Midgets chopped by Loggers

PHILLIPS, Wis. - Coach Mike Swartz never stopped believing his Hurley Midgets would be playing in Saturday's WIAA Division 4 regional final.

Even after the team's 0-5 start.

Hurley's 10-game winning streak came to an end as No. 1 Phillips eliminated the No. 3 Midgets 70-46 in Saturday's regional final.

They overcame early injuries to Mitchell Maki and Jake Tenlen and went from that 0-5 start to a second-place finish in the Indianhead Conference's East Division and then to Saturday's trophy game.

"We just ran into a buzz saw, Phillips just played great," Hurley coach Mike Swartz said. "We still played hard. I thought the kids did a fantastic job representing the school, representing the community.

"How many people thought at Christmas time we would be playing in the regional final? I knew we were. I may have been the only one crazy enough to believe it."

The Loggers took advantage of Hurley's (15-10) skittish start, made worse when leading scorer James Sukanen picking up his second foul before the first 1:30 expire.

The Midgets cut it to six in the second quarter, but their upset bid died as Cade Rose heated up for five of the Loggers' six 3-pointers in the third quarter, building the lead as high as 23 points.

Phillips (20-4) plays Unity (22-2) in Thursday's sectional semifinal at Rice Lake. Unity beat Cameron 57-49 Saturday.

Sukanen picked up his second foul with 6:28 left in the first quarter and Phillips ahead 2-0. Swartz took him out of the game and Hurley's offense was stagnant.

Sukanen re-entered with 2:01 left in the quarter and Hurley down 10-0. Eight seconds later, Sukanen went to the basket and completed a three-point play at the foul line to put Hurley on the board.

"I thought early on we just looked a little nervous, a little panicked and dug ourselves in a hole," Swartz said.

Sukanen's foul trouble helped Phillips get off to a very good start.

"When Hurley's been playing as well as they've been playing the last 10, 12 games, sometimes you're not in those positions to play from behind," Phillips coach Trevor Raskie said. "I think it was important we found ourselves in that position."

The Midgets reduced the lead to six points, 24-18, late in the second quarter on back-to-back baskets by Sukanen. Phillips also had some foul trouble with Daniel Baratka, a First-Team all-conference selection in the Marawood North along with Rose, picking up his third in the second quarter.

But the Loggers scored the final five points of the half, including a tough-to-handle triple by Kyle Karnosh with just a couple of seconds left. The Loggers led 29-18 at halftime.

Rose came out absolutely on fire in the third quarter.

Jeffrey Mabie also drained a 3, but Rose had five, his fifth putting Phillips ahead 47-24 with 3:08 to go in the third quarter.

Phillips saw something on Hurley's film and they took advantage of it in the second half.

"Their help-side defense was really heavy to one side and Cade's been shooting the ball very well for us lately," Raskie said. "We decided to take him from the block out to the perimeter just to see if there was a hot hand, to see if there was a hand to be had there."

Rose certainly had the hot hand. Hurley had the height advantage, but all five Loggers can shoot the 3.

"We had to get out and guard them," Swartz said. "That's asking a lot of some of our bigger guys who haven't had to do it all year. We were able to keep those guys in the paint, protecting the rim; now you're on a 6-1 guy who can hit those on a consistent basis. It spiraled from there."

Hurley cut it to 15 points at the end of the third only to watch Phillips expand its lead in the fourth and then celebrate a regional title on its home court.

Phillips was able to handle Hurley's 1-2-2 zone.

"Which they're very good at," Raskie said. "We just happened to move the ball and locate our threats quickly, I think that was one of the keys.

"Hurley's a good team; we just happened to shoot the ball very, very well. They had a fantastic run to end the season. We didn't take them lightly at all. We knew they were going to come in here, playing well, very confident. I thought the boys did a great job and I thought it was a really good battle. I'm pretty confident we're going to have battles in the future again."

Sukanen led Hurley with 16 points. The Midgets lose seniors Jake Tenlen, Colton Dowd and Dustin Simonar.

"They were fantastic leaders, extremely hard workers; their hard work really helped us through the second half of the season," Swartz said. "We've got some nice players coming back. Let's hope we can put some time in this summer and really make a push for a deep run.

"I'm so proud of the guys. They played hard the whole game."

Rose ended up with 24 points to lead four Loggers in double figures. Baratka scored 12, Jeffrey Mabie had 11 and Ryan Giannoni tallied 10.

Unity went to state last year, but Phillips had a lot of close games this year.

"The last time we played in sectionals was 2011, but the time before that was 1998, so we're really trying to re-establish tradition here and be very, very competitive," Raskie said.

Hurley - Jake Tenlen 9, Colton Dowd 3, Kohl Manzanares 4, Tandrell Foster 4, James Sukanen 16, Mitchell Maki 6, Isaac DeCarlo 2, Jacob Saari 2. FTs: 5-10. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Tenlen 1, Dowd 1, Manzanares 1.

Phillips - Alex Olson 3, Cade Rose 24, Jeffrey Mabie 11, Ryan Giannoni 10, Daniel Baratka 12, Trent Sauter 2, Kyle Karnosh 1, Jacob Anderson 7. FTs: 15-22. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Rose 6, Mabie 2, Anderson 1.

Hurley 5 18 34 46

Phillips 15 29 49 70