Norse rally past Pirates to close regular season with win

A couple of big plays down the stretch by junior Luke Beighley helped the Whitehall boys basketball team end its regular season with a win.

Whitehall trailed at halftime and had to rally to take the lead, but the Pirates responded with a rally of their own to get right back in the game. Beighley had two three-point plays in the final two and a half minutes to clinch the win for the Norse.

The Norse finished the regular season with a 19-4 overall record and won the Dairyland Conference Large Division with a 14-1 mark, ahead of Melrose-Mindoro’s 12-3 record. 

Whitehall earned a fourth seed in its Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division Four bracket and will play the winner of the game between (5) Plum City/Elmwood and (12) Cadott on Friday. The regional final game will be played on Saturday, likely at (1) Spring Valley. Sectional competition is slated for next Thursday and Saturday.

Whitehall 70 C-FC 64

The Norse trailed by five with 16 minutes left in the game, but went on a 16-4 run that seemingly put them in control.

Whitehall took the lead on a layup by Devon McCune with 13:36 remaining. C-FC responded with a basket, but Whitehall scored again before Aidan Sonsalla put in five straight points to give the Norse a 47-41 lead. Ian Pank added a free throw to put the Norse ahead by seven.

The Norse maintained the lead for the next several minutes, but the Pirates charged back, tying the game at 58 with 3:20 left. 

A free throw by Devon McCune gave Whitehall the lead back. The Norse led 62-60 before Beighley knocked down and open three pointer with 2:10 left in the game.

A three pointer with 90 seconds left got the Pirates within three, but Beighley responded again, scoring inside while being fouled. He made the ensuing free throw to give the Norse a six-point lead with 1:10 left in the game.

After C-FC missed on its next possession, the Norse were ale to run time off the clock before making a free throw.

No further information or statistics were reported to the Times.

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