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Barneveld boys basketball coach Mike Whitish got his wish(es) Thursday night.
He probably first wished for his team to beat #3 ranked Cassville in the Division 5 sectional semifinal held at Mineral Point - and they did.
But, following the win he didn't know who they were going to play in the sectional final, but he hoped it would be Cochrane-Fountain City.
"When I played for Fennimore they were the team we beat in 1987 to go to state," he said. "It would be kind of nice to play them again."
After freshman guard Matthew Myers hit the first bucket of the game, on a runner straight on, the Eagles started out on a 9-0 run.
The Comets didn't score until the 3:57 mark of that first period and trailed 15-8 when it ended.
Cassville outscored the Eagles 10-9 in the second frame. Barneveld was aided by the Comets going 1x6 from the free throw line. In fact, they were 1x8 in the first half from the charity stripe.
Myers hit nine points and Brycen Sorensen seven to lead the Eagles in that period.
Kartman had nine for Cassville.
The third quarter was a whole different story as Cassville went on a 7-0 run to take a 25-24 lead at the 3:03 mark on a Ryan Kirschbaum basket.
Barneveld didn't score a point in that frame until Sorensen was fouled and sank two free throws at the :52 mark and those were all the points they would muster in that quarter that ended with Cassville holding a 27-26 advantage.
Sorensen hit a pair from the line to tie the game at 28 with 7:42 remaining. The lead would go back and forth until Eagle Jeremy Whitish came up with a steal at the 2:38 mark. That resulted in a Sorensen bucket with 2:16 remaining. Eagle senior Dustin Hodgson was fouled and sank two free throws at the :40.4 mark for a 37-34 lead.
Cassville's Kartman missed a three and the free throws made would come into play. Hellenbrand was fouled on the rebound, made two free throws and the Eagles held a 39-34 advantage with :28.5 left.
Kartman brought Cassville to within two with a three from NBA range at :18.
Hellenbrand was fouled with 12.7 ticks left and his two free throws made it 41-37.
Cassville's Cole Adams couldn't connect on a three with 3.1 left and Sorensen was fouled on the rebound - made two free throws and the final stood at 43-37.
A big key to the Eagle win was their free throw shooting as they made good on 15 of 17 attempts on the night, including 13 of 14 in the final quarter.
"I have to give my son Jeremy credit for that," Whitish said. "He asked me why we just shoot bonus free throws in practice. We need to shoot three, four or five at a time. We did that this week and it worked."
The coach said the 9-0 lead was big for them.
"We talked to the kids and emphasized how the team that came out and scored first would have the momentum."
He also said how proud of the kids he was when they battled back after being down at the end of three.
"When they took the lead, the kids didn't crack. They've been a gutty team all year, I think we have good team chemistry right now."
The Eagles game to go to state was next up - Saturday afternoon at La Crosse Logan High School against Cochrane-Fountain City, a 57-56 overtime winner over Hillsboro.
The Eagles had three players in double figures with Myers and Hellenbrand having 11 and Sorensen adding 10
Kartman's 18 lead the Comets.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
C 8 10 9 10-37
B 15 9 2 17-43
BOX SCORE
CASSVILLE 37 (fg, ft, tp) Nix 2-0/2-4, Kartman 7-2/2-18, Adams 1-0-2, Okey 2-0/2-4, Kirschbaum 1-7/14-9. Totals 13-9/20-37. F-15. 3-pointers: Kartman 2.
BARNEVELD 43: Myers 5-0-11, Breuer 0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0, Sorensen 2-6/7-10, Hodgson 3-2/2-9, Sullivan 0-0-0, Hellenbrand 2-7/8-11, J. Whitish 1-0-22, H. Whitish 0-0-0. 3-pointers: Myers 1, Hodgson 1.