Shawano Leader Sports Headlines

Hawks take two 1sts at Green Bay event, prepare for regionalBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Contributed Photo The Shawano Community High School cheer squad won two firsts and a second place Feb . 14 at the Green Bay Cheer Classic at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. Pictured are, from left, front row, Kale McHugh and Brandon Bolin; back row, Joe Willkomm, Taylo Hodkiewicz, Elseana Panzer, Reno Buelow, Brandi Fisken, Allison Raddant, Samantha Heinz, McCasalin Gorman, Mariah Ruehle, Hannah Zuiches, Isabella Stueck, Kmberly Moesch, Bailey Moorman and Sydney Utke.
Contributed Photo The Shawano Community High School cheer team beefed up several of its routines in preparation for the Green Bay Cheer Classic at Green Bay’s Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena. The new bits paid off. The Hawks cheerleaders took home two firsts and one second place.

Like the old enigma about a tree falling silently in an empty forest, the question has a bit of a Zen quality to it.

Who cheers for the cheerleaders?

Where is the sound of one hand clapping when the girls and guys on the sidelines do something extraordinary?

It’s neither a brain-teaser nor a riddle at Shawano Community High School, where the cheerleading team achieved something worthy of more than a smattering of polite golf applause. The cheerleaders took home two first-places and one second-place award at the statewide Green Bay Cheer Classic competition Feb. 14, joining the Hawks’ swimmers, wrestlers and basketball players who came up big when it counted — and under a lot of pressure, to boot.

“It’s a very big deal for us,” Shawano cheerleading coach Mary Kast said. “We tweaked our routines a bit in preparation for the competition; we added more difficulty to some of the routines to try and maximize our scoring.”

Kast, a former dancer and Shawano graduate, revamped the routines by reconfiguring the jump sequences, adding more spins, more transitions and more flexibility skills.

As she points out, the additional twists to the routines are moot if the kids can’t pull them off.

“They have a two-and-a-half minute routine to perform, to hit all their skills,” she said. “If they miss it, or even one part of it, there are no do-overs. And this is center stage at Brown County Arena.”

With separate judges on hand to grade each individual phase of a bit, such as pyramid stunting, co-ed stunting, tumbling, jumps and motion, there is nowhere to hide if even a small part of the bit goes awry. But the 13 girls and three boys on Shawano’s team responded like champs, nailing the new tosses, flips and catches flawlessly en route to the award-winning performances.

Shawano was one of 53 cheer teams vying for top honors.

“We’re super excited, they did such a nice job,” Kast said. “The kids work so hard, and they don’t always get a chance to showcase everything they can do.”

It is easy to appreciate Kast’s enthusiasm. The hours she puts in training the cheerleaders are her own, and the winning performances at Green Bay were the satisfying culmination of a season’s worth of dedication and toil.

They will get another chance to strut their stuff Saturday at the Waupaca Cheer Regional, where the top three in the various categories advance to the sectional and then state finals.

“I think they have a good chance to advance,” Kast said. “I have a lot of confidence in them. They have a lot of discipline and drive.”

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Bonduel senior is 3rd in family to win conference honorBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Dan Tauchen

A lot of young brothers emulating the older siblings they look up to might wear similar clothes, or listen to the same music.

Dan Tauchen had a more novel approach.

The Bonduel High School senior punctuated his stellar year on Feb. 7 by defeating Rosholt’s Tony Kontney 8-2 to win the 160-pound division of the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 meet. Afterward he learned that he was named the conference’s Wrestler of the Year, becoming the third member of his family to do so.

The shadows cast by the older brothers were long ones: Joe Tauchen went 45-4 en route to a second-place finish in the 220-pound weight class at state two years ago, and Ben Tauchen was a two-time state champion, also at 220 pounds, four seasons ago. Both earned CWC-8 Wrestler of the Year honors under coach Chris Rank.

Dan Tauchen’s fate at the state meet will be determined over the next two weeks, but for the time being, going where his brothers went is a satisfying validation.

“We’re kind of a modest family,” he said. “We don’t really boast about what we did, or how much we’ve won. Even (Ben) doesn’t talk about how he won state twice. I always knew they were really good, and I looked up to them. But I guess (being CWC-8 Wrestler of the Year) is really nice because now I feel noticed.”

Opponents have long noticed Tauchen, presently the state’s No. 4-ranked wrestler in his weight class, although most often from an unfavorable viewpoint. He improved to 38-2 by winning the 160-pound title Saturday at the Coleman Regional.

“You know, rankings are … good conversation pieces,” Rank said. “I would say he’s at least that good (No. 4). I would be surprised if he doesn’t make it to state.”

Tauchen, who finished sixth at state last year at 152 pounds, is capable of doing anything in the postseason — except avenge his two losses. The first defeat came at the hands of Coleman’s Kevin Lansin in Tauchen’s first match of the season. Lansin dropped to the 152-pound weight class shortly after the match.

“A one-point loss in the first match of the year, I wasn’t really in a groove yet,” Tauchen said. “I was ready to wrestle him again the next week at Shawano, and all of a sudden he gets on the scale and … .”

His other loss was a two-point setback at the hands of Jared Krattiger, of Waterford, a Division 1 school. Bonduel wrestles in Division 3.

Aware that peripheral storylines of retribution will take a back seat when the important matches get under way, Tauchen assessed his postseason chances.

“A reasonable goal for me would be to finish in the top three at state,” he said, adding, “but what I really want is the state championship.”

To that end, Tauchen treats practice like live matches, looking to ensure that if he happens to get upended somewhere on the road to a title, it won’t be because he got outworked.

“But I don’t really use the stuff I normally use in meets,” he said. “I try new stuff, to widen my arsenal. The things I’m good at I can do no matter what, so I’m always looking to develop new stuff.”

He got an instant dividend out of the outside sweep he’d been working on to supplement the “Kelly” (fireman’s carry) that he had most often used, registering his first takedown of the conference meet with the outside sweep.

At the Coleman Regional, Tauchen was operating at something less than 100 percent physically but still had enough to win his weight class. He trailed Shiocton’s Garrett Gunderson 2-1 late in the match before posting the necessary reversal to give him the winning margin.

“I wasn’t worried about that one,” said Rank, who likes his 160-pounder’s chances the rest of the way as much as anyone’s. “When he wants to score, he can score. It’s been a pleasure coaching him and everyone in his family. I’m really proud of Dan and the career he’s had. He’s an exceptional wrestler.”

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Brisk goes for 32 as Panthers hand Eagles first CWC-10 lossBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Photo by Jen Kuhn Bowler High School freshman guard Reanne Kietlinski knifes her way between Menominee Indian defenders Monae Waukau (32), Ania Smith (center) and Taylor Mahkimetas (22) as teammates Taylor Matsche (10), Kenedie Malone (45) and Kristina Koenig (23) head upcourt during Bowler’s 64-56 CWC-10 victory Tuesday night.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Menominee Indian High School guard Taylor Mahkimetas (22) is met with pressure from Bowler’s Reanne Kietlinski during Bowler’s 64-56 CWC-10 victory Tuesday night.

