It would be neither fair nor accurate to claim that Tuesday night’s WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal between Bonduel High School and visiting Manawa was over and decided after the first five minutes.
Five and a half was more like it.
The Bears were an irresistible force in their playoff opener, racing to an early 17-6 lead and never letting up en route to a 79-53 pasting of the visiting Wolves.
Junior center Peyton Czarapata continued his dominant play underneath, as his 26 points led all scorers, and senior Connor Rosin enjoyed a hot shooting night, dropping in 22 points that included four 3-pointers.
So bereft of suspense was this game that it left fans plenty of time to hoop off to the concession stand for a popcorn, or even ponder brain-teasers like, “How is Bonduel only a No. 3 seed?”
The Bears (17-6), winners of six of their last seven, found themselves centered in an unintended controversy after the seeding committee gave Iola-Scandinavia the nod as the regional’s No. 2 seed, despite the teams’ splitting the season series, with Bonduel winning the first meeting by 15 and losing the second by nine. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds at the regional drew a bye Tuesday.
“We didn’t think we deserved the No. 3 seed,” senior guard Hunter Berry said. “But we came to win this game and show what we can do. We focused a lot on our fast break at practice, and we had it going tonight.”
Everything was working against Manawa (2-21), including Berry’s high-energy bursts upcourt and his shooting touch from outside. His eight points included two from beyond the arc.
“He’s such a spark plug for us,” Bonduel coach Duke Copp said. “He plays his heart out every time out there. Connor (Rosin) had an outstanding game, too, and our big guy (Czarapata) played another strong game. We’re playing good ball; we just need to have all of our guys hitting their shot — and to stay out of foul trouble.”
There are two ways to look at the rubber match between Bonduel and Iola-Scandinavia, which will be played at 7 p.m. Friday at Iola-Scandinavia. One is that Iola-Scandinavia will be rested and ready to roll — after having eight days off — while Bonduel will arrive travel-weary and recovering from having played three days earlier.
The other perspective is that Iola-Scandinavia will be shaking off more than a week’s worth of rust — after having eight days off — while Bonduel will arrive sharp and game-ready after having played three days earlier.
In other words, it’s the postseason and the tune remains the same as always: you have to beat whoever shows up.
“That’s right,” Copp said. “We like the way we’re playing now. We’ll be ready.”
Manawa (53)
Rohloff 0 1-2 1, Radloff 2 0-0 6, Hass 1 0-0 2, Wilz 6 1-4 15, Langman 6 0-1 12, Manthey 6 2-3 15, Blum 1 0-0 2.
Bonduel (79)
Pedersen 2 0-1 4, Berry 3 0-0 8, Rosin 9 0-0 22, Dobratz 3 0-0 7, VanderLinden 1 2-3 4, Rueckert 2 0-0 4, Ballestad 0 1-2 1, Czarapata 12 1-1 26, Petcka 1 0-0 3.
Manawa 6 17 14 16 — 53
Bonduel 23 13 21 22 — 79
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