Shawano Leader Sports Headlines
Early rally propels Hawks to victory
Jason Arndt, [email protected]
Photo by JLW Photography Clintonville High School guard Aaron Morse tries to elude Shawano senior Sajen Knueppel during the Hawks’ 43-21 nonconference win Monday night at Shawano.
Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School freshman Eric Carl makes one of his six field goals during the Hawks’ 43-21 win Monday night over visiting Clintonville. Carl made five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points.
A game-opening 13-1 run gave the red-clad home crowd a sense that Monday night’s game at Shawano Community High School could turn into a shooting clinic.
And with Clintonville alternating a variety of zone defenses challenging the Hawks to beat them from the outside, the Shawano boys basketball team obliged.
Chief among the perimeter marksmen was freshman Eric Carl, who ignited the Hawks’ initial rally with three 3-point shots that set the tempo of the game and propelled Shawano to a 47-21 nonconference win.
Shawano (15-4, 9-4 Bay Conference) coach Christopher Kellett adjusted the Hawks’ offensive scheme after seeing the Truckers’ defense.
“Clintonville is a scrappy team. They like to slow the game down and set out different game plans,” Kellett said. “They like to play zone — 1-3-1, 1-2-2. Those are the ones we don’t see very often, so it was good for us to go out and get some shots early.
“Our strategy versus a 1-3-1 was to place Carl and Jack Lacy at the corners, and one of those two guys had to be open.”
The strategy paid off for Carl, who nailed five 3-pointers, including one in the second quarter to pull the Hawks ahead 18-8. His fifth trey of the night came at the start of the second half and gave the Hawks a 31-8 lead.
Carl made five of his six attempts from beyond the arc and added a two-point field goal for a game-high 17 points.
“He is a shooter,” Kellett said. “He puts a lot of time into it. He comes to the gym when there is not practice.”
The visitors were held to five field goals for the game, with Damon Lorge leading the Truckers (4-13, 3-10 Eastern Valley Conference) with six points.
Clintonville coach Shawn Howe acknowledged that the Hawks brought more offense than his club was able to handle.
“We needed to play better defense,” Howe said. “Shawano has got a good squad. They did a good job of moving the ball, and they shot the ball very well.”
Clintonville (21)
Lorge 1 3-4 6, Petermann 1 2-2 4, Morse 1 1-3 3, Krueger 1 0-0 3, Hogen 1 1-1 3, Hartleben 0 2-2 2, Kenfield 0 0-2 0.
Shawano (43)
Carl 6 0-0 17, Gueths 0 5-6 5, Jack Lacy 2 1-1 5, Jacob Lacy 1 1-2 4, Mueller 1 0-0 3, Bartz 1 0-0 3, Sousek 0 2-2 2, Hintz 1 0-0 2, Richards 1 0-0 2.
Clintonville 6 2 9 4 - 21
Shawano 15 13 9 6 - 43
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GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wabeno/Laona 64
Menominee Indian 41
Menominee Indian was led by (18-1, 15-0 CWC-10) Sasha Peters’ 11 points and nine each from Erin Wynos and Ania Smith.
Bonduel 55
Weyauwega-Fremont 26
Bonduel (19-0, 12-0 CWC-8) wrapped up at least a share of the CWC-8 crown behind the big night of Jen Dowden, who had 17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Lexi Reinke’s nine points all came on 3-point field goals, while Haley Sorenson and Kailee Pedersen both had four steals.
Weyauwega-Fremont fell to 12-7 and 7-6 in the CWC-8.
“It was a solid, all-around game for us,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We had the opportunity to clinch a share of the conference title, so we wanted to be sure to do it on our home court.”
Bowler 52
Marion 32
For Bowler (14-4, 11-4 CWC-10), Ashlynn Brisk had 15 points and five assists, Reanne Kietlinski had 13 points and four steals and Taylor Matsche added 13 points, five assists and five steals.
Marion fell to 8-11 and 6-9 in the CWC-10.
Antigo 36
Clintonville 26
Autumn Voigt had 10 points and 18 rebounds for Clintonville (6-13).
Shiocton 33
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 31
Siri Zeinart had 11 points and Micah Nier and Taylor Nier grabbed eight rebounds apiece, but Wittenberg-Birnamwood (17-2, 10-2 CWC-8) couldn’t overcome a cold-shooting four-point first half in its Feb. 9 game and fell to Shiocton (12-8, 7-5).
“We came out flat and dug ourselves too deep of a hole,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Mike Balliet said. “Give Shiocton credit, they just wanted it more.”
Almond-Bancroft 42
Tigerton 38
Charity DesRochers had 10 points for Tigerton (1-17, 1-14 CWC-10), Katie Watters had eight points and nine rebounds and Lana Maneczewski grabbed 11 rebounds.
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Photo by Jen Kuhn Bonduel High School sophomore Danee Collier prepares to dish an assist Saturday night during the Bears' 58-17 nonconference win over visiting Oconto Falls.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Bonduel High School's Kailee Pedersen is hemmed in by Elizabeth Manns and Madison Helmle of Oconto Falls during Bonduel's 58-17 rout of the Panthers at Bonduel on Saturday night .
When coaches draw up a game plan for how to maximize their team’s strengths and expose an opponent’s weaknesses, when the Xs and Os on the chalkboard all do what they’re supposed to do, Saturday night at Bonduel High School was what that looks like.
Best possible scenarios were occurring wholesale for the Bears’ girls basketball team, as they broke to a 12-0 lead against Oconto Falls and roundly trampled the visitors 58-17.
With the nonconference win, Bonduel improved to a blemish-free 18-0 and further asserted itself as a legitimate contender in the Division 4 postseason field.
“We didn’t know what to expect, because we didn’t know much about them,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We knew that we were long, but that they were quick. So our focus was on moving our feet on defense, to try and not let their quickness hurt us. It was a good game for us.”
The Bears attacked the glass with a ferocity that set the tone for the lopsided victory, pulling down eight offensive rebounds in the first quarter as they built a 14-3 lead.
Buckets by Danee Collier and Kailee Pedersen got the ball rolling, and after offensive boards by Taylor Weier and Lexi Reinke kept another possession alive, Deanna Zernicke hit a 3-pointer that compelled Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmarek Jr. to call one of three Panthers first-quarter timeouts.
“We didn’t play very well, and we had to play an outstanding game against a team like Bonduel,” said Kaczmarek, whose team fell to 7-11. “They’re tall, they shoot well, they play good defense and they’re well coached. It’s going to take a really talented team to beat them.”
Bonduel’s 58 points were spread out among nine players. Zernicke’s four treys gave her a game-high 12 points, Taylor Weier netted 10 and Jen Dowden played a sparkling floor game while scoring 11 and pulling down eight boards.
