-2 1, Howie Guilbeault 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Pihlstrom 1-1 0-0 2, Carshaun Lewis 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 23-49. FT: 15-22. 3-pointers: 5-18 (Sweeney 3-5, Hardy 1-1, Rosplochowski 1-6, Kuehl 0-1, Zdzieblowski 0-1, Tomori 0-2, Ramus 0-2). Rebounds: 29 (Kuehl 8). Record: 18-7.