SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket men's basketball team hosted the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) semifinal game Wednesday, facing off against North Central. The 'Jackets secured the No. 2 seed while the Rams picked up the No. 3 seed in regular season action. During the 2022-23 campaign, the 'Jackets were unable to secure a victory against the Rams in both regular season and postseason action.
 
This season, quite the opposite.
 
In the team's two meetings to date, UWS scooted past North Central 68-67 inside the Clark-Danielson Gymnasium (Jan. 13) and won another close contest inside the Mertz 82-78 (Feb. 2). In playoff action Wednesday the Rams came out of the gates hot, but the Yellowjackets took charge and ended the first half with a nine-point advantage.
 
The Rams started the second half cold, but rallied the troops and clawed their way back within two with 1:26 minutes remaining in the game. With strong defense and timely scoring, the Yellowjackets came out with the 80-77 victory.
 
Game Notes

• Prior to the start of the game, senior Josef Fahrenholtz (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) was honored for scoring his 1,000th career point as a Yellowjacket. He is just the 17th member to join this illustrious crew.
• Leading the offensive charge for the Yellowjackets was freshman Max Briggs (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy). Despite fouling out of the contest, he led with 19 points and only missed one shot. Briggs finished with a field goal percentage of 85.7 percent (six-of-seven), while nailing both three pointers and all five free throws.
• Right behind Briggs was senior J'Vaun Walker (Rosharon, Texas/Manvel). He once again played a strong game, scoring 18 points while stealing one, assisting on two and rebounding five. He leads the team with 426 points.
• Fahrenholtz finished the contest with 15 points and 12 rebounds, picking up his fifth double double on the season. He sits second in points with 373 for the Yellowjackets.
• Off the bench, Reid Johnson (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) picked up 10 points in just 15 minutes on the hardwood. He also grabbed three rebounds.
• Finishing with 10 rebounds was Joey Barker (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), who picked up two assists, blocks, and steals while scoring eight.
• Pacing the scoring for the Rams was Tanner Holtman (19), Carrington McNeal (18), Nik Feller (16), and Carmello McNeal (14).

 
The Yellowjackets move onto the UMAC Championship game, setting up a rematch of last year's championship game with Bethany Lutheran. Tipoff inside North Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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