“We didn’t know what to expect, so we knew we had to battle, we had to grind,” Jen Dowden said. “But it ended up that our offense was working and our defense was really good tonight. Offensive rebounding is something we work on a lot in practice. The coaches always tell us, ‘Finish out a play, finish out a play,’ so tonight we were able to do that.”
Throughout the memorable run of Ws, Missy Dowden and her staff have done a commendable job of keeping the team’s eyes on the now and not the later. Big challenges await the Bears, beginning with a home game against Weyauwega-Fremont on Tuesday, followed by a clash at Wittenberg-Birnamwood. Bonduel handed Wittenberg-Birnamwood its only Central Wisconsin Conference-8 loss, a 46-43 decision on Jan. 13.
“Bonduel is good enough to win it all in Division 4,” Kaczmarek Jr. said. “They’re a complete team.”
Oconto Falls 3 6 4 4 - 17
Bonduel 14 18 11 15 - 58
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Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shawano Community High School junior Zach Soper gets off to a fast start en route to a meet-record 1:04.83 in the 100-yard butterfly Friday at the Great Northern Conference swim meet.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shawano Community High School junior Zach Soper turns it on over the final length of the 100-yard breaststroke Friday during the Great Northern Conference swimming meet.
The fate of the Shawano Community High School boys swimming team Friday night was reminiscent of a classic line from an old movie. Namely, when push came to shove and things started getting serious, the Hawks had a secret weapon they could always turn to: This one goes to 11!
The Hawks made it 11 straight meets without a loss and did it in style, breaking four Great Northern Conference meet records en route to claiming the league title and putting themselves in position for more fireworks at sectional and state.
Shawano’s 328 team points, which comfortably bested second-place Lakeland (277) and third-place Antigo (237), were brought about on the strength of record-breaking performances in the 200-yard medley relay, the 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay.
Two-time defending state champion Zach Soper came up big, as usual, playing a hand in all four of the record-breaking events: he won the 100 butterfly in 53.54, the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.83, he joined Griffin Rades, Rolando Colon and Jake Klister in posting a 2:02.96 for the 200 medley relay, and he swam the anchor leg of the 400 free relay, teaming up with Adrian Tetting, Colon and Rades for a 3:30.40 that broke the old mark by almost three seconds.
Soper actually trailed Antigo’s Colin Koss at the 50-yard turn of the 100 fly before turning on the jets.
“I saw he was a little bit ahead of me,” Soper said. “I was just trying to hang back and save whatever I could for the final relay. I’m looking forward to getting back to state, but no, I won’t necessarily be disappointed if don’t win there again, as long as I give it my all.”
Soper had great company in the winner’s circle. Rades, a sophomore, knocked five seconds off his personal record time in the 200 individual medley, finishing in 2:11.29, and broke the one-minute mark for the first time in his career (59.78) in winning the 100 backstroke.
“I just wanted to give our team the best chance of winning,” he said. “We knew there were other good teams here. We just wanted to give it our best effort. We hope to get a couple of guys through to state, and maybe a relay team or two.”
Shawano’s Rolando Colon also made it count in the both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, finishing second in both events in 2:01.98 and 5:36.83, respectively, while Jake Klister set personal records in taking third in the 50- (23.82) and 100-yard freestyle (53.53).
“We matched our times at state last year, so that’s awesome,” Klister said. “I guess a reasonable expectation at state would be to qualify in the 400 free relay and 200 medley, and maybe squeak in at 50 (free).”
GREAT NORTHERN CONFERENCE MEET
Team scores: 1. Shawano 328, 2. Lakeland 277, 3. Antigo 237, 4. Tomahawk 188, 5. Rhinelander 181, 6. Medford 84.
Shawano results
200 yard medley relay: 1. (Zach Soper, Griffin Rades, Rolando Colon, Jake Klister) 1:45.98; 6. (James Krueger, Cayman Kunschke, Nathan Kane, Kyle Easter) 2:02.96.
200 freestyle: 2. Rolando Colon 2:01.98, 6. Adrian Tetting 2:06.24; 9. James Krueger 2:14.59.
200 IM: 1. Griffin Rades 2:11.29; 5. Connor Angeli 2:33.18; 9. Cayman Kunschke 2:42.67.
50 freestyle: 3. Jake Klister 23.82; 9. Kyle Easter 26.32; 11. Collin Groch 27.12.
100 butterfly: 1. Zach Soper 53.54; 7. James Krueger 1:07.43; 10. Chase Lhotka 1:28.59.
100 freestyle: 3. Jake Klister 53.53; 4. Adrian Tetting 55.86.
500 freestyle: 2. Rolando Colon 5:36.83; 7. Nathan Kane 6:23.99; 12. Tommy Rankin 6:48.93; 14. Matthew Cagijas 7:54.22.
200 freestyle relay: 5. (Adrian Tetting, Kyle Easter, James Krueger, Jake Klister) 1:41.92; 9. (Tyler Buerman, Collin Groch, Cayman Kunschke, Nathan Kane) 1:51.98.
100 backstroke: 1. Griffin Rades 59.78; 7. Connor Angeli 1:15.40; 8. Tyler Buerman 1:17.48.
100 breaststroke: 1. Zach Soper 1:04.83; 5. Cayman Kunschke 1:17.74; 11. Nathan Kane 1:21.36.
400 freestyle relay: 1. (Adrian Tetting, Rolando Colon, Griffin Rades, Zach Soper) 3:30.40; 6. (Tyler Buerman, Connor Angeli, Collin Groch, Kyle Easter) 4:12.80.
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BOYS BASKETBALL
West De Pere 68
Shawano 57
The Hawks fell to 14-4, 9-4 in the Bay Conference with their loss Friday at West De Pere (14-5, 11-2 Bay). No other information was available at the Leader's press time.
Bonduel 64
Manawa 50
Colton Dobratz led Bonduel (14-5, 8-4 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) with 18 points, Peyton Czarapata added 14 and Trevor Pedersen chipped in with 11.
Gresham 85
Tri-County 40
Gresham (15-2, 11-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) was led by Christian Haffner’s 40 points. Kilian Eggert added 16 and Neil Cerveny had 15.
Almond Bancroft 53
Menominee Indian 35
Mike Pecore had 11 points to lead Menominee Indian (9-8, 7-7 CWC-10).
Weyauwega-Fremont 75
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 66
Cory Fraaza had 19 points for Wittenberg-Birnamwood (3-14, 2-7 CWC-8), Trevor Groshek added 17 and Maverick Bushman had 13.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Menominee Indian 59
Almond Bancroft 47
Ania Smith led Menominee Indian (19-0, 16-0 CWC-10) with 26 points and Erin Wynos added 14.
Bowler 53
Rosholt 32
Kennedy Malone had 22 points and 18 rebounds for Bowler (13-4, 10-4 CWC-10), while Ashland Brisk had 16 points and nine steals and Reanne Kietlinski had 10 points.
