BARABOO — The initial plan didn’t call for the DeForest boys basketball team to hold the ball for the final shot.
But once the clock ticked under one minute in the deadlocked WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal with Janesville Parker, DeForest coach Craig Weisbrod decided to let it roll until almost the end.
That became the winning gambit when junior guard Max Weisbrod made two free throws with 5.0 seconds left in top-seeded DeForest’s 69-67 victory over fourth-seeded Parker on Thursday night.
The Norskies ran down the clock after Vikings senior Brenden Weis scored on a putback of his own missed shot, tying the game at 67 with 2 minutes, 39 seconds remaining.
After a timeout with 17.8 seconds to play, Weisbrod handled the ball until finally making his move out front and starting a drive he hoped would take him around the right side of the lane for a shot or a pass to an open teammate.
“We called one play at the start and it didn’t work,” said Weisbrod, who led the Norskies (15-5) with 20 points and 11 assists. “So, then we just pulled it out. They weren’t really pressuring us. They were letting us do our thing. Brody Hartig did a great job (handling the ball) when they were denying me. We just ran it out.”
The 6-foot-3 Weisbrod was bumped and a foul was called with 5.0 seconds left, and he sank both free throws.
“Today was my first missed free throw in the playoffs,” said Weisbrod, who was 5-for-6 from the foul line. “I hadn’t missed in the first two games. So, I always feel confident.”
DeForest’s two-point lead held up after Weis raced down court only to see his 8-foot pull-up jumper to the left of the lane hang on the rim and fall off as time expired.
“It certainly wasn’t the plan to run it out,” Craig Weisbrod said. “But once you got to about 45 seconds-ish, then you start thinking, ‘OK, we’ve run this much off, we have a pretty good free throw shooter at the end and I like our last-second offense.’ So, once we were able to get it down, then it was the plan, for sure.”
DeForest, which rallied from 53-45 and 63-56 deficits in the second half, advanced to the sectional final against second-seeded Hartland Arrowhead on Saturday at Baraboo.
DeForest senior guard Trace Gundahl contributed 10 of his 12 points in the second half, while 6-3 junior forward Josh Jansen came off the bench and scored all 12 of his points in the first half.
Parker senior guard Robert DeLong made three 3-pointers and poured in 25 points. He had 16 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer as time expired — tying the game at 33 at halftime. The 6-5 Weis added 16 points for Parker (18-9).
“We did get a good look at the end,” said Vikings coach Matt Bredesen, whose team won the most games for Parker since 1971 and had its best postseason run since 2002. “I thought that was a really tough call on the other end on the foul. I thought it was a very tough call in sectionals at that time. If they make a play, great, more power to him. He did make plays; he made the free throws. I don’t want to take anything away from DeForest because they played great, too.
“That game could have gone either way. … (The Norskies) battled. We had a seven-point lead at one point in the second half and couldn’t hold it.”
Said Max Weisbrod: “They did get a really good look. He was knocking that down the whole game. We just got lucky.”
The Norskies rallied from a 63-56 deficit with 6:36 to play, outscoring the Vikings by a 13-4 margin.
Earlier, Weisbrod made consecutive 3-pointers after the Vikings grabbed a 53-45 lead, rallying the Norskies within 53-51.
“Max did a great job when they made that run,” Craig Weisbrod said. “He hit those two 3s in a row. He got us back into it.”
DeForest advanced to a Division 2 sectional final against Elkhorn last year, but the game wasn’t played because the WIAA canceled the rest of the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They know they belong,” Craig Weisbrod said. “They feel comfortable.”
February 26, 2021 at 12:30PM
https://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/max-weisbrod-makes-two-free-throws-with-5-seconds-left-to-send-deforest-past-janesville/article_4f2ce32d-eba2-5141-bbfa-9386d748757a.html
Max Weisbrod makes two free throws with 5 seconds left to send DeForest past Janesville Parker - Kenosha News
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