Playoff hoops aren’t set to get under way for another week, but the intensity was already ramped up full burn in Tuesday night’s Central Wisconsin Conference-10 showdown between two of the area’s hottest teams.

Bowler played a game that its coach characterized as an all-timer, and Menominee Indian got off the deck repeatedly to keep it interesting, and in the end the host Panthers had ended Menominee Indian’s perfect run in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10 with a sensational 64-56 victory.

“It was one of the biggest wins in history of the school,” Bowler coach A.J. Miller said. “To play like we did and knock off a great team like Menominee Indian is a really good night for our program.”

Bowler won its sixth straight and improved to 17-4 and 13-4 in conference behind the remarkable guard play of Ashlynn Brisk and Reanne Kietlinski, whose speed kept the Eagles (19-2, 16-1) on their heels for much of the night and produced handfuls of easy fast-break points. Brisk finished with a career-high 32 points and five steals, while Kietlinski, a slashing freshman guard with a deft shooting touch, had 12 points and five steals.

“It was an exciting game, but I think we just got outhustled,” Menominee Indian coach Chris Rice said. “Give them credit; they just had a little more pep in their step tonight. A well-played game like this can only help us for the postseason.”

The Eagles’ Ania Smith did all she could to keep her team in the game, going strong to the rack all night in scoring a team-high 26 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Sasha Peters and Taylor Mahkimetas added nine points apiece for Menominee Indian, and Erin Wynos had eight.

The game turned early in the second half, when Bowler’s 17-5 run turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 39-29 advantage. Two steals by Brisk, which she turned into coast-to-coast driving layups, turned the momentum solidly over to the Panthers, whose quick-handed backcourt and clutch outside shooting kept Menominee Indian at bay.

The Eagles crept to within four points, 51-47, on a driving hoop by Smith with 3:56 left in the game. As she had done all night, Brisk was there to douse the rally, scoring four points that kept the Eagles out of range.

“We knew that if we were going to beat them we’d have to finish well on our fast break,” Brisk said. “They’re a good team, but we’re playing well now. A game like this will give us confidence going into the postseason.”

Bowler’s Taylor Matsche hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.

Menominee Indian (56)

Chevalier 1 0-0 3, Mahkimetas 3 3-6 9, Wynos 3 0-0 8, Peters 4 1-2 9, Waukau 0 1-2 1, Smith 11 4-7 26.

Bowler (64)

Wayka 1 0-0 2, Matsche 3 0-1 9, Brisk 9 12-16 32, Kietlinski 5 0-4 12, Breitrick 1 0-0 2, Malone 3 1-2 7.

Menominee Indian 12 12 12 20 — 56

Bowler 12 10 24 18 — 64

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Hawks’ senior could become repeat two-time state championBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Zach Soper set the bar so high at last year’s WIAA Division 2 swimming finals that it was hard to imagine what he could possibly do for an encore.

Yet, here he is, preparing for the final meet of an illustrious career at Shawano Community High School, in position to write his name in the record books again.

Soper, the defending state champion in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke, advanced to Friday night’s state finals by posting the best qualifying times in both events Feb. 14 at the Stevens Point Sectional. He swam 51.65 to win the 100 fly and won the 100 backstroke going away, as his 50.38 was a whopping five seconds faster than the next-fastest qualifier.

“I didn’t swim as fast as I could in the butterfly,” Soper said. “It wasn’t my best race, but I’m ready for this weekend. I’m going to work hard and do whatever I can to win. If I do swim my best race and get beat, I can’t be too disappointed, because I’ve already won two titles. But I’m excited to have this chance to do it again.”

While it would be unwise to count the 100 backstroke race as in the bag, it is difficult to imagine an opponent lopping off the necessary time to catch Soper.

“Since I’ve already won (titles) in both races, it probably would be a little disappointing if I don’t do it again,” he said. “But I’ll be ready, and I’ll be working hard to win it again. A big thing for me would be to make a run at the state record (48.35, in the 100 back). I really think I can do it.”

The Stevens Point Sectional was a watershed performance for not only Soper, but also the entire Hawks team. Their 253 points put them second in the team competition to winner Ashwaubenon (382) at the 10-team meet — the first time Shawano had ever placed that high in a sectional.

They did this on the strength of some timely big efforts. Of the 21 events the Hawks competed in, they established 16 personal-best times and broke three school records. Soper’s 100-yard backstroke time was a record, as was the 1:43.46 posted by the 200 medley relay team of Griffin Rades, Soper, Rolando Colon and Jake Klister, and the 3:24.04 by the 400 freestyle relay team of Klister, Colon, Rades and Soper.

“I can tell you we weren’t thinking of winning, or setting records,” coach Walberto Colon said. “We concentrated on fundamentals and technique — focusing on what we were doing, not what the other swimmers were doing.”

Colon, who is also bringing Adrian Tetting to Madison for possible duty on one of the relays, has enjoyed tremendous success with this year’s team, which did not lose a meet in its own pool.

“I have 100 percent confidence in whoever we have in the relays,” he said. “They do a good job of motivating each other. They’ve put in the work, and now they have to apply themselves, get themselves in the right frame of mind.”

The 400 freestyle relay team of Soper, Klister, Rades and Rolando Colon are no strangers to the state finals, having qualified last year.

“It’s going to help that we’ve been there,” Rolando Colon said. “After we qualified last season we had a pretty good idea that we’d be back again. But it will be more sentimental this time, because it’s (the seniors’) last meet.”

The team will be sent off amid some appropriate fanfare at school Friday afternoon just before their departure to Madison.

“I can’t put into words what this season has meant,” Walberto Colon said. “It’s very emotional. I wanted to ensure that these kids became men. They have made me very proud.”

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Hawks turn tables on earlier vanquishersBy: 

Leader Staff

Five wrestlers from Shawano Community High School ran the gauntlet Saturday at the Green Bay/Preble WIAA Regional and survived to compete another day.

Wyatt Welch (106 pounds), Danny Darling (113), Austin Oreskovic (126), Jarrett Laasch (145) and Damon Braatz (285) all finished in the top four to advance to the Green Bay West/Southwest Sectional, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

“We’re very happy with getting five into the sectional,” Shawano coach Michael Homan said. “We’d had a two-week layoff before the regional, so we weren’t sure if we’d qualify that many, but a lot of our wrestlers beat guys who’d beaten them earlier in the year. The kids really turned a corner and wrestled well.”

The top four finishers at Division 1 regionals advance to sectional competition, and the top two finishers at the sectionals continue onto the state finals.