Wild Rose 40
Tigerton 18
Lana Maneczewski led Tigerton (1-16, 1-13 CWC-10) with nine points and 10 rebounds and Angela Huffman added six points.
Rate this article: Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yetBears pounce early against Manawa
Jason Arndt, [email protected]
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt Bonduel High School sophomore Kailee Pedersen focuses on the basket in heavy traffic during the Bears’ 64-16 home victory against Manawa on Thursday. Pedersen finished with nine points.
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt Bonduel High School senior Deanna Zernicke defends Manawa’s Ashlee Strebe in Bonduel’s 64-16 victory at home Thursday.
The first quarter was all Bonduel High School needed in its 64-16 girls basketball romp Thursday against visiting Manawa.
Taylor Weier, who finished with a game-high 16 points, sparked the opening quarter rally with the Bears’ first seven points.
Teammate and senior Lexi Reinke, who scored nine points — all on 3-pointers, has been impressed with Weier’s progress throughout the season and believes the 6-foot junior is coming into her own.
“She is sort of stepping up as a leader down in the post,” Reinke said. “She always grabs rebounds and is never scared.”
Reinke followed Weier with one of her 3-pointers to put Bonduel ahead 10-2 before Manawa’s Alexis Wepner ended the 10-0 run with a baseline jumper.
Manawa coach Patrick Collins said his team had difficulty adjusting after being outscored 17-4 in the opening period.
“We started off in a man-to-man and we found out pretty quick that we could not guard them one-on-one,” Collins said. “They had players taking it to us right away. … They are a really good team and we knew what we were up against, being one of the top 10 teams in the state and the best team in the conference.”
Manawa (3-16, 0-11 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) switched to a zone defense, but the Bears continued to dominate.
Bonduel (17-0, 11-0 CWC-8) received contributions from nine of its 10 active players and converted 15 of 25 free throws.
“The younger ones got in pretty much halfway through each of the quarters, so they put in some valuable time … working with some of the starters,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said.
Sophomores Emily Sorenson and Kailee Pederson each finished with nine points. Bonduel’s leading scorer, Jen Dowden, was held to eight points, including two field goals.
Dowden said her team, which is ranked No. 4 in Division 4 in The Associated Press state poll, continues to take each game at a time as its winning streak grows.
“It is fun,” she said. “We don’t focus on the record at all, and I never hear them talking about it.”
“We never overlook any of our opponents, because you never know what they are going to come out with,” Reinke said.
Manawa (16)
Suehs 1 0-0 2, Zander 0 0-1 0, Reierson 2 0-0 4, Ferg 0 2-4 2, Bartel 1 0-0 2, Strebe 1 1-2 3, Wepner 1 1-2 3.
Bonduel (64)
Collier 1 1-2 3, H. Sorenson 2 2-2 6, E. Sorenson 4 1-2 9, Dowden 2 4-4 8, Reinke 3 0-2 9, Weier 6 4-7 16, Pedersen 3 3-6 9, Zernicke 1 0-0 2, Wudtke 1 0-0 2.
4 2 6 4 — 16
Bonduel 17 15 19 13 — 64
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Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School guard Teagan Monfils applies the defensive heat to West De Pere’s Liz Edinger Thursday night during the Hawks’ 51-38 Bay Conference loss.
Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School junior guard Sydney Schreiber hit an important 3-point field goal Thursday night to keep it close during the Hawks’ 51-38 loss to Bay Conference rival West De Pere.
The pieces were in place for an upset that the Shawano Community High School girls basketball team could have ridden a long way into the postseason.
Only problem was that Lady Luck took a powder.
The Hawks had state-ranked West De Pere on the ropes for a good portion of Thursday night’s Bay Conference matchup, but the critical buckets down the stretch that ultimately decided the outcome rolled in for the Phantoms and out for Shawano, and West De Pere escaped 51-38.
“It was a great game, great intensity,” Shawano coach Ryan Koenig said. “We did a lot of things really well, but we didn’t defend the lane as well as we could have. And our shots weren’t falling at the end.”
In a nutshell, there was just a bit too much Liz Edinger for the Hawks (6-12, 5-9 Bay Conference), who saw their winning streak snapped at two. Edinger, West De Pere’s sophomore guard, scored 20 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, many of which were of the backbreaking variety after Shawano had edged closer.
“I honestly thought we were going to win,” Shawano’s Morgan Klitzke said. “We had a good start and we were playing well. We just got stuck in some of our transitions and rotations.”
Klitzke did an outstanding job handling the pressure of West De Pere (15-4, 11-2) and led the Hawks with 10 points and five rebounds. Twin sister Megan Klitzke (eight points) was equally cool in the face of the three-quarter-court heat, and helped Shawano break out to a 6-0 lead.
The Phantoms were conspicuous enough, though, bouncing back after five first-quarter points by Hawks center Erika Dunnam and a free throw by Meagan Ward that gave Shawano a 10-5 advantage. West De Pere, whose record includes a season-opening win of 67-4, went on an 11-0 run that gave the Phantoms a 16-10 edge and apparent control of the game.
Someone forgot to tell the Hawks to roll over, though, and before long West De Pere found Shawano nipping at its heels again. A huge 3-point bucket from the left wing by Sydney Schreiber cut the deficit to 22-19 with 1:24 left in the half, and Megan Klitzke’s hoop with 6.2 remaining until intermission made it 22-21.
Morgan Klitzke opened the third quarter with a neat layup on one of her many resolute drives to the rack, giving Shawano its final lead of the night, 23-22. After that, Edinger took over, hitting virtually everything she put up en route to scoring 13 of the Phantoms’ 15 third-quarter points. Trailing 37-32 after three, Shawano spent the rest of the evening watching its upset bid bounce, clang and roll agonizingly off the mark.
“We’ve played really well against some good teams,” said Koenig, whose club gave powerhouse New London a scare in a two-point loss on Jan. 23. “A couple of bounces here or there and we could have 10 wins right now. Our goal is to put ourselves in position to be playing our best ball at playoff time.”
Mission accomplished, it would appear.
West De Pere (51)
Denis 0 2-2 2, Edinger 9 4-5 23, Evans 0 4-4 4, Strick 4 2-4 10, VanVonderen 3 1-1 7, Stefaniak 2 0-1 5.
Shawano (38)
Monfils 1 2-2 4, Mo. Klitzke 3 3-4 10, Me. Klitzke 3 2-3 8, Boda 1 0-1 2, Hokenstad 1 2-5 4, Schreiber 1 0-2 3, Young 0 1-2 1, Ward 0 1-2 1, Dunnam 2 1-2 5.
West De Pere 12 10 15 14 — 51
Shawano 10 11 11 6 — 38
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GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 38
Weyauwega-Fremont 20
Corrissa Konkol led Wittenberg-Birnamwood (17-1, 10-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) with 10 points, Micah Nier added nine and Kirsten Clark had eight.
