Witt-Birn boys basketball team eliminated after sectional semi loss

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School boys basketball team was eliminated from the postseason after a Division 3 sectional semifinal loss to Wrightstown on Feb. 25 in Wrightstown.

The fourth-seeded Chargers scored just 13 first-half points and trailed by 21 points at halftime. Witt-Birn was able to hang with top-seeded Wrightstown in the second half, but were never able to erase the big deficit, eventually losing 72-44.

“They are deep, so their ability to stay fresh on the floor and really push it up the floor in transition is tough to deal with,” said Witt-Birn coach Garrett Rogowski about Wrightstown. “We were starting to drag our tongues a little bit as the end of the first half went on.

“We made a nice little run when we came (out for the second half). We changed a few things up, but they are just a buzz saw. They are a senior-laden team and you saw from some of the shooting performances that went on today that if you don’t have a hand in their face, they’re going to make you pay.”

Wrightstown scored on its first three possessions of the game and scored 10 points in the just over four-and-a-half minutes to take early control. As the hosts piled up the points, Simon Schairer kept Witt-Birn in the contest, scoring the team’s first seven points.

Jack Fraaza was the next Charger to score, hitting a shot about halfway through the first half, and Schairer followed with another field goal a couple minutes later to make it an 11-point game, 22-11.

Just when it looked like Witt-Birn had figured out a way to slow Wrightstown offensively, the hosts found an answer. Wrightstown went on a 10-2 run in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the half, turning a couple Witt-Birn turnovers into easy buckets before hitting a 3-pointer to cap the half.

“They kept up the pressure all game. They just executed everything. They hit their shots, made good passes. It’s hard to stop that,” said Fraaza.

Instead of packing it in, Witt-Birn found another gear to start the second half, scoring the first nine points to make it a 12-point game, 34-22. Michael Miller and Fraaza hit 3-pointers on the first two possessions of the half before Wesolowski converted a 3-point play.

Like it had throughout the first half, Wrightstown answered, hitting two triples during a 8-2 run to regain control.

Wesolowski converted another and-one to make it a 15-point game, but Wrightstown answered with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Witt-Birn continued to find a way to get the ball through the basket, but the hosts always seemed to come right back with buckets of their own to fend off any rally attempts.

“They came out and hit shots. Every time we had a run, they came back and hit two 3s in a row and put us out of our run,” said Wesolowski.

With less than five minutes left in the contest and Wrightstown leading by 28, both teams started to empty their benches. Rogowski got the team’s lone senior Henry Seegmiller on the court for a few minutes before subbing him out for a final ovation from the Charger fans.

Post game, Rogowski thanked Seegmiller for “his commitment to this program and our team and for all the hard work he’s put in. It’s been a joy and a pleasure coaching him.”

While the sectional semifinal loss stung for Witt-Birn, the team knows it will have the opportunity to try and replicate and further its postseason success next year with almost every player back in the fold.

“We have to work as hard as we did and even harder,” said Fraaza. “We have to be able to make shots — we missed a lot of shots — and just handle the pressure better.”

“We just got to get in the weight room and the gym, that’s all we can do,” said Wesolowski. “Get up shots and get up weights.”

Witt-Birn ends the year with a 16-11 record. The Chargers went 8-4 in Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division play before winning its first regional title in 30 years.

Witt-Birn 13 31 — 44

Wrightstown 34 38 — 72

Wrightstown (72): Justin Lamers 0-0 2, Jack Van Zeeland 0-0 6, Matthew Hansen 0-0 21, Jake Van Zeeland 1-2 7, Sam Haese 5-5 21, Mason Mattes 0-0 3, Owen Ratkowski 0-0 2, Ethan Meulemans 0-0 2, Joe Hella 2-4 8.

Witt-Birn (44): Kaden Schmidt 0-0 2, Ben Wesolowski 2-2 13, Luke Muscha 1-1 3, Ben Flak 0-0 2, Jack Fraaza 0-0 5, Simon Schairer 1-2 13, Michael Miller 0-2 6.

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