Wyatt knocked off Jacob Zellner of Green Bay Preble/Green Bay East 5-2 before pinning West De Pere’s Drew Willems at 5:28 of the semifinal. Wyatt lost the title match to Pulaski’s Logan Bellow and, with a top-four finish assured, took an injury default defeat in a wrestleback against Harrison Prange of Bay Port, which won the team competition.

Darling stuck Noah Huckins of Green Bay Preble/Green Bay East in 1:13 of his first match and then dropped his next two but still finished comfortably in the top four to earn another trip to Green Bay.

Oreskovic battled his way to the sectional, knocking off De Pere’s Trevor Van Oss 10-1, losing his next two matches and then winning the pivotal fourth-place match 5-3 over Green Bay Preble/Green Bay East to move on.

Laatsch also went the same route, winning his opening match 6-4 over De Pere’s Neal Colling, dropping the next two and fighting back to win the fourth-place match by fall at 2:51 over Benji Ramirez of Green Bay Preble/Green Bay East.

Braatz closed it out following the same pattern. He beat Caleb Jeffreys of Green Bay West/Southwest 6-1 in the first round, lost the semifinal and the first wrestleback and came through when it mattered, pinning Jacob Salamonski of Ashwaubenon in 37 seconds.

DIVISION 1

WIAA Green Bay/Preble Regional

TEAM RESULTS: 1. Bay Port 256.5, 2. Pulaski 253, 3. Green Bay Preble/Green Bay East 128.5, 4. Ashwaubenon 119, 5. De Pere 104, 6. Green Bay West/Southwest 79.5, 7. Shawano 76.5, 8. West De Pere 74.5.

SHAWANO RESULTS:

106 - Wyatt Welch d. Jacob Zellner GBP/GBE 5-2; (semifinal) Welch d. Drew Willems WDP fall 5:28; (final) Logan Bellow PUL d. Welch 8-0; (wrestleback) Harrison Prange BP d. Welch, inj. def. Welch advances to Green Bay West Sectional.

113 - Danny Darling d. Noah Huckins GBP/GBE, fall 1:15; Jarod Maes BP d. Darling, fall 1:57; (wrestleback) Waylon Clark PUL d. Darling 12-1; Darling advances to Green Bay West Sectional.

126 - Austin Oreskovic d. Trevor Van Oss DEP 10-1; (semifinal) Bradley Prentice PUL d. Oreskovic, fall 0:43; (wrestleback) Henry Prange BP d. Oreskovic, fall 2:23; (fourth place) Oreskovic d. Matt Swanson GBP/GBE 5-3, Oreskovic advances to Green Bay West Sectional.

145 - Jarrett Laatsch d. Neal Colling DEP 6-4; Matt May PUL d. Laatsch, fall 1:01; (wrestleback) Andres Perez ASH d. Laatsch, fall 3:10; (fourth place) Laatsch d. Benji Ramirez GBP/GBE, fall 2:51.

285 - Damon Braatz d. Caleb Jeffreys GBW/SW 6-1; (semifinal) Hunter Micolichek PUL d. Braatz, fall 1:04; (wrestleback) Evan Heim DEP d. Braatz, fall 0:35; (fourth place) Braatz d. Jacob Salamonski ASH, fall 0:37; Braatz advances to Green Bay West Sectional.

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By: 

Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent

More than $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded Feb. 28 at the 53rd annual Marion Lions Fish Derby at Lions Point.

First prize will be $5,000 in cash and second prize will be $1,000. More than 200 merchandise prizes also will be given away. You do not need to be present to win. The grand prize drawing will take place at 5 p.m. Tickets are $2 each or three for $5.

The fishing contest will include prizes for the largest fish in each species. Catch-and-release is encouraged. Fish registration runs from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. A kids fishing derby on ice will run from 12-4 p.m.

Six free bicycles will be given to children 12 and younger. To register, a child must be accompanied by a parent. The child must be present to win. The drawings start at 11 a.m. and continue each hour until 4 p.m.

Kitty Cat snowmobile races will be held on the ice. Mid-State ice races begin at 1 p.m.

A pool tournament will begin at 10 a.m. There will be live music in the Lion’s Point shelter from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Hot food and plenty of refreshments will be available.

Proceeds from the derby are used for Lions charities. Those attending are asked to bring any hearing aids and eye glasses that are no longer needed.

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3 Bears champs at tough regionalBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

In what could be termed a qualified success, six competitors from the talent-heavy Bonduel High School wrestling team advanced Saturday from the Coleman Regional into the WIAA sectional tournament that the Bears will host Saturday at Shawano Community High School.

Pushing through to wrestle another day for Bonduel were freshman Jordan Boldt, juniors Garrett Siolka and Bennett Gunderson, and seniors Travis Wollenberg, Dan Tauchen and Mitch Sokolski.

Boldt ran his record to 34-3 by knocking off Oconto’s Aiden Wusterbarth in the 106-pound title match 10-7, while Tauchen improved to 38-2 with a pin in the semifinal and a 3-2 win over Shiocton’s Garrett Gunderson for the 160-pound regional championship.

Bonduel’s Bennett Gunderson (30-11) also claimed a regional title in the 285-pound class with a pin at 2:59 of his match with Coleman’s Donovan Salewski.

Tauchen, the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 Wrestler of the Year, trailed Gunderson 2-1 late in the match before scoring the go-ahead points on a neat reversal.

“I beat him 10-0 last week, so he must’ve learned what was working for me then,” Tauchen said. “I didn’t feel great, not my best, but I wasn’t worried that I would lose. I felt like I could get two points when I needed them.”

Regional runnersup for the Bears were Siolka (37-5) in the 126-pound class, Wollenberg (30-11) at 138 and Sokolski (33-9) at 170 pounds.

“We were hoping we’d put seven of our guys through,” Bonduel coach Chris Rank said, “but we came up a little short.”

If you have a second, Rank would be glad to tell you how close the Bears came to advancing seven. The Bears’ Jacob Banker lost a controversial 6-4 decision to Alex Zeitler of Gillett/Suring in a semifinal of the 152-pound bracket, after apparently having scored a three-point near-fall late in the third period that would have given him the win.

The interpretation of the duration of one second, as opposed to two, was the determining factor in Banker’s not being awarded the near-fall.

“(The referee) said he had three one-counts, and you have to have a two-count for a near-fall,” Rank said. “But that’s how it goes. It was a bit of a controversial call, but sometimes there are calls you don’t agree with. That one just didn’t go our way. It’s too bad, that was a strong weight class here. There’s a good chance that the third-place guy at this regional would have been the third-place guy at state.”

Defending Division 3 state champ Coleman won the team title with 264.5 points, followed by second-place Shiocton’s 194 and then Bonduel with 178.5.

“For us, now it goes from a team sport to an individual sport,” Rank said. “I’m proud of all of our guys and the season we’ve had.”

Division 3

Coleman Regional

Team scores: 1. Coleman 264.5, 2. Shiocton 194, 3. Bonduel 178.5, 4. Oconto 163, 5. Gillett/Suring 158, 6. Menominee Indian 54.5, 7. Lena/St. Thomas Academy 23.

Bonduel

Regional Semifinalists

106 – 1. Jordan Boldt d. Aiden Wusterbarth, O, (title match) 10-7.

126 – 2. Garrett Siolka d. Levi Snortum, SHI, (semifinal) 12-3; Elton Kelsey, O, d. Siolka (title) 3-1.

138 – 2. Travis Wollenberg d. Brandon Champagne, C, (semifinal) fall 3:50; Grant Fischer, GS, d. Wollenberg (title) 6-1.

152 – Alex Zeitler, GS, d. Jacob Banker (semifinal) 6-4.

160 – 1. Dan Tauchen d. Abraham Nowak, C, (semifinal) fall 2:39; Tauchen d. Garrett Gunderson, SHI, (title) 3-2.

170 – 2. Mitch Sokolski d. Brett Milhans, GS, (semifinal) 13-7; Alex Stodola, C, d. Sokolski (title) 3-2.

182 – Henry Fielding, SHI, d. Isaiah Griesbach (semifinal) fall 1:25.

195 – Brodan Bennin, GS, d. Brandon Novitski (semifinal) fall 2:16.

220 – Ben Gunderson, SHI, d. Bryce Maule (semifinal) 9-2.

285 – 1. Bennett Gunderson d. Donovan Herbst, GS, (semifinal) fall 1:20; Gunderson d. Donovan Salewski, C, (title) fall 2:59.

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Bears break it open in second halfBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

It didn’t take long for the Bonduel High School girls basketball team to find out how it would react to adversity.

Days removed from a gutting one-point loss at Wittenberg-Birnamwood that snapped their 19-game winning streak, the Bears found themselves tangled in another clash with a quality opponent Monday night, this time a non-league showdown with Marinette & Oconto Conference power Peshtigo.

Bonduel was aware that the visiting Bulldogs didn’t happen upon their 17-2 record by accident, but when the spirited, agile visitors broke out to a 6-0 lead in a game where points were hard to come by, there hovered an uneasiness not usually felt inside the gym where they had run the table throughout the 2014-15 season.

Then, after the first half ended in a 12-all deadlock that looked like anybody’s game, there came a defining sequence in the third quarter that demonstrated why the Bears are the state’s No. 6-ranked team in Division 3, and in the end their length was too much for the Bulldogs’ speed as Bonduel prevailed, 40-23.

“I think we bounced back well tonight,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We didn’t get going until after the first quarter, but then we found our rhythm in the second quarter and built on it from there.”

The school’s all-time girls scoring leader, center Jen Dowden, made her presence felt on Senior Night, spearheading an imposing frontcourt defense that controlled the boards and allowed Peshtigo few good inside looks at the hoop.

Dowden’s game-high 17 points included a lay-in with 6:12 left in the third quarter that gave the Bears their first lead of the game, 19-17.

Bonduel (20-1, 12-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) had upped its advantage to 22-17 on a free throw by Danee Collier and a bucket by Dowden when senior Lexi Reinke made what might have been the decisive play of the night.

With the rest of the Bears back on defense after a missed shot, Reinke applied some token pressure as Peshtigo brought it upcourt, then got a piece of an attempted pass, scooped up the loose ball and finished with a bucket that almost audibly took the air out of the Bulldogs’ comeback hopes.

Peshtigo (17-3, 14-0 M & O) would come no closer than five points from there as Bonduel pulled away and eventually broke it open.

“I kind of stayed back just trying to contest (the pass),” said Reinke, who earlier in the period buried a huge 3-pointer that tied the game at 17 moments after Ryleigh Klaver’s trey had given Peshtigo a 17-14 lead and the momentum. “We knew they’re a good team, and that this was going to be a tough game for us.

“After (losing to Wittenberg-Birnamwood) we knew we just had to keep working hard on the things that have worked for us all year. I think this game brought us back, got out that bad taste from our last game.”

Missy Dowden, who lauded the play of Danee Collier and Emily Sorenson off the bench, also got strong efforts from Taylor Weier, Kailee Pedersen, Hayley Sorenson and Deanna Zernicke, who were collectively enough to offset the quickness of Peshtigo guards Klaver and Amanda Majewski and the inside play of forward Saige Ruleau and center Teja Tonn.

Peshtigo 10 2 5 6 - 23

Bonduel 8 4 14 14 - 40

Peshtigo - Klaver 1 0-0 3, Majewski 2 0-0 4, Neumann 3 0-2 6, Ruleau 3 0-0 6, T. Tonn 2 0-0 4.

Bonduel - Collier 1 1-2 3, H. Sorenson 2 0-0 4, E. Sorenson 2 0-1 4, Dowden 7 2-3 17, Reinke 3 0-1 7, Weier 1 0-0 2, Pedersen 0 0-2 0, Zernicke 1 1-2 3.

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Bonduel, Menominee Indian draw first-round byes

The girls basketball teams from Bonduel and Menominee Indian high schools will enjoy a day off on the first day of the WIAA playoffs.

Bonduel (20-1) is the top seed in its sectional bracket of Division 4 play, which begins Tuesday. The Bears will open the postseason at home Feb. 27 against the winner of Tuesday’s Rosholt (11-9) vs. Amherst (9-12) game.

In another Division 4 encounter, Menominee Indian (19-1), the No. 2 seed in its bracket, also plays at home on Feb. 27, versus the winner of the Crandon (16-6) vs. Crivitz (9-11) matchup Tuesday.

In Division 2, fourth-seeded Shawano (8-12) plays at home Tuesday against No. 5-seed Waupaca (1-21), with the winner earning the right to play Feb. 27 at top-seeded Hortonville (18-3).

A full slate of area Division 5 teams will tip off with regional games Tuesday, including Gresham (5-15) at Sevastopol (9-12) and Marion (9-11) at Wild Rose (11-9). Bowler (16-4) plays host to Port Edwards (12-8), and Tigerton (1-18) draws the task of playing at Assumption (18-3), the state’s top-ranked team in the division.

All postseason regional games will tip off at 7 p.m.

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BOYS BASKETBALL

Menominee Indian 57

Bowler 40

Dominic Caldwell had 12 points and 16 rebounds for Menominee Indian (11-8, 9-7 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) Tuesday, and Mike Pecore chipped in 16 points.

Cody Monteg led Bowler (8-12, 4-12 CWC-10) with 13 points.

