Sweeney’s buzzer-beater lifts Appleton East to overtime win over Stevens Point in WIAA D-1 sectional semifinal

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

SCHOFIELD – Desperate times call for desperate measures.

After a final play attempt was bogged down, Appleton East sophomore Ella Sweeney was left to throw up a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer of overtime and banked it in, giving the No. 6 Patriots a thrilling 75-72 win over No. 2 seed Stevens Point in a WIAA Division 1 girls basketball sectional semifinal Thursday night at D.C. Everest High School.

The 3-pointer was Sweeney’s fifth of the game as she finished with a team-high 23 points. East finished with 11 3-pointers overall.

The Patriots (18-8) now stand one win away from the state tournament and will take on No. 1 seed Eau Claire Memorial (25-2) at Marshfield on Saturday at 3 p.m. East last made the state tournament in 2022.

“We said if they (Stevens Point) come out and pressure, we had a play call to attack it, and if they were going to let up play for the last one, we were going to do that and had a play called,” Appleton East coach Brian Paschen said. “Unfortunately, they did a nice job of cutting off the pass we wanted to make and it led to a little scramble situation.

“We counted and something like 18 of our 25 games this year someone has banked in a 3, so the irony is that we finally got one to go our way.”

The game was tight from start to finish, with neither team leading by more than five points at any point.

The lead changed hands six times early on before a 3-pointer from Aubrie Erickson gave East a 13-11 lead.

The Patriots went up 20-15 on an offensive rebound and basket by Sweeney before Stevens Point rallied to tie the game at 22-22.

Stevens Point sophomore Jada Seubert scored inside and drilled one of her six 3-pointers to put the Panthers up 28-26. East responded with a mini 4-0 run before the Panthers closed the first half with six-straight points to grab their biggest lead at 34-30 at halftime.

Both teams started slow in the second half before East scored on three-straight possessions. A 3-pointer by Sweeney and an inside hoop from Ella Jazdzewski put the Patriots up 42-39. Seubert countered with a 3-point to tie the game with 10:48 left and it was game on.

Neither team led by more than three during the rest of regulation.

Stevens Point led 55-54 after a pair of free throws with 5:16 left before a flurry of 3-pointers.

Lilly Meulemans hit from deep for the Patriots, Seubert countered for Stevens Point, and Torie Neubauer connected for East, putting them up 60-58 with 4:20 remaining.

Neither team scored for more than two minutes before Stevens Point tied the game on a steal and layup by Seubert, who finished with a game-high 36 points.

East grabbed a 63-60 lead after a free throw by Sweeney with 1:07 to go, but a missed free throw a few seconds later gave Stevens Point a chance, and Ellie Strong converted a 3-pointer to tie the game with 55 seconds left.

East ran the clock down and eventually turned the ball over with 2.6 seconds left. A half-court shot from Point was wide and the game went to overtime.

Lindsey Weiler scored early for the Panthers before Neubauer connected from deep and Sweeney scored inside to help the Patriots take a 68-65 lead with 2:43 to go.

The teams traded points until Strong hit another big shot from long range with 45 seconds remaining in the extra period, tying the game at 72-72 and setting up the same scenario as at the end of regulation.

The Patriots ran the clock down to 17 seconds left and called timeout. The play set up didn’t work, leaving Neubauer on the left win with a defender in her face and the clock running down. She shipped the ball to her right to Sweeney at the top of the key, who took the shot from well behind the 3-point line and banked it in as the buzzer sounded, setting off a wild celebration as the East student section rushed the court.

Appleton East started the season 0-4 and were 3-6 after losing to Hortonville on Jan. 3. Since, the Patriots are 15-2 and one win away from the state tournament.

“We had a really tough nonconference schedule and some injuries,” Paschen said. “We kept telling the girls that we’re better than we’re playing. At some point, you need to get a win or you’re just going to lose them. They kept coming to back to practice and believing, and now sometimes they maybe believe more than I do that we can win these games. They don’t want to go home so I guess we’ll hang around for a while.”

Patriots 75, Panthers 72 (OT)
Appleton East   30   33   12   –   75
Stevens Point   33   30   9   –   72
APPLETON EAST (75): Ava Schwan 0-1 0-0 0, Jenna Ott 0-1 0-0 0, Aubrie Erickson 6-10 0-1 15, Lilly Meulemans 2-11 2-2 7, Torie Neubauer 5-14 4-4 16, Emilia MontMarquette 3-7 0-0 6, Ella Sweeney 8-13 2-4 23, Ella Jazdzewski 3-5 2-2 8. FG: 27-62. FT: 10-13. 3-pointers: 11-27 (Sweeney 5-9, Erickson 3-3, Neubauer 2-6, Meulemans 1-6, MontMarquette 0-1, Schwan 0-1, Ott 0-1). Rebounds: 29 (Neubauer 7). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 18-8.
STEVENS POINT (72): Leah Awe 0-9 3-7 3, Lydia Johnson 3-9 0-0 6, Jada Seubert 12-23 6-6 36, Jacinta Zdroik 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie Strong 4-9 0-0 11, Macy Nystrom 1-2 0-0 2, Jayla Mabon 0-0 0-0 0, Lindsey Weiler 5-12 3-4 14. FG: 25-65. FT: 12-17. 3-pointers: 10-28 (Seubert 6-13, Strong 3-6, Weiler 1-2, Nystrom 0-1, Zdroik 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Awe 0-4). Rebounds: 31 (Weiler 11). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: