Assumption Royals out in final minutes of the WIAA Tournament

Royals fall late

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WFHR / WIRI) – Despite leading nearly all game, the Assumption Boys Basketball team came up just shy of returning to the WIAA Boys State Tournament for the first time since 2009.

The Royals saw a double-digit lead slip away with less than a minute to play as they fell 44-43 to Southwestern at Westby.

^{Photo Caption: Assumption’s Trey France, Braeden Peeters, and Logan Nystrom attempt to defend against Southwestern’s Remi Lawrence during the WIAA Division 5 Sectional Final game in Westby.}

Riverkings end the year

The season came to an end for the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings when they were swept in the second round of the USPHL Premier North Division playoffs.

Rapids gave up a goal with seven-seconds in the first game to fall 3-2. They were shutout in the second game 3-0.

For the season, the Riverkings finished with a 34-12-1 record. They finished second in the North Division standings for the regular season.

NCAA Tournament begins

The Madness of March will be culminating over the next couple weeks. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament tips off on Thursday, March 19.

The Wisconsin Badgers are the only Wisconsin team in the 68-team field where they earned the No. 5 seed in the west bracket and take on 12- seeded High Point.

The game will be played in Portland, Oregon at 12:50 p.m.

If victorious, the Badgers will take on the winner of No. 13 Hawaii vs No. 4 Arkansas. The game will be played on Saturday in Portland with the time to be determined.

USA falls in World Baseball Classic

It was an up-and-down tournament for the United States National Baseball team. It culminated in a championship game loss to Venezuela by a 3-2 score in Miami, Florida.

The USA finished second in their preliminary pool play, and defeated Canada 5-3 in the quarterfinals. They continued to win against Dominican Republic 2-1 in the semifinals to advance to the title game.

The win marks the first time Venezuela has won the Wold Baseball Classic, which began in 2006.