Menominee Indian 48

Tri-County 43

Justin Waupoose led Menominee Indian (10-8, 8-7 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) with 15 points as Tri-County fell to 6-13 overall and 5-10 in the league Friday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Shawano 45

Merrill 33

For Shawano (9-12, 6-9 Bay Conference), Courtney Vomastic had a game-high 16 points Tuesday, Sara Hokenstad had 12 and Briana Boda added 11. Megan Klitzke pulled down 12 rebounds.

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Bears prevail despite cold shootingBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

The fabled bad luck of a Friday the 13th doesn’t usually refer to shooting a basketball, although for Bonduel High School, it was a good thing their defense showed up.

Bonduel clawed, deflected and scrapped its way to a 48-34 win over visiting Wittenberg-Birnamwood for its fourth consecutive victory, one that kept the Bears’ faint hopes alive for a Central Wisconsin Conference-8 boys basketball title.

They sent the Chargers to their ninth loss in 10 games on a night when the buckets weren’t dropping for either team. Tough defense prevailed at both ends, allowing the Chargers (3-16, 2-9 CWC-8) to cut a 15-point second-half deficit to eight at the end of the third quarter.

It was the sticky, hard-nosed zone defense of the Bears (15-5, 9-3 CWC-8) that clogged Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s offensive flow and ultimately won the night for Bonduel. The Bears trailed 5-2 before closing out the first quarter with an 11-0 run that effectively set the tempo for the rest of the evening.

“We manned up pretty well on them, and our zone was working well, too,” Bonduel senior guard Colton Dobratz said. “We were able to convert some of the turnovers we forced.”

Dobratz had 13 points, teammate Connor Rosin led all scorers with 16, and junior center Peyton Czarapata turned in a strong game in the low post for the Bears with 12 points and seven rebounds.

“Our shots weren’t falling, and we just had no execution offensively,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Lon Ebel said. “If we don’t take care of the ball, it’s going to be hard to win basketball games. Our effort was there, but we made too may sloppy passes.”

Bonduel senior Hunter Berry, a 5-foot-5 guard, made his presence felt in the first quarter by grabbing three offensive rebounds, all of which kept alive possessions on which the Bears later scored. Bonduel ran down a majority of loose balls and controlled the boards but more often than not saw its shot attempts rattle in and out of the tightly fastened rims.

The Bears shot 29 free throws to the Chargers’ five, but true to the cold-shooting storyline, Bonduel converted only 14 of them. The Bears did not hit a 3-point field goal all night. Wittenberg, meanwhile, got a buzzer-beating trey from Teagon Lehman (nine points) to pull the Chargers within 36-28 at the end of three.

“We’ve done that a lot this year,” said Ebel, whose starting lineup included no seniors. “We’ll grind and battle our way back into a game, but we’ve had a hard time closing out the comebacks. We need to trust each other and play team ball.”

Bonduel closes out its regular season hosting fourth-place Pacelli and travelling to Iola-Scandinavia, which is tied for second with the Bears.

“We’re going to try to win conference,” Dobratz said, “and then win our regional. This time of year, the goal is to keep winning.”

Wittenberg-Birnamwood (34)

Stewart 2 0-0 4, Kapitz 0 0-2 0, Fraaza 3 2-2 8, Lehman 4 0-1 9, Donnelly 1 0-0 2, Groshek 2 0-0 5, Wellner 1 0-0 2, Adamski 2 0-0 4.

Bonduel (48)

Pedersen 1 0-0 2, Berry 0 4-6 4, Rosin 5 6-12 16, Dobratz 6 1-7 13, Vanderlinden 0 1-2 1, Czarapata 5 2-2 12.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood 5 8 15 6 — 34

Bonduel 13 10 13 12 — 48

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BOYS BASKETBALL

Gresham 68

Bowler 47

Bowler (8-11, 4-11 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) jumped ahead 18-10 after one quarter behind Chase Neuski (18 points) and Cody Montez (10 points), but Gresham (17-2, 13-2 CWC-10) bounced back to take a 36-24 halftime lead that it would not relinquish.

Christian Haffner had a game-high 34 points, and Drew Haffner added 17 for the Wildcats.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Menominee Indian 56

Tri-County 50

Menominee Indian improved to 19-1 overall and 17-0 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10 behind 20 points from Ania Smith and 18 from Erin Wynos.

Hannah Ernst led Tri-County (15-6, 11-6) with 16 points, and Ambe Baehman added 13.

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Shawano kids get early start on road to high school ballBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Photo by Jen Kuhn Kylie Guenther, a forward on Shawano’s eighth-grade team in the Youth Hoops program, drives on a Pulaski defender during a tournament hosted by Shawano on Jan. 31. The Youth Hoops program helps develop youngsters’ basketball and life skills.

There is a true story about a youth girls basketball team meandering off the floor after a game, with one of the players on the 7- and 8-year old squad peering up at the scoreboard that read, “Visitors 10, Home 6,” and asking a teammate, “Did we win?”

What makes that tale notable is not so much the endearing innocence of youth as it is that the girl making the inquiry would 10 years later become a first-team all-area guard for her high school team.

There is no denying that becoming familiar with the finer nuances of basketball is no different than playing a musical instrument or learning a foreign language: the sooner you start, the better.

In that vein, there are scores of Shawano girls and boys getting an invaluable head start on the path to acquiring the necessary skills to “have game,” thanks to a program that has gained steam in popularity since its inception.

Started in 2009 in an effort to give young players the necessary early development to keep pace with the game’s growing popularity, Youth Hoops — a program with teams for boys and girls in grades 2 through 8 — has tripled in size today from the 30 or so players who came out for the inaugural season.

The chief architect of the feeder program was Jeff Guenther, a former player and coach whose love for the game, and the desire to see his kids experience the satisfaction that basketball gave him, drove the venture.

“The program was well-received in the beginning, and it’s just unbelievable how it’s grown,” said Guenther, who paired with Katherine Bahl in running the program at the outset. “Katherine was outstanding — she deserves a lot of credit in the program’s success.”

Guenther would eventually run the program himself, expanding it through various skills camps and multiple tournaments. Throughout the evolution of Youth Hoops, the coaches and board members have imparted other lessons beyond the crossover dribble and boxing out underneath.

“We stress positive life choices, things like eating right, exercise, good education … important things to have in life besides basketball,” Guenther said.

A labor of love needs little encouragement, and all of the coaches and board members at every level of the girls and boys programs can take a measure of pride watching the erstwhile girls and boys become young women and men running the floor at Shawano Community High School. Every endeavor like this, however, requires a bit more than just the goodwill of good people willing to give their time.

“We couldn’t do it without other help,” Guenther said. “The community has been very supportive. The Optimist Club does a great job supporting us with funds, Dan Hartwig over at Twig’s Beverage supports our Sun Drop Classic (tournament) every year. And the athletic director at Shawano has been great, too. They don’t charge for gym time. We have four quality gyms — 11 courts at our disposal. If we had to pay for gym time we wouldn’t be able to afford uniforms, things like that.”