BOYS HOCKEY
Manitowoc 2
Shawano 1
Aaron Lammers scored for the Hawks in the second period assisted by Blake Stoss and Sam Boivin. Shawano goalie Brendan Chapman made 36 saves.
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Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by Jen Kuhn Sajen Knueppel’s driving bucket late in the fourth quarter gave Shawano a two-point lead Tuesday night during the Hawks’ 61-53 overtime victory over visiting Luxemburg-Casco.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shawano Community High School freshman Eric Carl connects from way downtown Tuesday night during the Hawks’ 61-53 Bay Conference victory over Luxemburg-Casco.
If you weren’t moved by the proceedings at the Shawano Community High School gymnasium Tuesday night, it might be time to check yourself for a pulse.
In a swashbuckler of a Bay Conference showdown between the host Hawks and Luxemburg-Casco, Shawano demonstrated championship mettle throughout 36 frenetic minutes, overcoming a blown 10-point fourth quarter lead and finally outplaying the visitors in the overtime period to win 61-53.
With the victory, the Hawks avenged an earlier eight-point loss to the Spartans and improved to 14-3 overall and 9-3 in the league while dropping the visitors to 13-4 and 8-3 in conference.
The surfeit of heroes for Shawano included Eric Carl, whose 21 points all came on 3-point field goals, several of which swung the momentum 180 degrees in the Hawks’ favor.
“That was our game plan on offense,” the freshman guard said. “Work the ball around their 2-3 zone and hit the open man. It was a game of runs.”
Carl hit consecutive 3-pointers in the first and third quarters, the latter two of which broke a 31-all tie and put Shawano in position to open up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.
“It was a great team win,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “The kids never gave up. We bounced back after a slow start in the first quarter, and we came back after losing the 10-point lead. We matched up well with them and played hard. We’re staying on track. I don’t think we’ve played our best game yet.”
Tuesday’s gem had to have been close, though. Every Shawano player who stepped on the floor contributed to the win. Jack Lacy grabbed four of his seven rebounds in the OT, all of them tough boards in traffic, with the outcome still far from decided.
Center Zeke Gueths had six points and eight rebounds, and despite early foul trouble played strong defense against Spartans center Spencer Kanz (10 points, five rebounds). Sajen Knueppel’s nine points included a huge bucket with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter that gave Shawano a 48-46 lead.
Guard Zach Sousek, meanwhile, rolled in 16 points and did a masterful job handling the ball against Luxemburg-Casco’s zone pressure. Dylan Hintz gave Kellett some very productive minutes off the bench spelling the foul-riddled Gueths. Hintz forced a turnover with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter that led to Knueppel’s lead-giving hoop. Guard Braden Mueller likewise played hard defense and made the Spartans work for their shots.
Shawano led 43-33 on a put-back by Gueths with 6:44 left in the fourth before Luxemburg-Casco roared back behind the sharpshooting of guard Jake Zeitler, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Zeitler scored 11 of Luxemburg-Casco’s 13 points in a 13-0 run that wiped out the 10-point deficit that on another night may have demoralized the hosts.
But there would be no such letdown, and the overtime belonged entirely to Shawano. After Carl opened up the scoring with one of his signature long-range treys, Knueppel, Lacy and Sousek all hit buckets, and the determined Hawks defense put the clamps on any comeback notions the visitors might have entertained.
“It’s always a great feeling to get a big team win like that,” Kellett said. “We can feel good about it. But we’ve got another tough one coming up (Friday at West De Pere).”
Luxemburg-Casco (53)
Vlotho 3 0-0 8, TeKulve 2 0-0 5, Zeitler 9 4-4 25, Falk 1 3-3 5, Kanz 3 4-6 10.
Shawano (61)
Knueppel 3 3-5 9, Mueller 0 0-2 0, Sousek 6 4-5 16, Jack Lacy 2 1-2 7, Carl 7 0-0 21, Hintz 1 0-0 2, Gueths 2 2-2 6.
Luxemburg-Casco 16 6 9 17 5 — 53
Shawano 18 4 17 9 13 — 61
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Troy A. Bruzewski, Leader Correspondent
Photo by Troy Bruzewski Shawano Community High School’s Tyler Buerman swam 1:06:05 in the 100 freestyle at the Jan. 31 Madison West Invitational held at the Madison Natatorium. Shawano senior Zach Soper established a meet record in the 100 backstroke and a school record in the 100 freestyle.
There’s more than one reason the Madison West Invitational resembles the WIAA swim state finals.
Saturday’s boys meet was held at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Natatorium, which also hosts the annual state finals. The invitational also featured a number of swimmers expected to return in three weeks to challenge for a state title.
Shawano Community High School junior Zach Soper was one of them, as he demonstrated to the field of state-quality swimmers by setting a pair of records.
Soper, one of three swimmers to claim a couple of wins in individual events, bested the field in both the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. His victories accounted for a majority of points earned by Shawano, which finished 14th with 54 points.
Madison Memorial (525) won the meet and nearly doubled the point total of second-place Madison West (278). Soper’s two wins were the only top-10 finishes by the Hawks.
Shawano coach Walberto Colon confirmed Soper set a meet record in the 100 backstroke and a school record in the 100 freestyle.
Soper’s first win came in the 100 freestyle, which he completed in 47.6 seconds, nearly a half-second ahead of Aidan Meara (48.04) of Madison West. Shawano’s Collin Groch and Tyler Buerman also competed in the event. Groch (1:03.74) was 103rd and Buerman (1:06.05) was 105th.
Three events later, Soper claimed his second victory by finishing the 100 backstroke in 51.1, less than a half-second off his 2014 state-title finishing time. Memorial’s Justin Temprano was second at 51.40. Griffin Rades finished 27th for the Hawks with a time of 1:01.58.
Soper and Rades teamed with Rolando Colon and Jake Klister to finish in 1:46.21, good for 13th place, in the 200 medley relay. Madison Memorial won the event in 1:36.6.
Rades finished 23rd in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:16.29.
Shawano’s 200 freestyle relay team (Klister, Adrian Tetting, James Krueger and Nathan Kane) finished in 1:43.62 to place 20th.
The final top-25 finish for the Hawks came in the last event of the invitational, when Tetting, Colon, Rades and Soper finished the 400 freestyle relay in 3:40.66 to place 14th.
The Hawks conclude the regular season Friday by hosting the Bay Conference meet. They will then have more than a week to prepare for the WIAA sectional at Stevens Point on Feb. 14.
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BOYS BASKETBALL
Bonduel 63
Menominee Indian 46
Bonduel (13-5, 6-3 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) trailed after one quarter but bounced back behind Colton Dobratz’s 18 points and 10 each by Hunter VanderLinden and Connor Rosin.
