Somerset, Prescott advance to boys basketball sectionals

• Somerset boys basketball

The Somerset boys basketball team members show off the regional championship plaque they earned with a 43-32 win over Barron on Saturday.

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Somerset and Prescott from the Middle Border Conference have advanced to the WIAA boys basketball sectional tournaments.

Somerset advanced in Division 3, topping Barron 43-32 in the regional championship game in Somerset. Prescott also earned a Division 3 regional title by beating Westby 58-50 on Saturday.

Among other area regional champions are Rice Lake, Boyceville, Colfax, Frederic and Clayton.

Here are the sectional pairings involving western Wisconsin teams.

Division 2

To nobody’s surprise, Rice Lake and Onalaska will clash in the Division 2 sectional semifinal. These two highly-ranked teams have been on a collision course all season. Both teams bring 23-1 records into Thursday’s semifinal, which will be played at Eau Claire Memorial. In the other half of the sectional bracket, Antigo will face Rhinelander at Wausau West.

Division 3

Somerset (16-8) will face one of the biggest surprises in the state when the Spartans face Northwestern in the sectional semifinal at New Richmond on Thursday. Somerset was the second seed in the half-sectional and the Spartans took care of Barron, the third seed on Saturday. Northwestern pulled off two upsets to get into the sectionals. On Friday, Northwestern, the eighth seed, knocked off top seed Bloomer, 33-29. In Saturday’s regional final, Northwestern rolled past the fourth seed, Spooner, 60-41.

Prescott will face Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau in the other sectional semifinal, at Osseo-Fairchild on Thursday. Prescott, the third seed, outgunned Westby, the second seed, 58-50, to advance on Saturday. G-E-T barely escaped an upset Saturday. Fourth seed Arcadia led G-E-T for most of the game, but G-E-T scored in the final two seconds to pull out a 53-51 victory.

Division 4

Neither top seed made it to the sectional tournament in Division 4. Grantsburg was the top seed in the northern half of the sectional bracket, but the Pirates were sunk by Boyceville in the regional final, 58-46. Boyceville is the fifth seed in the bracket.

Boyceville will face Chequamegon in the sectional semifinal. Chequamegon needed overtime to defeat Hurley in the regional final, 57-46. Boyceville and Chequamegon will play in the sectional semifinal at Rice Lake on Thursday.

In the southern half of the bracket, Colfax will battle Fall Creek in the sectional semifinal, which will be played at Altoona on Thursday. Colfax ran its record to 22-2 with a narrow 50-48 win over Colby in Saturday’s regional title game. Fall Creek (16-8) upended top-seeded Elk Mound 54-46 to advance into Thursday’s sectional final.

Division 5

Undefeated Siren escaped Friday’s regional semifinal against Luck with a one-point overtime win. The Dragons weren’t so fortunate on Saturday. Frederic delivered Siren’s first defeat, slaying the Dragons 53-46. That moves Frederic into Thursday’s sectional semifinal at Hayward. The Vikings will be facing Drummond, which defeated Solon Springs 51-39 in Saturday’s regional final.

Two other Division 5 powers will meet in the other sectional semifinal. Clayton (23-1) will battle Prentice (24-1) in the sectional semifinal game in Abbotsford. Clayton advanced with a 56-35 win over Columbus Catholic. Prentice advanced with an 83-53 win over New Auburn.

All sectional semifinal games are scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

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