An accomplished former basketball player and coach in Orlando, Florida, before taking the athletic director post at SCHS, Charmaine Schreiber was on board with the youth program from the start.

“It’s important to have a feeder program like this, one where the philosophy that they’re coaching at the high school level is being taught to them at an early age,” she said. “By the time they get to high school, none of the concepts will be foreign to the kids.

“But the youth program is also important because of the life lessons they stress. Teaching kids about character, a strong work ethic, all of these things are important to impart to the kids at a young age. It’s a big thing to get kids inspired, and these kids do get inspired when they see the varsity players out there with them at their practices. I applaud our head coaches here. They’re working hard to develop the feeder program. They know that’s the future of high school sports.”

Time constraints from his job compelled Guenther to take leave of his spot as president of the Youth Hoops program, but an immediate successor wasn’t named because Guenther wanted to ensure that the next president would be a top-quality choice who knew basketball and had the kids’ best interest at heart.

They found that person in Kris Johnson, a health and physical education teacher at SCHS who had been coaching the 7- and 8-year-olds for three years before taking over as president.

“We had more than 80 girls in the gym on a Saturday morning,” she recalled. “Just to walk into gym and see 80 girls playing basketball on a Saturday morning … it made my day. As a general rule, girls are social creatures. For them to go out and shoot in the driveway is probably not going to happen. They want their friends around them. They’ll work hard, but they want the social element.”

Johnson played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school. As a hoops-freak youngster she played in some weekend open gym scrimmages and fundamentals camps, although at that time there wasn’t a separate clinic for girls. Once the drills finished and the scrimmages began, she and the one other girl at the camp became more or less invisible to the other players on the court.

There are no such exclusions when the kids playing are all girls, and there is no great emphasis on winning games on the younger levels of the Youth Hoops program.

“We don’t put much emphasis on winning until they get to the sixth- or seventh-grade level,” she said. “That’s the better way of doing it, teaching them how to play the game when they’re young and focus on the competition side of it later on. It’s helped the girls here; I think we’re seeing it right now. There’s a lot of freshmen on the junior varsity team because they were in the hoops program all the way through. …

“Until you coach, you really don’t get how gratifying it can be. The best thing for me as a coach is watching their development and seeing that moment when something clicks. It’s great to watch what they’re doing now and remember what they were like when they came in. When they start the program, they really don’t know anything about the game. Sometimes it seems like nothing’s happening, as far as making progress … and then it happens. It’s fun.”

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Bowler’s big third quarter opens door to 53-24 routBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Photo by JLW Photography Gresham Secondary School guard Makena Arndt attempts a steal as Bowler’s Ashlynn Brisk drives to the hoop Thursday night during Bowler’s 53-24 CWC-10 victory. Brisk had a game-high 28 points.
Photo by JLW Photography Bowler High School guard Ashlynn Brisk goes up for two of her game-high 28 points as Gresham’s MacKenzie Hoffman defends during Bowler’s 53-24 CWC-10 victory Thursday night.

Silver linings were scarce for the Gresham Community School girls basketball team throughout the first half of Thursday night’s showdown with Central Wisconsin Conference-10 power Bowler.

After that, things got worse.

The visiting Panthers maintained their hold on second place in the CWC-10 behind outstanding individual performances by Ashlynn Brisk and Reanne Kieltinski, using a big third-quarter run to knock off Gresham 53-24.

“Not a good night,” came the apt summary from Gresham coach Nick Yeager, whose club fell to 5-15 overall and 1-15 in the league. “We didn’t take care of the ball tonight. Our passing was not good, and that hurt us.”

It didn’t help that the Wildcats were taking on Bowler (15-4, 12-4 CWC-10), a team that has won seven of its last eight and holds high aspirations for the postseason.

Gresham could not stop, slow or contain the hard-driving Brisk, who dropped in 28 points and played a big hand in Bowler’s 19-6 third quarter that turned a 23-12 halftime lead into a runaway.

“We knew Gresham would fight hard,” Bowler coach A.J. Miller said. “But if we played our brand of basketball, we felt confident we could get the job done. Reanne and Ashlynn did a real nice job of setting the tempo for us.”

Kieltinski scored 17 for Bowler and was instrumental in running a fast break that proved to be Gresham’s Achilles heel.

“We’re not a really fast team,” Yeager said. “We can play with certain teams, but we need to slow it down and be a more deliberate team. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Nicole Creapeau led the Wildcats with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals, and drew praise from both coaches for hustle that persisted despite the lopsided total on the board. Sydney Jensen added eight points for Gresham.

“We did a good job of closing them out in the second half,” Miller said. “We’ve done a good job all year of closing out team when we had them down. That’s a big part of why we have a good record. We’re a good offensive team. We can play offense with anybody.”

After a nonconference game at Elcho on Monday, Bowler plays home games against first-place Menominee Indian, which is still unbeaten in the league, and then second-place Tri-County.

“We’d like to be on a good streak by then,” Miller said. “(Defending Division 5 state runnerup) Assumption is in our regional. We want to be ready for them.”

Bowler (53)

Wayka 1 0-0 2, Matsche 2 0-0 4, Brisk 10 7-14 28, Koenig 1 0-0 2, Kietlinski 7 2-3 17, Brietrok 0 0-2 0.

Gresham (24)

Jensen 3 2-2 8, Stehberger 1 0-2 2, Creapeau 3 4-6 10, Hoffman 0 0-1 0, Davids 2 0-0 4.

Bowler 14 9 19 11 — 53

Gresham 4 8 6 6 — 24

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Bears commit 21 turnovers in 35-34 lossBy: 

Leader Staff

Photo by T’xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media Bonduel High School senior Jen Dowden looks to make the swipe from Taylor Nier of Wittenberg-Birnamwood during Bonduel’s 35-34 CWC-8 loss at Wittenberg. Dowden broke the school’s girls career scoring record with nine points Thursday.
Photo by T’xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media Bonduel High School’s Danee Collier drives on Siri Zeinert of Wittenberg-Birnamwood during Bonduel’s 35-34 CWC-8 loss Thursday at Wittenberg.

Sometimes it’s not a case of whether a good thing comes to an end, but rather when that end comes.

The Bonduel High School girls basketball team got its first taste of defeat this season Thursday night when the Bears let one slip away against Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 35-34, in Wittenberg.

The Chargers’ Siri Zeinert was left open under the bucket on a defensive rotation with :02 left and dropped in the layup that gave Wittenberg-Birnamwood its only lead of the night, and the win.

With the loss, Bonduel, which led 20-8 at halftime and 27-18 after three, fell to 19-1 on the year and 12-1 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8.

“Was going undefeated one of our goals this year? Absolutely not,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “It was a tough loss, but a good learning experience. Our problem tonight was turnovers.”

The Bears committed an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers in falling to the Chargers (18-2, 11-2).

