The Yellowjacket men's basketball team was back in action Wednesday at home to play UW-Platteville. For Superior, the game could have been viewed this as an opportunity to get back into the mix for the sixth and final playoff spot in the WIAC. Unfortunately, they dug themselves too large a hole to get out of.

The first half was one to forget for the Yellowjackets, but they battled back in the second. They made a furious rally but came up just short in the end and they would fall to the Pioneers, 92-77.
 
UW-Platteville came out on fire. The Pioneers went 6-of-6 from three and shot 20-of-27 from the field on their way to 52 first half points. At the other end, Superior couldn't hit a shot in the first half. The Yellowjackets went 7-of-28 from the field and just 1-of-8 from three-point range. A Ty Ketz (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) layup made the score 11-8 with 14:25 remaining in the first half, but that would be the closest Superior would get the rest of the half. The Pioneers went on a scoring spree like they would if they won the lottery. Trey Sigel was the star of the first half. He went 5-of-5 from the field, 4-4 from three, on his way to 14 points in the half. Platteville ended the first half on a 23-7 run over the last 6:14 and led 52-23 at the break.
 
But there are always two halves in basketball. Eventually, everyone regresses to the mean, and Platteville did just that after the break. It took Superior some time to figure it out, but they started to carve into that big Platteville lead.

Platteville would push its lead to 35 points, 60-25, in the opening minutes of the second half. But then it was Superior's turn. The Yellowjackets scored the next 11 points, and in a variety of ways. Ketz drilled a three, then Brian Lindblom (Spooner, Wis./Spooner) scored a layup. Ketz hit another jumper and was fouled in the process. He completed the three-point-play, and then Johnquez Brooks (North Las Vegas, Nev./Valley) got into the act by drilling a three-pointer to make it a 60-36 game. After two points by Platteville, Superior continued to pour in the buckets. Superior scored six more points to make it a 20-point game, 62-42.

Superior would continue its second half surge courtesy of free-throws, jumpers, and three-pointers. With Platteville's lead at 15 points and just under five minutes to play, Brooks hit a jumper to cut it to 13. After a Platteville basket, Brooks found Lindblom inside to cut the lead back to 13. On the ensuing possession Brooks drilled a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game with just over three minutes remaining. Unfortunately, that's as close as Superior would get for the rest of the game. Every time it looked like Superior was going to keep coming back, Platteville went inside to Jake Manning, and he delivered every single time.
 
Brooks paced the Yellowjackets with 21 points. Ketz finished with 15, while Lindblom and Zach Schradle (Clayton, Wis./Clayton) each had 14 points. Schradle also recorded 10 rebounds and had four assists.
 
Platteville was paced by Manning's game-high 31 points and 12 rebounds.
 
After a blazing start in the first half, Platteville shot just 12-of-29 in the second half and was 0-of-5 from three. It was the opposite for Superior. After shooting 25 percent in the first half, Superior went 19-of-30 in the second half. Superior finished with 18 assists, while Platteville had 25 assists. Superior got great production from its bench, with the reserves counting for 30 of the Yellowjackets' 77 points, most of them coming from Brooks.
 
With the loss, the Yellowjackets (7-9) are in danger of missing the WIAC playoffs. They are now 1-6 on the season in conference play. However, they have a chance to get things turned around Saturday when they travel to UW-Stout to take on the Blue Devils. The opening tip is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.