Menominee Indian (9-7, 7-5 CWC-10) was led by Michael Pecore’s 15 points.
Bowler 50
Wis. Valley Lutheran 47
Ashton Oswald’s 3-pointer with :02 left gave Bowler (7-9, 3-9 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) the margin of victory.
Chase Nueske had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Bowler, which began the fourth period trailing by nine, and Thomas Kazik added 13 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Shawano 52
Luxemburg-Casco 41
The Lady Hawks improved to 6-11 and 5-8 in the Bay Conference behind Megan Klitzke’s 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sara Hokenstad had nine points for Shawano, Courtney Ainsworth added eight and Morgan Klitzke scored seven. Luxemburg-Casco fell to 2-15 and 2-9 in conference.
Menominee Indian 42
Manawa 25
Menominee Indian (17-0, 14-0 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) remained undefeated behind Erin Wynos’ 15 points and 10 from Taylor Mahkimetas.
Autumn Ferg led Manawa with 12 points.
Bowler 63
Wisconsin Valley Lutheran 19
Taylor Matche had 18 points and four steals for Bowler (12-4, 10-4 CWC-10), while Rhiann Kowinski added 15 points.
Bonduel 66
Iola-Scandinavia 34
Another big second quarter and a balanced scoring attack led the Bears to their 16th win of the season without a loss Friday.
Bonduel (10-0 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) led 19-17 after one quarter but broke it open over the next eight minutes to take a 41-22 halftime lead that would not be threatened.
Taylor Weier had a double-double for the Bears, scoring 11 points and snagging 11 rebounds. Jen Dowden had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Emily Sorenson scored 13 points. Nine of Deanna Zernicke’s 12 points came on 3-point field goals. Hayley Sorenson added nine points and Lexi Reinke had five points, two assists and a steal.
Iola-Scandinavia fell to 9-7 overall and 4-6 in the league.
Rate this article: Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yetShawano puts away Marinette, but not without a fight
Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shawano Community High School senior guard Sajen Knueppel goes up in traffic to net two of his 10 points Friday night during the Hawks’ 62-46 Bay Conference win over visiting Marinette.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shawano Community High School guard Zach Sousek draws a foul on a drive to the bucket Friday night during the Hawks’ 62-46 Bay Conference win over visiting Marinette.
A win is a win is a win, especially at this time of the boys basketball season, but Shawano Community High School coach Chris Kellett will be among the first to tell you that some are better than others.
His Hawks rolled to a comfortable 20-point halftime lead against Marinette and appeared on the verge of atomizing the visitors in their Bay Conference clash Friday night.
The Marines had other ideas, however, and did not go quietly, as their eight 3-point field goals and strong floor play kept the outcome in doubt until the final few minutes when Shawano finally put it away, 62-46.
“I thought we played OK,” Kellett said, “but Marinette wanted it more than we did. We got a little complacent, and they were getting to most of the loose balls. Fortunately (center) Zeke (Gueths) got his shot going in the second half and kept them from getting our lead to under 10.”
Gueths shook off a lukewarm first half to finish with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Hawks improved to 13-3 overall and 8-3 in the league. Marinette, which looked and played nothing like a 3-11 team, fell to 1-9 in conference despite the hot shooting of Elijah Krah, whose 15 points all came from beyond the 3-point arc.
It looked like it was going to be a laugher for the hosts, who broke out to a 9-0 lead when Zach Sousek made one of his four steal and lofted a feed to a streaking Jack Lacy (nine points), who finished the break with a dunk that got the rafters knocking.
“I hesitated a bit on it,” he said, “but I got it in there.”
In what would be a recurring theme, Marinette bounced back, putting together a 7-0 run of its own and ending the quarter down only 13-10.
The Marines whittled away at the 34-14 halftime deficit and drew to within 57-46 with 1:31 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Jonte Webb (10 points) before a free throw by Shawano’s Braden Mueller and four more by Sousek (11 points) finally iced it.
Sajen Knueppel had 10 points for the Hawks, while Matthew Richmond and Reilly Benson scored eight apiece for Marinette.
“Our first and only goal is to be playing our best ball at the end of the year,” Kellett said. “We want to win our regional and get back to the sectional.”
The Hawks will get a good test Tuesday when they host Luxemburg-Casco, a team that edged the Hawks 55-47 on Dec. 19.
“It’s a huge game for us,” Kellett said. “They’ve got three guys averaging 15 points a game. We’re going to have to contest their shots and play hard for four quarters.”
Marinette (46)
Waloway 1 0-0 3, Krah 5 0-0 15, Nelson 0 2-2 2, Webb 4 0-0 10, Richmond 4 0-0 8, Benson 4 0-0 8.
Shawano (62)
Knueppel 3 4-6 10, Mueller 1 1-2 4, Sousek 1 9-11 11, Bartz 0 1-2 1, Jack Lacy 3 1-2 9, Carl 2 0-0 6, Richards 1 0-0 2, Gueths 8 3-3 19.
Marinette 10 4 14 18 — 46
Shawano 13 21 9 19 — 62
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By Jody Korch, [email protected]
Photo by Jody Korch Briana Boda drives around Alex Cording of Marinette for a layup in the third quarter Friday night in Marinette during Shawano Community High School's 53-35 win.
Bad Marinette defense, or good Shawano offense? Probably a combination of the two contributed to Shawano Community High School’s surprisingly easy 53-35 girls basketball win Friday night.
The Hawks shot 58.5 percent (24-41) from the field.
“We did a good job of getting open shots and then driving to the basket,” Shawano coach Ryan Koenig said. “We put our teammates in a good position. We set solid screens. We got on a roll and everybody was involved.”
When Briana Boda wasn’t driving to the basket, Courtney Vomastic was hitting sweet jumpshots and 6-foot-0 junior Erika Dunnam was posting up down low for easy bunnies.
The Marines were often caught flat-footed.
“We could’ve played better on defense,” Marinette coach Luke Maulding understated. “They shot pretty well. That’s a big confidence booster for them.”
The Marines had the big P.F. Neverman Gym crowd rocking early. Alex Cording hit two baskets and Teya Lambie made one bucket, and the Marines led 6-0.
Koenig called time out and switched his team from a 3-2 zone into a 2-3. That cut out Marinette’s open corner shots, and seemed to throw the Marine offense into a funk.
“It kind of slowed us down,” Maulding said. “It takes you out of space. We just couldn’t make any shots, couldn’t get in our transition.”
Vomastic hit a pair of 3-pointers, Courtney Ainsworth hit one three and Boda scored four points. Just like that, the Hawks reeled off 13 straight points for a 13-6 lead.