“It wasn’t always Wittenberg-Birnamwood causing our turnovers,” Dowden said. “We tried to make the awesome play, the great pass into a small area, when we should’ve been making smart passes.”

Micah Nier had a 16 points for Wittenberg-Birnamwood, whose pressure defense saddled the Bears with foul trouble and fueled the second-half comeback.

Jen Dowden scored nine points and broke the Bonduel girls career scoring record. Kailee Pedersen had eight points and three steals. Taylor Weier grabbed nine rebounds.

Bonduel is banking on the defeat having a bracing effect. As its coach pointed out, the only thing worse than a late-season, streak-ending loss is a postseason, season-ending loss.

“It’s better that this happened now rather than two weeks from now,” Missy Dowden said. “We’ll talk about it and get it worked out.”

Bonduel (34)

Collier 0 1-2 1, H. Sorenson 0 1-2 1, E. Sorenson 1 0-0 2, Dowden 4 1-2 9, Reinke 2 0-0 5, Weier 2 1-2 5, Pedersen 3 2-2 8, Zernicke 1 0-0 3.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood (35)

Clark 1 0-0 3, Zeinert 2 2-4 6, Alwes 1 0-0 2, Nier 5 5-5 16, White Eagle 3 0-0 7, Konkol 0 1-4 1.

Bonduel 11 9 7 7 — 34

Wittenberg-Birnamwood 2 6 10 17 — 35

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BOYS BASKETBALL

Clintonville 66

Waupaca 52

The Truckers (5-13, 4-10 Eastern Valley Conference) hit 50 percent from the floor and made 20 of 22 free throws to send Waupaca (5-14, 3-10) to the conference defeat Thursday.

Tyler Peterman led Clintonville with 22 points and seven rebounds, Nate Krueger added 19 points and Nick Hogan added 15.

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Trees added to Cloverleaf Lakes will improve habitatBy: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Contributed Photo A worker gathers trees that will be submerged along six points of the Cloverleaf Lakes chain to provide alternative habitat to fish as part of the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club’s FishSticks Project.
Contributed Photo The initial kickoff of the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club’s FishSticks Project was attended by, from left, club treasurer Dick Zoeller, club co-chair Dan Stueck, club co-chair Craig Ford, Al Niebur and Brenda Nordin, both with the Department of Natural Resources.

On the name alone, it seems like not such a great deal for the fish.

The FishSticks Project sounds like some perch and walleye will soon be relocating under a pile of tartar sauce.

Actually, the initiative undertaken by the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club could be the best thing that ever happened to the aquatic vertebrates at the Cloverleaf chain of lakes. Certainly the smaller fish will give it two gills up.

Somewhere around the time the Milwaukee Brewers get their season started, the 22 Chinese elm trees that now lay bundled lengthwise at six points around the frozen lakes will become part of the habitat at Cloverleaf Lakes. When warmer weather arrives and the lake ice melts, the trees will be lowered and anchored onto the floor of Grass Lake, Round Lake and Pine Lake, providing shelter for prey on the lam from the bigger fish, and affording a hangout for fish in a progenitive kind of mood.

“The fish will reproduce in there, they’ll grow up in there, and the smaller fish can hide from the bigger fish,” said Craig Ford, co-chair of the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club. “It’ll give them a spot where they can just grow up as fish. It’s going to be pretty interesting down there.”

Some of the early concerns raised by local residents over the project included snowmobile safety. Treetops and branches sticking two or three feet out of the lake could make for an unpleasant surprise for an unaware snowmobiler, or water skiier. Thus, one of the agreements before setting the project in motion was that no trees would be placed farther than 100 feet from the shore.

“The farthest group of trees is 76 feet from the shore,” Ford said. “We were very careful about that, because it’s a legitimate concern.”

The project, for which the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club applied for a $25,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources, is being done in stages. The first stage was removing the 22 70-foot trees from the Waupaca County farm of Jay and Laurie Ford — Craig Ford’s brother and sister-in-law — and delivering them to the lakes.

“The trees needed to be cut fresh,” Craig Ford said. “So we cut them fresh and hauled them off in an old International tractor. It was hilarious. That tractor is little, but it’s still powerful. We hauled them off with in groups of two or three, tied together with chains. No one’s got hurt throughout all this, thank God.”

The next phase involved bundling up the trees before setting them on the frozen lakes, this in order to prevent their separating and scattering should an unexpected stretch of warm temperatures make for a premature submerging of the trees.

Toward the end of February the bundled trees will be temporarily anchored to a tree or other fixture along the shore. Once the lake conditions are right, the groups of trees will be fixed to the lake floor with a sharp, V-shaped anchor, and just like that, the crappie and carp will have a new hangout.

“There are three to five trees in each of the units,” Craig Ford said. “Some of the branches — or, what we’re calling ‘FishSticks’ — may stick out from the lake. The DNR considers that beneficial for birds and turtles.”

Interested parties are urged to attend the monthly meetings of the Belle Plaine Sportsman’s Club at 6 p.m. on every fourth Tuesday of the month at Butch’s Archery on state Highway 22 in Belle Plaine.

“Everything with the project seems to be going calmly so far,” Craig Ford said. “It’s a change for people. It’s something they’ve never seen before. We’ve tried to get the word out so everyone knows what’s going on. So far, everything seems to be going great.”

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Contributed Photo Dana Tennie, owner of Hardcore Fitness in Clintonville, competes at the 2015 SoCal Spartan Races in Temecula, California, last month.
Contributed Photo Dana Tennie, owner of Hardcore Fitness in Clintonville, competes at the 2015 SoCal Spartan Races in Temecula, California, last month.

Dana Tennie, owner of Hardcore Fitness in Clintonville, placed in the top three in two races at the 2015 SoCal Spartan Races in Temecula, California, last month.

Tennis placed second in her age group of elite racers Jan. 24 in the Super Spartan Obstacle Mud Run and Endurance Race and third Jan. 25 in the Spartan Sprint.

Of the Spartan Super race’s 3,866 racers, 56 competed as elite women. There were 4,490 racers in the Spartan Sprint, including 31 elite women competitors.

Tennie has been competing in obstacle races since August 2012 and this was her first time to reach the podium.

An elite racer cannot receive assistance at any time during the competition and must complete all obstacles. The Spartan Super Course was 10.5 miles, including 5.5 miles uphill, and 35 obstacles. The Spartan Sprint Course was 5.4 miles, with 2.8 miles uphill, and 25 obstacles.

Tennie is on track to complete a double trifecta in 2015 with her next race coming up in the Bahamas on March 7.

Hardcore Fitness team members Melissa Laack and Grant Strook also competed and finished both races.

Tennie opened Hardcore Fitness at 143 S. Main St., Clintonville, four years ago. The 24-hour facility offers personal training as well as a variety of classes for all levels and age groups.

