As endings go, this was the sumptuous gourmet dinner where the seventh course gave you food poisoning.
A brilliant season and a busload of dreams came to a stomach-turning halt Thursday night in Stevens Point when the Merrill High School boys basketball team battled back in the fourth quarter to knock off Shawano 43-41 in a semifinal of the WIAA Division 2 Marshfield Sectional.
Merrill took its first and only lead of the game with 3.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws by Chas Mootz, culminating a comeback whereby the Blue Jays erased an 11-point deficit over the final six and a half minutes.
“We had our chances,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “They wanted it more and played harder in the second half. They got to most of the 50-50 balls, and our shots weren’t falling.”
It looked like a blueprint of the earlier meeting between the two teams, when Shawano broke open a close game with deft outside shooting and won going away, 54-34.
This time the Hawks were unable to shift into the put-away gear. At every turn where it looked like Shawano was going to run away with it, the Hawks failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities, and Merrill played tough enough to hang around and make it interesting.
“An absolute dogfight,” was how Merrill coach Kurt Soderberg characterized the showdown. “I’d rather not play Shawano anymore. They’re a good, senior-dominated team, and Chris does a wonderful job with them. We felt like (senior center) Keenan Stellingworth was our only guy who could match up with (Shawano center) Zeke Gueths, and that (Mootz) was our only player who could match up with (Shawano point guard Zach) Sousek. Those are two very solid players.”
Mootz turned in a big defensive play at the close of the second half, as Shawano was playing for a last shot while protecting a 24-15 lead. Mootz made a clean steal from Sousek and drove the length of the court for a layup with 1.2 seconds left that cut Merrill’s deficit to a manageable 24-17.
Still, it looked like all systems go for Shawano, which led 36-29 after three quarters and then 40-29 with 6:24 left in the game on a bucket and two free throws by Gueths (11 points).
Then the Hawks went cold. Sousek’s free throw with 1:16 left would be their final point of the season, and the Blue Jays (16-9) crept back on a basket by Mootz and a 3-pointer and pull-up jumper by Jake Anderson.
“We just couldn’t put the foot down,” said freshman Eric Carl, whose 12 points led Shawano.
A basket by 6-8 sophomore center Jon Gruetzmacher made it 41-39 with :55 left, and Mootz tied it at 41 on an offensive rebound with :07.7 remaining. After a scramble following a tipped pass on the ensuing inbound, Mootz came up with the loose ball, drove to the hoop and drew the foul that put him at the line for the game-winning foul shots.
Lost in the dejection of a second straight season-ending loss at the sectional semifinal was the strong performance by senior center Dylan Hintz, who turned in quality minutes spelling a foul-saddled Gueths.
“Anytime you win 19 games, it’s a great year,” said Kellett, whose team finished 19-6. “I’m proud of all our guys. Our seniors showed great leadership this year and worked hard at every practice. It was a disappointing loss, but it was a very good season for us.”
Merrill (43)
Reissmann 1 2-3 4, Anderson 4 0-1 10, Stevenson 2 0-0 4, Stellingworth 2 0-0 4, Mootz 6 5-9 17, Gruetzmacher 2 0-0 4.
Shawano (41)
Knueppel 1 2-5 4, Mueller 1 0-0 3, Sousek 1 7-10 9, Lacy 0 2-3 2, Carl 4 0-0 12, Gueths 4 3-4 11.
Merrill 4 13 12 14 — 43
Shawano 13 11 12 5 — 41
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