The Shawano lead grew to 25-10 on Morgan Klitzke’s 3-pointer with 3:30 in the half. Cassie Hilbert’s four-point play, Ellie Wahl’s putback and Lambie’s free throw whittled the lead down to 11 and helped keep the Marines within reach.
Shawano hit six of 10 third-quarter shots and quickly pulled away. Boda opened the second half with two quick buckets, and she finished the quarter with a buzzer-beater for a 41-24 lead. The margin grew to 49-29 in the fourth quarter.
Shawano looked like a team much better than its 5-11 record.
“We’ve been playing real well,” said Koenig, a former UW-Marinette basketball player. “Our record doesn’t indicate what these girls are going through. Hopefully tonight was a step in the right direction.”
For Marinette (5-13), which was coming off consecutive wins, it’s back to the drawing board.
“A hiccup,” Maulding said. “It’s a little setback to reality. Just regroup. We’ve got Seymour coming in (Tuesday).”
Tatum DePerry’s buzzer-beater gave Shawano’s junior varsity a 31-30 win.
Shawano won the freshman game 28-17.
Shawano (53)
Monfils 0, Mo. Klitzke 7, Me. Klitzke 6, Vomastic 11, Boda 13, Ainsworth 4, Young 0, Ward 2, Dunnam 10.
Marinette (35)
Lexi Bohan 0, Cording 11, Mailand 0, Lynsee Bohan 0, Lambie 6, Thielen 0, Hilbert 16, Wahl 2, Metzner 0, Veriha 0, Kuffel 0.
Shawano 17 11 13 12 — 53
Marinette 8 9 7 11 — 35
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BOYS BASKETBALL
Gresham 82
Almond-Bancroft 59
Gresham defeated host Almond-Bancroft Friday behind a game-high 33 points from Christian Haffner.
The Wildcats held a 43-27 lead entering halftime, outscoring Almond-Bancroft 26-11 in the second quarter, and further widened the lead with a 39-32 second half.
Gresham (12-2, 10-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) also received contributions from Drew Haffner with 15 points along with 12 points from Erik Bowman.
Almond-Bancroft (11-5, 7-5 CWC-10) was led by Dylan Bunders with 16 points and Garrett Yonke (15).
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 44
Manawa 40
Wittenberg-Birnamwood outscored Manawa 18-9 in the final period to post the win.
“It wasn’t pretty, but definitely a gritty performance down the stretch,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Lon Ebel said. “I was happy we found a way to win a close one.”
Teagon Lehman had 13 points for Wittenberg-Birnamwood (3-12, 2-6 CWC-8).
Manawa fell to 2-14, 0-9 CWC-8.
Shiocton 67
Bonduel 61
Colton Dobratz led Bonduel (11-5, 6-3 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) with 20 points, while Peyton Czarapata added 19 and Connor Rosen had 12.
Nathan Schmidt led Shiocton (5-9, 4-4 CWC-8) with 23.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Menominee Indian 55
Rosholt 33
Menominee Indian was led by Ania Smith’s 18 points Friday night in Keshena. Sasha Peters added 13 and Erin Wynos chipped in with 12.
Bre Richter led Rosholt (9-8, 6-8 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) with 18.
Menominee (16-0, 14-0 CWC-10) will play at home vs Manawa on Tuesday and at Almond Bancroft on Friday.
Rate this article: Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yetBonduel girls whip Shiocton, stay perfect
Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by Jen Kuhn Bonduel High School senior Deanna Zernicke drives around Shiocton’s Carmen McCarthy during Bonduel’s 46-31 win Thursday in Bonduel.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Shiocton High School senior Carmen McCarthy is defended by Bonduel junior Marissa Mehlhom and friends Thursday in Bonduel’s 46-31 win at home.
A sluggish start was almost expected for the Bonduel High School girls basketball team Thursday night, given that the Bears were beset last week with a flu bug that rendered all but three players out of commission.
Equally predictable, though, was Bonduel’s ability to get off the canvas and assert itself as the team to beat in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8.
Trailing a feisty Shiocton squad 9-7 after one quarter, the Bears got serious, shutting out the visitors in the second period and taking command with their signature, swarming defense en route to a 46-31 win.
With the win, Bonduel stayed perfect, improving to 15-0 on the season and 9-0 in the CWC-8.
“I don’t know if we ever dreamt that we’d be 15-0 right now,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “It wasn’t a very pretty win, but we got it done.”
They got it done despite the lethargic first period and an unremarkable 22-for-44 night at the free-throw line, giving credence to the notion that good teams win even with something less than their A-game.
“We seem to start off slow a lot,” Bonduel forward Lexi Reinke said. “We kind of let them push us around in the first quarter. But we knew we just had to take it to them and play hard.”
Shiocton (10-7, 5-5), which was led by Samantha Schmidt’s 10 points, took its last lead of the night on a driving bucket by Carmen McCarthy with :46 left in the first quarter.
Ultimately, the Chiefs had no answer for the likes of Taylor Weier (11 points, six rebounds), Deanna Zernicke (nine points), Kailee Pedersen (eight points, five steals), Reinke (seven points, four steals) and Jen Dowden (seven points).
Shiocton, which also went scoreless for the first 3:10 of the second half, put together a 7-0 run that brought the Chiefs to within 23-16 late in the third quarter. But two buckets by Pedersen and one each by Weier and Dowden gave Bonduel breathing room and effectively dashed any hopes for a Chiefs upset.
“It was tough, because the girls were getting their legs back after being sick,” coach Dowden said. “I couldn’t really push them in practice because they were still recovering. We have to keep working hard, because teams will be coming after us.
“We have big games with (second-place) Wittenberg (Birnamwood) and (third-place) Weyauwega (Fremont). A reasonable goal for us is to win out in the conference. We’re taking it one game at a time. I know we’ve got Iola (Scandinavia) Saturday. After that, I couldn’t tell you who we play.”
Shiocton (31)
Morack 0 0-1 0, Ca. McCarthy 1 0-2 2, Schmidt 1 8-10 10, Conradt 1 0-0 2, Co. McCarthy 3 2-5 9, Korth 1 0-0 2, Ubl 2 2-2 6.
Bonduel (46)
H. Sorenson 0 0-1 0, E. Sorenson 2 0-0 4, Dowden 2 3-8 7, Reinke 2 3-11 7, Weier 2 7-10 11, Pedersen 3 2-4 8, Zernicke 1 7-10 9.
Shiocton 9 0 7 15 — 31
Bonduel 7 12 7 20 — 46
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BOYS SWIMMING
Shawano 99
Antigo 70
Shawano remained undefeated for a second straight season, raising its record to 10-0, with its win Thursday at Antigo.
The Hawks won eight of the 11 events. Zach Soper and Griffin Rades each won two individual events and swam on two winning relay teams. Rolando Colon also was a member of two winning relay teams, and won the 100-meter backstroke.
The Hawks will host the Bay Conference meet Feb. 6.