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6th-ranked Wildcats start fast, hold on 59-43By: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

Photo by Jen Kuhn Menominee Indian’s Ron Frechette III looks to dish over the outstretched arms of Gresham’s Christian Haffner during Gresham’s 59-43 CWC-10 victory Tuesday night.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Dustin Waupoose of Menominee Indian rolls in a neat layup Tuesday night during the Eagles’ 59-43 CWC-10 loss to Gresham.

If ever there was a time when the Gresham Community School boys basketball team appeared ripe to be upset, it might have been Tuesday night.

The Wildcats, matched against a tough, athletic Menominee Indian club seeking to end a three-game losing streak, were without the services of three regulars and suited only seven players.

Ultimately, though, the seven Gresham coach Jeff Zobeck ran out were enough.

Christian Haffner rattled home 19 points, Neal Cerveny added 16 and sophomore center Derek Bowman turned in a strong floor game as the Wildcats rode a fast start to a 59-43 victory.

“We were a little short-handed, but we did alright with the players we had out there,” Zobeck said. “In the first half, I thought we gave up some offensive rebounds that we shouldn’t have, and settled for some shots that maybe we shouldn’t have. But we’re a good shooting team.”

Gresham (16-2, 12-2 CWC-10), the No. 6-ranked team in Division 5, raced in front 9-0 and took an 18-5 lead after one quarter. With Haffner dropping in 16 of his game-high total in the first half, including the last seven points scored in the half, the Wildcats looked ready to blow out Menominee Indian (10-7, 7-7).

Behind Alphonso Smith Jr. (14 points, eight rebounds), Dustin Waupoose (nine points), Mike Pecore (nine points) and an effective fullcourt press, the Eagles fought back, trimming a 20-point deficit to 53-41 with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter.

“That’s one thing we can say, we didn’t quit,” Menominee Indian coach Brandon Frechette said. “Their fast style of play gave us a lot of trouble. We prepared for their man-to-man defense. We haven’t seen them play a lot of zone, so that might have thrown us off a bit. But they’re a solid team and they run well. If you don’t hustle and get back on defense, it’s going to cost you. And it did to us tonight.”

The Eagles couldn’t get the big play when they needed it, as evidenced when Adam Waukau hit an apparent long 3-pointer that would have cut Gresham’s lead to 11, only to have the bucket whistled off when it was ruled he’d stepped out of bounds on the shot. Waupoose made one of his four steals moments later but Menominee Indian turned the ball right back over.

Gresham’s Kalen Fischer made his presence felt off the bench, scoring eight points, including six in a row during one stretch of the third quarter.

Zobeck joked about his team’s No. 6 rank, pointing out that the Wildcats had twice previously climbed as high as No. 3 — only to lose their next game both times.

“We don’t want to be ranked third anymore,” he said. “But we still want to contend for a conference title, and be playing our best basketball when it’s time for the regionals. Every time we’ve had some kind of adversity this season, we’ve always had guys step up.”

Gresham (59)

Ile 2 0-0 5, C. Haffner 6 4-5 19, Cerveny 4 7-7 16, Fischer 4 0-0 8, Bowman 3 0-0 6, D. Haffner 2 0-0 5

Menominee Indian (43)

Corn 2 0-0 5, Pecore 3 2-2 9, Waupoose 3 1-2 9, Penass 2 0-0 4, Frechette III 0 2-2 2, Smith Jr. 5 3-5 14

Gresham 18 17 11 13 — 59

Menominee Indian 5 12 9 17 — 43

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Boda scores 7 points in 4th quarterBy: 

Jason Arndt, [email protected]

Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School junior Annelies Young battles for the ball against Clintonville’s Christine Betz during Shawano’s 47-41 nonconference win Monday night.
Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School senior Briana Boda attempts a jump shot against Clintonville junior Autumn Voigt during Shawano’s 47-41 nonconference victory Monday night. Both players led their teams in scoring, with Boda notching 13 and Voigt finishing with 16.

A halftime adjustment by Shawano Community High School’s girls basketball team slowed Autumn Voigt, but the nonconference matchup with visiting Clintonville was a battle to the end nonetheless.

Voigt, a 5-foot-11 junior, had 12 points in the first half of Monday night’s showdown before Shawano shifted defenses en route to a 47-41 win.

Shawano coach Ryan Koenig changed at intermission from the zone defense that Voigt had solved through the first 16 minutes to a man-to-man alignment.

“We had to box her out,” Koenig said. “She was getting every offensive rebound and putting them back for them,”

The transition was effective, sparking a second-half wherein the Hawks tied the game at 20 on a hoop by senior Courtney Vomastic and went ahead for good on a pair of free throws by junior Megan Klitzke.

After the two teams traded buckets, Sydney Schreiber gave the Hawks (7-12, 5-9 Bay Conference) a big lift with a pair of 3-pointers that put them up 30-24 after three periods.

Schreiber and Vomastic had eight points each for the Hawks, who needed the sharpshooting of senior Briana Boda down the stretch to hold off Clintonville (6-12, 6-8 Eastern Valley Conference). The Truckers had battled back to within 34-32 when Boda (13 points) hit back-to-back shots, one a 3-pointer, to give Shawano the breathing room it would need the rest of the way.

Koenig said aggressiveness was key to putting Shawano ahead in the second half, and holding Voigt to four second half points before she fouled out in the closing seconds of the game.

“We had to be aggressive,” Koenig said. “In the first half we sat back and used our zone, and did not attack the paint. But in the second half we made some adjustments, and Sydney (Schreiber) made some key shots that turned the game around.

“Briana was ready to play, too. She had a couple of illnesses and is just getting over them. I think she is back to normal now. She really stepped up when we needed it, making shots. That is what seniors should do.”

The Truckers never quit, as they drilled four 3-pointers with less than a minute remaining, including two from senior guard Allison Johnson, to pull within 43-41.

That’s as far as the comeback would go, though, as Voigt fouled out with :30 remaining and Shawano shut out Clintonville the rest of the way.

“(Voigt) fought hard and she did not get some calls,” Clintonville coach Stephanie Wengelski said. “She didn’t get any baskets down the stretch, but she kept fighting hard and that is all you can ask for.”

Clintonville (41)

Sorenson 3 0-0 7, Wagenson 2 0-0 4, Betz 2 0-0 4, Voigt 5 6-9 16, Johnson 4 0-0 10.

Shawano (47)

Monfils 2 0-0 4, Mo. Klitzke 0 3-4 3, Me. Klitzke 0 1-2 1, Vomastic 3 2-2 8, Boda 5 2-4 13, Ainsworth 0 2-2 2, Hokenstad 0 5-8 5, Schreiber 3 0-0 8, Dunnam 1 1-2 3.

Clintonville 10 8 6 17 - 41

Shawano 7 11 12 17 - 47

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