Little Chute holds off Xavier in WIAA Division 3 boys basketball sectional semifinal

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

MENASHA – Some teams are built for the postseason, and the Xavier Hawks boys basketball team is one of those teams.

Already with wins against No. 4 seed Winnebago Lutheran and top-seeded Laconia over the weekend, the No. 5 Hawks had another tall task against former conference rival and No. 3 seeded Little Chute Mustangs.

Xavier has had the Mustangs number lately, as they haven’t lost to Little Chute since 2013. Ironically, that loss came at Menasha in this same sectional semifinal game, as the Mustangs made a late-game defensive stand to win 41-40. Talk about a strange case of de ja vu; it was the Mustangs who jumped on the Hawks and used their patented defense to deliver a last-second defensive stand to end Xavier’s season 54-51 in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal on Wednesday.

“Our guys battled all year,” Xavier head coach Matt Klarner said. “I’m super proud of the season they put together. We lost five starters and a sixth man from last year, and the fresh faces worked hard to uphold the expectations of our program. Tonight we got down early and had some good rallies, but couldn’t get over the hump. It was just one of those nights.”

The Hawks couldn’t have asked for a worse start to the game as the Verhagan brothers – Jake and Trevor – came out firing to score the first 11 points for the Mustangs to open an 11-2 lead. Xavier did its best to respond with buckets from Joe Gallucci on the inside and Kyler Bleck from distance as they pulled within 11-7. That was when another Jake Verhagen triple took all the momentum away and extended the Mustangs’ lead to 14-7.

Trailing 18-7, Xavier was in serious trouble as it had an uncharacteristic tough night shooting the ball. That alone is a big reason why the Mustangs were able to open up the lead they did, as the Hawks couldn’t convert from downtown. With Luke Oelhafen starting to go work on the inside, the Hawks’ offense show signs of life, but with Cooper Effa and Nolan Jakubek answering on the following end, the Hawks still found themselves trailing 24-15.

Despite their struggles throughout the first half, Xavier never quit, and it didn’t take long for this team to heat up as Gallucci sparked a 9-0 run to pull the Hawks even for the first time 24-24 with less than a minute to go before half. Logan Ramczyk capped off that run with a highly-contested 3-pointer as the Hawks finally started to look like the team they have been for the better part of two months. Little Chute did manage to grab a 26-24 halftime lead off a Rahshad Manns putback, but the Hawks were far from out of it as the second half was set to begin.

The Mustangs didn’t waste any time getting their offense going as four different players accounted for points in the early stages as another 11-2 run put them in front 37-26. It was a lead the Mustangs would never give up as Little Chute led this one from start to finish.

“They made their first four 3-point attempts and that certainly put us in a rough spot,” Klarner said. “We rallied to only be down two at half, but they made a few tough shots to start the second, and we were down again. It’s tough to battle uphill against an experienced team.”

Trailing by 10, the Hawks were hoping another Bleck triple would be the momentum swing they needed. Cole Hietpas followed that up with a layup to pull the Hawks within five. The Mustangs had the an answer as a pair of Nolan Jakubek buckets pushed the lead back to 48-39.

It took Hietpas nearly the entire game to knock down his first triple, but after finally connecting, the Hawks remained within striking distance 48-42. Xavier continued to battle back over the next several minutes as the Mustangs inability to knock down free throws left the door open, with Gallucci and Oelhafen going to work on the inside to pull the Hawks within 52-48. Things really got interesting a few moments later as Effa split a pair of free throws on the other end, leading to another clutch 3-pointer from Bleck as the Hawks were within 53-51 and less than two minutes to go.

With Little Chute struggling from the line, the Hawks continued to be in the perfect position to tie or take the lead, but it was the Mustangs defense rising to the occasion as they led 54-51 with 10 seconds to go. Needing a triple to extend the game into overtime, Xavier did its best to find an open look, but the look wasn’t there as the horn sounded and the Hawks’ season came with a 21-7 record.

“They are great young men with bright futures,” Klarner said of his team. “They bought in this year with their effort and their leadership. They set high goals, and they chased them to the very end. It was a super fun team to coach, and the leadership from our seniors was a big part of it.”

Little Chute (21-6) will play the winner of Thursday’s game between Freedom and Wrightstown in a sectional final Saturday at Seymour, with the winner moving on to next week’s state tournament in Madison.

Mustangs 54, Hawks 51
Little Chute 26 28 – 54
Xavier 24 27 – 51
LITTLE CHUTE (54): Jacob Verhagen 8, Trevor Verhagen 13, Deyten Magnussen 2, Cooper Effa 7, Nolan Jakubek 10, Noah Faccio 2, Rahshad Manns 10. 3-pointers: 5 (Jacob Verhagen 3, Trevor Verhagen 2). Record: 21-6.
XAVIER (51): Logan Ramczyk 3, Kyler Bleck 12 Joe Gallucci 14 Caden Schuler 2, Cole Hietpas 5 Luke Oelhafen 15. 3-pointers 6: (Bleck 3, Hietpas 1, Oelhafen 1, Ramczyk 1). Record: 21-7.