The River Falls Wildcats beat the Wausau East Lumberjacks in the semifinal sectional round of the playoffs on Thursday in Eau Claire by a score of 75-65 and then lost in the sectional finals to the West Salem Panthers in Neillsville on Saturday by a score of 66-58.

Every team knows they’re probably going to lose at some point; they just have to take it one game at a time and try to make sure that day isn’t today. The Wildcats played hard all season, advanced through the playoffs to the sectional final game and left it all on the court Saturday.

In a pair of games against opponents that River Falls had to prepare for solely with game film as they’d never played them before, they performed admirably and left the sectional round of the tournament with +2 point differential.

Game one against Wausau East was closer than it looks on paper.

River Falls started the game with a 12-0 lead, but Wausau East steadily worked their way back into contention as the period progressed. The Wildcats spread the ball around effectively with star shooter Joey Butz leading the way with 11 points and Preston Johnson just behind with an eight-spot, yet by halftime they were clinging to a one-point lead at 29-28 as the Lumberjacks had climbed all the way back.

Wausau kept pace with River Falls throughout a big chunk of the second half, but by the 7:00 mark things started to really slip away from them. The Wildcats held a 56-51 lead when the Lumberjacks incurred a penalty that kicked off a 19-14 RF run to close out the game with a 10-point 75-65 victory.

The final box score showed Butz still in the lead with 22 total points on the night including going 8-8 on free throws. Hayden Bottolfson came in second on the team in scoring with 16 but was closely followed by Johnson who ended up with 14 to go along with a game leading seven assists. Eli Johnson rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Wildcats with 12 points and a team leading seven rebounds.

The game in Neillsville against West Salem was another nailbiter throughout the first half.

Bottolfson had a big first period for the Wildcats, sinking back-to-back threes to keep River Falls’ lead at a half dozen early at 15-9. The Panthers closed the gap to 25-24 as the minutes wound down to the end of the first half, but Bottolfson struck again with another deep shot and the Wildcats held on to take a 32-29 lead into the intermission.

Butz got things going for River Falls in the second period with a three-pointer that bounced straight up into the air off the rim and dropped through the net. West Salem immediately answered back showing that they came to play, and they took their first lead of the game at the 14:30 mark. The Wildcats called a timeout shortly thereafter down 44-41 in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Butz took a fastbreak to the net coming out of the break to pull within one, but just under five minutes later, the Wildcats shooters had gone cold at the worst time as the Panthers were on a hot streak and hitting seemingly every shot they took. River Falls finally succumbed and took their second timeout, this time down 53-45.

The Wildcats kept battling, and with 4:20 left in regulation, they pulled within four at 57-53. Unfortunately, this is as close as they would get, and they would fall to the Panthers by a score of 66-58 thus ending one of the most memorable seasons in school history.

The final line for River Falls scoring was Butz with a team-leading 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Bottolfson came in second for the second game in a row, this time with 15 points and six rebounds. Preston Johnson rounded out the top three once again as well with a dozen points and another seven assists.

Butz is one of six seniors who will be leaving the team before next season. Although he’s disappointed, he says he feels like they left it all on the court.

“We didn't take care of the ball as we have in the past couple playoff games. I think one of the good things was we didn't play scared though, which happens to some teams on this big of a stage. We missed shots, obviously, there were defensive breakdowns and they just outplayed us,” Butz said. “I'm just kind of numb right now, I don't really know what to think. It’s obviously sad, but my goal was to enjoy my last time on the court and that happened.”

Jonah Severson is another senior who’s leaving, and he sees their playoff run as a great experience.

“You can be emotional, but at the end of the day, you never really think that you'll get to this point. Like, we had goals, but getting to this point is great. Winning would have been amazing, but just getting here is a great honor. So, I just take that into accountability,” Severson said.

Head Coach Zac Campbell said he was proud of the way they played; there were just too many mistakes to expect to win the sectional championship.

“I thought we had phenomenal fight on Saturday and executed offensively and defensively at a high level. We responded to adversity well, unfortunately we had too many live ball turnovers and didn’t score it at a clip necessary to beat a team of their caliber,” Campbell said.

With River Falls losing six seniors in the offseason including two of their top three shooters from this season in Butz and Bottolfson, Campbell says they have an important offseason ahead of them.

“It will require a lot of focus and a lot of offseason work to get us to a place that River Falls basketball has been accustomed to being,” Campbell said. “We are very active throughout the summer as a program. We offer workout opportunities four days a week, play in a summer league, and participate in several tournaments. You have to win the summer if you want to be able to compete in the Big Rivers Conference, in my opinion.” 

An important part of keeping the Wildcat program at the high level they’re accustomed to, the returners with the experience are instrumental in achieving this.

“We bring back three rotational players next year, all of which need to make jumps for us to improve as a team,” Campbell said. “It’s equally important for us to have underclassmen who are willing to work outside their comfort zone throughout the summer. Those will likely be the players that fill out our varsity roster next season.”