Matt McCarthy/The Daily News Florence sophomore Preston Stoltz (30) shoots over a Laona-Wabeno double team Saturday night in a WIAA Division 5 Regional Final at Wabeno.

WABENO, Wis. — One night after running away with a dominating home win in the WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal over Gillett, No. 3 seed Florence’s run was stopped by No. 2 seed Laona-Wabeno in a regional final.

Behind the sharp shooting of Rebels sophomore Connor Taylor and his game-high 29 points, the Bobcats season ended with a 69-50 setback. The matchup was the third meeting of the season between the teams, both members of the Northern Lakes Conference.

Unfortunately for the visiting Bobcats, the rubber match didn’t go their way.

“We thought we were prepared for them tonight, but our offense affected our defense in the first half,” said Florence head coach Bryan Bomberg. “We couldn’t buy a bucket and it affected us.”

Seniors Riley Hixon with 14 points and Kaden Schuls with 11 points, led the Bobcats on the night. Florence ended its season with an 18-7 record.

The Bobcats were taking good shots, running their offense in the nature they were supposed to, and they were crashing the offensive boards early on in the contest. But like Bomberg alluded, Florence simply couldn’t buy a bucket. It lasted throughout the majority of the game.

“Laona shot so well, and any time we’d make a run of any size, they’d answer,” Bomberg said. “We gave their shooters too much room to breathe and that hurt us as well.”

The Rebels were borderline deadly from the perimeter on the evening, especially from behind the arc, registering two other players in double figures. Junior Michael Stamper netted 18 points, while senior Jesse Pakulski chipped in 10.

The Rebels also were very aware of where Schuls was at all times on the offensive end of the court, doing a very good job of keeping the ball out of his hands, often double teaming him. Schuls getting in foul trouble also hurt the Bobcats defensively, noted Bomberg.

Bomberg said that Pakulski was very strong on the boards for the Rebels, limiting Florence to minimal second-chance opportunities.

Florence came out of the locker room a ball of fire in the second half, going on a 10-3 run in the first four minutes, cutting the Rebels’ lead to under 10 points. But it was to no avail, as Laona-Wabeno kept getting good looks at the basket and scoring often.

“We know that Florence is a transition team who gets going off of rebounding our misses,” said Rebels head coach Bill Taylor. “Luckily, we were making more shots than we were missing to begin the game.

“They are a great team and we knew what we were up against. Our goal tonight was to try to limit or stop Kaden Schuls, and our guys did a good job on him. Plus he got in foul trouble, which was unfortunate for them.”

Taylor noted that he feels Bomberg and JV coach Kris Johnson do a great job with the Florence team and program, also saying that it was great for two NLC teams to be facing off in the postseason, with one, unfortunately, having to lose the game.

Laona-Wabeno moves on to the sectional semifinal game on Thursday night at Elcho High School, where they will take on No. 1 seed Wausaukee out of the Marinette-Oconto Conference.

Florence had three seniors that played their last game in the green and gold — Hixon, Schuls and Paul Millan.

“Our seniors, have given a lot to our program. With Riley (Hixon) and Kaden (Schuls) being up on varsity since they were freshman, and Paul (Millan) since he was a sophomore,” Bomberg said. “They’ve been ideal student-athletes and role models.”

Florence 21 29 — 50

Laona-Wabeno 36 33 — 69

FLORENCE: Johnson 5, Boettcher 8, Hixon 14, Milan 5, Schuls 11, Stoltz 7. FT: 3-5. F:18. 3-point FG: Johnson, Boettcher (2), Hixon (2). Fouled Out: Johnson, Schuls.

LAONA-WABENO: Taylor 29, M. Seeber 6, Christianson 6, Stamper 18, Pakulski 10. FT: 14-18.