Shawano winners: 200-meter medley relay: 1st, 2:01.41, Zach Soper, Griffin Rades, Rolando Colon, Jake Klister; 200-meter freestyle: 1st, 2:14.35, Zach Soper; 200-meter IM: 1st, 2:31.31, Griffin Rades; 100-meter butterfly: 1st, 1:04.25, Zach Soper; 200-meter freestyle relay: 1st, 1:55.27, Adrian Tetting, Jake Klister, Kyle Easter, James Krueger; 100-meter backstroke: 1st, 1:15.96, Rolando Colon; 100-meter breaststroke: 1st, 1:18.59, Griffin Rades; 400-meter freestyle relay: 1st, 4:09.02, Rolando Colon, Griffin Rades, Adrian Tetting, Zach Soper.
WRESTLING
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 39
Shiocton 28
Wittenberg-Birnamwood recorded four pins Thursday in a battle of unbeatens in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8. Both teams came in 8-0 in conference.
“This was a big one for our program,” Witt-Birn coach Troy Ostrowski said. “The boys didn’t hold anything back and left everything out on the mat. I am very proud how they wrestled tonight. Great team effort!.”
Witt-Birn winners: 120 - Stetson Potrykus pinned Raymond Herb, in 1:00; 126 - Gavin Czerwonka pinned Trover Bruns in 51 seconds; 132 - Zach Urguhart dec. Levi Snortum, 9-8; 145 Josh Wick dec. Trever Young, 4-2 OT; 170 - Hunter Kreger pinned Trent Moder in 3:10; 182 - Alex Peplinski dec. Mason Gomm, 6-3; 195 - August Peplinski won by forfeit; heavyweight - Dylan Wieland pinned Ben Gunderson in 3:31.
Rate this article: Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yetSuper dilemma: Whom to pull for?
Gary Seymour, [email protected]
After having nearly a fortnight to heal, forget, or convince oneself that in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter, there lingers a proposition for this Sunday that Green Bay Packers fans did not figure to be wasting a lot of time considering.
Namely, whom to pull for in the Super Bowl.
As if you need to be reminded, the Packers endured one of the toughest losses in franchise history on Jan. 18, losing the National Football Conference championship game to Seattle 28-22 in overtime. The Packers frittered away a seemingly safe lead and let slip away what was shaping up as a highly impressive prelude to a fifth Super Bowl crown.
There are two schools of thought after losing in the playoffs. One is to root for the team that beat you, the idea in this case being that the NFC title game was the real championship clash, and that the two best teams in football were on CenturyLink Field two weeks ago. No, we didn’t beat them, but neither did anyone else.
The other way to go is to irrigate the bitterness, feed the resentment and hope that New England simply disassembles those lucky, filthy neon dogs. See how they like it!
Of course, this assumes that folks can go from devastation to normal in two weeks, and that feelings aren’t still in tatters.
“I haven’t been able to even watch SportsCenter,” one fan intoned. “No sports at all. I’ll watch the Super Bowl, but I haven’t even figured out yet who to root for. I really don’t care that much.”
“I guess I’m for (New England quarterback Tom) Brady,” came another reply, which was soon followed by some retroactive hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing. “He’s alright. The Packers should be there, though. They just didn’t play four quarters against Seattle. They got too conservative in their play-calling. See? I’ve got to stop talking about it because I’m getting upset all over again.”
A prevailing notion among some pro football wags is that the NFC is still hands down the stronger conference, and that whomever the AFC trots out in the big game will get their lunch handed to them. To wit: Denver was supposed to have provided the Seahawks a tough challenge last year. Does 43-8 ring a bell? The biggest challenge in that game went to the announcers trying to make like the blowout was worth watching to the end.
You may remember that in Week 13, New England rolled into Lambeau having won seven straight, and looking for all the world like a team ready to assert itself as the new king of the NFL hill.
The Packers, you could say, took some of the air out of the Patriots’ balloon, jumping ahead early and staving off a late New England comeback to win 26-21. In that game, the final few minutes included a possession in which the Packers completed a third-down pass to keep the ball and run out the clock. In the Seattle debacle, the Packers drew criticism from their supporters for conservative play calling that ultimately helped keep the Seahawks in the game.
“That was the key,” said a green and gold clad shopper. “They played to win against New England and they played not to lose against Seattle. I’ll be pulling for the Patriots, I suppose. I just want to forget about this season. We’re still looking good for next year.”
That’s the spirit. Take heart. Milwaukee Brewers pitchers and catchers report to spring training next month. Aaron Rodgers is still great. Super Bowl or no, next year’s Packers schedule includes two more dates with that collection of tackling dummies four hours to the south.
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Photo by JLW Photography Shawano Community High School junior Meagan Ward played defense against Seymour High School’s Madilyn Heinke in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game in Shawano.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Menominee Indian 65
Marion 61
Marion’s Jarod Sawall rolled in 26 points but it wasn’t enough, as Menominee (9-4, 7-4 CWC-10) prevailed behind Michael Pecore’s 19.
Rosholt 75
Gresham 65
Killian Eggert’s 19 points and 10 rebounds were not enough as Gresham was upset at home Tuesday in a Central Wisconsin Conference-10 matchup.
Three players joined Eggert in double figures for Gresham (13-2, 9-2 Central Wisconsin-10): Christian Haffner (17), Neal Cerveny (13) and Kalen Fischer (11).
Rosholt (6-8, 4-7 CWC-10) was led by Christian Baker with 28 points and Sawyer Fleming with 21.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Bonduel 52
Amherst 34
Deanna Zernicke and Lexi Reinke combined to drain 10 3-point field goals, including seven in the second quarter, and Bonduel stayed perfect on the season.
The Bears (14-0, 8-0 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8) recovered from a sluggish first period behind Zernicke’s 17 points and 15 from Reinke.
“Once they warmed up, they really warmed up,” said Bonduel coach Missy Dowden. “Once we settled down, we opened it up.”
Bowler 63
Tigerton 24
Ashland Brisk’s game-high 27 points included her career 1,000th point for Bowler (11-3, 9-3 in the CWC-10), which also got a huge night from Reanne Kietlinski (20 points, nine steals, four assists).
“It was a good game for us,” Bowler coach A.J. Peterson said. “A good tuneup for Wild Rose (Friday).”
Bowler has posted wins over Marion and Wild Rose for the first time in 12 years.
Witt-Birn 61
Iola-Scandinavia 48
Micah Neir scored a game-high 18 points against visiting Iola-Scandinavia on Tuesday. Neir also had three steals, three rebounds and an assist.
Siri Zeinert added 12 points, eight assists, three steals and a rebound for Wittenberg-Birnamwood (14-1, 8-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).
Brooke Phillips and Leighten Fischer led Iola-Scandinavia (8-6, 3-5 CWC-8) with 12 points each.
