WISCONSIN RAPIDS — For the first time in 10 years, the WIAA will hold a state boys basketball tournament that doesn’t include a Division 2 team from the Coulee Region.
Not much went right for West Salem High School in its biggest game of the season as Wausau East dominated every aspect of an 82-45 victory over the Panthers in a sectional championship game at Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.
The Lumberjacks (20-7) became state qualifiers for the first time since 2007 and for the fourth time in team history by denying West Salem (20-7) a fourth consecutive state appearance.
The last time a local team was kept from representing Division 2 at the Kohl Center was 2015, when Rice Lake won the sectional.
The Panthers had no answers for 6-foot-3 guard Jesse Napgezek — a Division II University of Mary commit — and couldn’t stop the waves of defenders rendering leading scorer Kyle Hehli mostly helpless as they fell farther and farther behind.
Hehli scored a team-high 13 points but was held to three field goals and no 3-pointers while being face-guarded and chassed with second and third defenders whenever he touched the ball in the first half.
The Lumberjacks had a 44-18 lead by halftime and put West Salem in a hole much too big to escape after it came back from a 21-point deficit to beat Onalaska in overtime during Thursday’s sectional semifinal.
Napgezek finished with a game-high 38 and was a constant factor in helping East control the boards. Nathan Karr added seven points for the Panthers.
