LANCASTER — The WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinals was the final stop for No. 2-seeded Darlington (24-3), who suffered its second loss in three matchups with No. 1-seeded Mineral Point (26-2) this season on Thursday, 56-38.
The second-ranked Redbirds started the matchup strong, trading blows with the third-ranked Pointers to a 26-22 split at the break favoring Mineral Point. Both squads held the lead at least once, and neither owned more than a 5-point lead over the opening 18 minutes.
Reagan Jackson opened with the hot hand, scoring six of Darlington’s eight points. Carter Murray tallied the other lone field goal over the same period. The Pointers drained a trio of two’s and a three to outpace the Redbirds 9-8 to 13:26.
Mineral Point worked its way to a 13-8 lead courtesy of a pair of shots by Landon Thousand. He was also responsible for all of the Pointers’ scores to open the game.
Darlington’s next score came by way of a Brady Long three, who had an open look thanks to Jaxson Wendhausen getting tripped up.
Taggart Gille’s chance came after, and he made the most of his opportunities with a pair of 2-pointers. Gille missed most of the Redbirds’ regional matchups due to an ankle injury, but was able to return to face Mineral Point. The scores put Darlington at a 15-14 at the midway point of the first half. Wendhausen flipped the lead via a three moments later.
Two minutes ticked off the clock with both teams failing to add to their side of the scoreboard, then Broker Buschor hit a catch-and-release jumper from beyond the arc with Jackson on the assist.
The Redbirds didn’t hold the lead for long, as a two from the Pointers posted the final lead swap of the half, and the game. Mineral Point posted a 7-3 run to the break.
Will Murray, normally a leading scorer for Darlington, made his first field goal of the game coming out of the half. A Buschor steal led to a fast break layup for the senior.
Jackson tallied a two and Zeke Zuberbuhler put down a 3-pointer, keeping the Redbirds within a 6-point deficit at 13:34, 35-29.
“Our defense kept us in it and kept us in striking distance until they went on a run partway through the second half,” Darlington head coach Tom Uppena said. “I could have called a few more timeouts during that stretch and tried to get something going on offense, but hindsight is 20/20.”
The Pointers amassed a 14-point lead by the time Darlington made another basket, and the Redbirds never got the deficit to single digits ahead of the final buzzer.
“Obviously, scoring was a struggle all night,” Uppena said. “Sometimes you have nights where you just can’t put the ball in the basket. Our effort was there all night, it was just one of those games where seemingly nothing went our way. Credit to Mineral Point for making it difficult on us and making the plays we needed to.”
Uppena also indicated that rebounds and turnovers were points of improvement for his squad. Mineral Point out-performed Darlington in rebounds, 36-24. The Pointers’ 10 turnovers were also less than the Redbirds’ 14.
“We needed to rebound better than we did as well,” he said. “That’s been a strength of ours all year, but it wasn’t on this night. Fourteen turnovers is also more than you would like to have in a playoff game in which you aren’t making shots. That’s too many possessions to give away.”
With the loss, seven seniors closed the book on their careers, including Will and Carter Murray, Jackson and Long.
“It’s a tough way to end a great season with lofty goals,” Uppena said. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity to coach these great young men, and I’ll miss our seniors greatly.”