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Gary Seymour, [email protected]
Photo by Jen Kuhn Menominee Indian High School guard Erin Wynos brings the ball upcourt as Marion’s Amber Gilliam gives chase Friday night during Menominee’s 50-34 CWC-10 victory.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Marion’s Abby Polzin tries to tie up Sherlinda Nahwahquaw of Menominee Indian during the host Lady Eagles’ 50-34 CWC-10 victory Friday.
The law of averages is pretty clear about the can’t-win-‘em-all thing.
But all throughout this special season the Menominee Indian High School girls have made it clear that you can keep all of the prognostications and actuarial mandates. They would prefer to just play basketball.
Picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10, Menominee made it a cool 15 in a row Tuesday night, racing to a big early lead against visiting Marion and cruising to a 50-34 win to stay perfect on the year.
The Lady Eagles (15-0, 13-0 CWC-10) used a variety of smothering zone and man-to-man pressure defenses to keep the Lady Mustangs (8-8, 6-6 CWC-10) on their heels for much of the night, and despite a spirited effort by the visitors to make a run at spoiling the undefeated season, Menominee simply had too much.
With the school’s first girls basketball conference title virtually salted away — the Lady Eagles are three games up in the loss column and playing with measured, purposeful abandon, the focus naturally turns to what lies ahead.
“We’ve got a good chance to compete for a regional title,” said Menominee’s Chris Rice, whose next taste of defeat will be his first as a head coach. “But we know teams will be prepared for us. They’ll be bringing their offense. We just want to keep improving every week, every game.”
Menominee, which got 17 points from Ania Smith, 15 from Sasha Peters and nine from Taylor Mahkimetas, jumped in front of Marion 10-0 and never looked back. Equally impressive as her point total were Smith’s four assists from the high post.
“I try to spread it around in the offense,” she said. “I don’t want to be the only one we rely on to score. We knew we were going to be pretty good this year. I don’t know if anyone figured we’d be undefeated right now. Our goal is to win the regional and go from there.”
Marion, to its credit, whittled a 20-point deficit to 10 in the second half on a three-point play by Abby Polzin with 2:06 left in the third quarter before Menominee re-took control. Polzin’s eight points tied for team-high with Kayla Brei.
“The kids played hard,” Marion coach Scott Bauman said. “We were just too shy attacking the basket. When we got it close, we committed too many turnovers. That’s been our M.O. for a lot of the season. We’ve been too inconsistent.”
Marion (34)
P. Polzin 3 0-2 7, Gilliam 1 0-0 3, Sawall 1 1-4 3, Greene-Gretzinger 0 0-4 0, Radies 0 1-2 1, A. Polzin 2 3-8 8, Brei 1 0-0 2, Watters 1 0-0 2, Detert 4 0-1 8.
Menominee Indian (50)
Chevalier 1 0-0 2, Mahkimetas 3 2-2 9, M. Waukau 2 1-2 5, Peters 7 1-5 15, J. Waukau 1 0-0 2, Smith 7 1-1 17, Shawanokasic 0 0-1 0.
Marion 3 6 17 8 — 34
Menominee Indian 14 12 11 13 — 50
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Greg Bates, Leader Correspondent
Dec. 12 is a date the Shawano Community High School boys basketball players remember fondly.
That’s when Seymour dealt Shawano its lone home loss of the season. It was a thumping, 50-33, and the lowest point total the Hawks had scored all year.
On Tuesday night, the Hawks had a chance at redemption in Seymour.
What made the matchup more intriguing was Shawano trailed Bay Conference-leading Seymour by just one game in the standings.
Shawano stayed with Seymour until early in the third quarter. That’s when the Thunder went on a 27-10 run, turning a two-point lead into a big 44-25 advantage midway through the fourth quarter. Seymour went on to score a 49-32 victory.
Shawano coach Chris Kellett and his players didn’t think about avenging their loss six weeks earlier.
“The kids just wanted to play harder, and I thought the kids played hard today,” Kellett said. “But our shots didn’t fall and their big guy did a good job on ours. I thought that was the difference in the game, that we just could not hit our shots.”
Shawano (12-3, 7-3 Bay) had a tough night from the field, hitting just 12 of 46 shots (26 percent) and 5 of 21 from 3-point range. Seymour didn’t shoot well from beyond the arc, 4-for-18, but hit 14 of 20 2-point shots.
Seymour (13-2, 9-1 Bay), ranked No. 4 in Division 2 in the latest WisSports.net Coaches Poll, has won 12 of its last 13 games.
“It was a really a solid team performance, especially defensively,” Seymour coach Jon Murphy said. “You’re talking about a group of kids who get it. … They knew who the shooters were and they knew what we had to do.”
Shawano now has its two lowest point totals of the season against the stifling Seymour defense.
“They pressure us and get into us more than other teams do, and tonight we weren’t physically tough enough to do it,” Kellett said. “Other teams have done it this year as well, but we’ve been able to create some stuff off of it. Tonight, we just could never get in a good rhythm on offense.”
Shawano’s leading scorer, Zeke Gueths, who came in averaging 12.9 points per game, was held to six points and hit just two field goals. Seymour’s Alex Buchholtz, 6-foot-7, bodied up Gueths and kept him in check.
“Big Buchholtz did a phenomenal job and didn’t let Zeke push him around at all,” Kellett said. “Big Z has just got to finish a couple of those. He got frustrated early and nothing seemed to fall. But Zeke was due for a down game, he’s played so well all year.”
Shawano took a 5-2 lead, but Seymour responded with a 9-0 run to go up six. Buchholtz got a pair of layups to cap the run. Two free throws by Gueths kept Shawano close at 11-7 after one quarter. Shawano finished with only two made field goals in the period and didn’t hit a shot for the final 6 minutes, 9 seconds.
In the second, Dylan Hintz hit Shawano’s first field goal in 8 minutes, 25 seconds to make it 13-9 Seymour. Jack Lacy drained a 3-pointer with 3:28 left in the half to pull Shawano within two, 17-15.
Seymour jumped out after halftime and went on a 12-2 run as Brayden Wilinski scored 10 points in the spurt to go up 29-17. Wilinski finished with a game-high 16 points.
Shawano wanted to come out in the third quarter strong, but that’s not how it panned out.
“We talked about subtle adjustments, man-to-man, and once again our defense didn’t hurt us,” Kellett said. “But we talked about coming out strong in the third quarter and it’s been a problem all year. First possession, we weren’t matched up, and that shouldn’t happen with a seasoned-veteran team and they hit a 3 to start the second half and it was downhill after that.”
Shawano was led by Lacy’s nine points and Gueths’ six rebounds.
Kellett hopes his guys can shake off the loss quickly.
“We’ve just got to put this one behind us and keep truckin’,” Kellett said.
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