Appleton North boys basketball blows past Marshfield to win WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal

Appleton North’s Matt Rosplochowski drives to the basket for two of his team-high 23 points in the Lightning’s win over Marshfield in a WIAA Division 1 boys basketball sectional semifinal Thursday at Stevens Point Area Senior High. (Photo by Paul Lecker/AppletonSportsPage.com)

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

STEVENS POINT – The Appleton North boys basketball team is one win away from making history.

A stellar defensive performance, combined with a highly-efficient offensive output led the Lightning to a 63-45 victory over Marshfield in a WIAA Division 1 boys basketball sectional semifinal Thursday night at Stevens Point Area Senior High School.

Appleton North (23-4) will take on Fox Valley Association rival Kaukauna (24-3) in a Division 1 sectional final on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Oshkosh North High School with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Madison.

The Tigers, last year’s Division 1 state runner-up, finishes the season with a 21-6 record.

Sophomore Matt Rosplchowski scored 23 points, and Will Sweeney had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Lightning.

Marshfield led 6-0 after two baskets by Chris Pohl and another from Valin Ramberg, while holding North to 0-for-7 shooting to start the game.

The Lightning found their footing and a three-point play by Rosplochowski gave them their first lead at 7-0.

Marshfield regained the lead on a Pohl 3-pointer and after a basket by Camden Kolstad, it led 11-8.

North responded as Grant Hardy, who also had 11 points, hit a 3-pointer to put the Lightning up 12-11 with seven minutes to go in the first half. The Lightning would never trail again.

Marshfield was held scoreless for more than four minutes before an offensive rebound and basket from Pohl cut North’s lead to 20-15 with two minutes left.

“We have a lot of experience, and our seniors have been in this situation before,” North coach Chris Kellett said. “It was actually kind of flipped because the last time we played here (in the sectional semifinals in 2023), we played really well early and kind of fizzled out (in a 45-42 overtime loss to Superior).

“Once we got a couple of buckets and calmed our nerves a little bit, the ball moved, more confidence came and really good things happened.”

Rosplochowski made two free throws and a 3-pointer as the Lightning took a 25-17 lead into halftime.

Marshfield, with two players in foul trouble, went to a zone defense to start the second half and North was able to find the open passing lanes to take advantage.

The Lightning scored on their first 11 offensive possessions of the half, missing only two shots while garnering offensive rebounds and points to follow each time.

The 21-7 run over the first 7½ minutes of the second half pushed Appleton North’s lead to 46-24 and the Tigers never recovered.

North senior Ben Zdzieblowski scored 15 of his17 points after halftime to help the Lightning finish off the victory and advance to a third meeting this season with Kaukauna.”

“Ben played really well for us down the stretch for us, he had a huge second half for us and I’m extremely proud of him,” Kellett said. “That was a tough matchup for him too because No. 10 (Vedder MacTaggart) for them is one the best shooters he’s covered all year, and he was able to stick on him. When Ben plays well, our crowd feeds off of that, our players feed off of that and we ended up getting some nice cuts for layups.”

The two teams split their previous FVA matchups, with Kaukauna winning on a buzzer-beater 60-59 back on Dec. 16, and North defeating the Ghosts 63-52 on Jan. 30 as the two teams shared the conference title. Kaukauna is 9-1 since that loss.

“We have to neutralize (Tyler) Schwalbach and (Andrew) Jensen, they’re an extremely talented one-two punch, and they have shooters all around them as well, so we’re going to have to contest the 3-point line as well,” Kellett said. “We have to find a way to score by the rim. Jensen is probably the best rim-protector in the state. We just have to stay connected, stay positive and continue to grind.”

Pohl finished with a game-high 25 points and ends his career as Marshfield’s second all-time leading scorer with more than 1,200 points.

Click here to view the statewide sectional scoreboard & schedule

Lightning 63, Tigers 45
Marshfield   17   28   –   45
Appleton North   25   38   –   63
MARSHFIELD (45): Chris Pohl 9-16 5-6 25, Nick Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Camden Kolstad 2-6 0-0 4, Will Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Vedder MacTaggart 1-5 0-0 3, Ben Jordan 2-4 2-2 7, Derek Ongna 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Larsen 0-0 0-0 0, Trevyn Freis 0-0 0-0 0, Levi Janssen 0-0 0-0 0, Valin Ramberg 3-6 0-1 6. FG: 17-37. FT: 7-9. 3-pointers: 4-18 (Pohl 2-8, Jordan 1-3, MacTaggart 1-5, Ramberg 0-1, Kolstad 0-1). Rebounds: 20 (Pohl 9). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Ramberg. Record: 21-6.
APPLETON NORTH (63): Will Sweeney 4-5 1-2 11, Matt Rosplochowski 7-14 7-10 23, Nathan Ramus 0-4 1-2 1, Grant Hardy 4-11 2-2 11, Evan Ryan 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Kuehl 0-0 0-0 0, Howie Guilbeault 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Zdzieblowski 8-10 0-0 17, Ethan Arft 0-0 0-2 0, Alexander Radtke 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 23-44. FT: 11-18. 3-pointers: 6-17 (Sweeney 2-2, Rosplochowski 2-7, Zdzieblowski 1-1, Hardy 1-5, Ramus 0-2). Rebounds: 23 (Sweeney 10). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 23-4.