Boys Basketball Recap
Storm outlast Wolves
BY JOSH STALOCH
SPORTS EDITOR
ALGOMA – The Algoma boys did their best to slow down the Kewaunee offense on Saturday, Jan. 20 and, when that didn’t work, they did a good job of keeping pace with the Storm in a high-scoring contest that saw Kewaunee come out on top, 62-55.
“I thought our kids played very well overall,” Kewaunee head coach Matt Bosdeck said after the game. “We knew they wanted to slow the game down but we made them play at our pace, as you can see, the score was pretty high, a higher score than Algoma is used to having. When we get into that kind of game, I figure our chances are really good.”
The Wolves battled their way back from being down 31-23 at halftime to making a game of it in the second half.
With about nine minutes left to play, Algoma’s Grant Vandervest connected from beyond the arc to cut the Kewaunee lead to seven at 43-36 before Braeden Leist made it 43-38 on a nice move along the baseline to get to the basket.
But that would be as close as the Wolves would get to the lead as the Storm, behind two big drives from Thomas Stangel and Braxton Riha, and then capped by a big three from Christopher Cullen, took command with a 10-1 run.
“Defensively, we had a few mistakes that you can’t have against a team like Kewaunee,” said Algoma Head Coach Eric Schneider. “But I’m still confident we can play with anyone in our conference. We just have to fix the little mistakes we’re still making on both ends of the floor.”
Wolves topple Blazers
ALGOMA – The Wolves got 23 big points from Parker Lischka on Tuesday, Jan. 23 on their way to a 69-49 victory at home over GB NEW Lutheran.
In the win, which pushed Algoma to 5-4 in Packerland Conference play and 8-6 overall, Algoma also got 19 points from Cody Kirchman and eight apiece from Jack Tebon and Braeden Leist.
Storm rout Vikings
GIBRALTAR – The Kewaunee boys had Gibraltar on its heels early on in their matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 23 with a 36-16 advantage at the break, leading to a 66-45 win for the Storm.
Thomas Stangel led the offense for Kewaunee with 24 points, backed up by 11 from Braxton Riha and eighth from Connor Kilgore.
L-C falls to Menasha
MENASHA – The Spartans came up short in their effort to get back into the win column on Saturday, Jan. 20, dropping one on the road to Menasha by a final of 78-64.
JD Glampe led the way for L-C with 19 points, followed by 17 from Mason Burmeister and eight from both Mason Trimberger and Landon Derenne.
Spartans defeated by Panthers
LUXEMBURG – With a great-looking three pointer from the corner by Braeden Schley to begin last Friday night’s home game against Oconto Falls, the Spartans were off and rolling, looking for their third victory of the season.
But the home team lost control of things in the second half of play and the Panthers escaped with a 51-47 win.
A string of seven unanswered points by JD Glampe, who finished with a game-high 10, later in the first half pushed the Spartans’ advantage to 19-13 and the home team went into the locker room for the break ahead 26-19.
Still playing strong to begin the second half, L-C found itself ahead 33-25 on a run of five unanswered points from Mason Trimberger and then up by an even 10 when Glampe hit Landon Derenne with a great pass for an easy bucket.
But from there, the Panthers began to close the gap on the scoreboard, taking a 45-44 lead with two minutes on the clock.
L-C’s Lance Cherovsky, with less than a minute to play, gave his team one last lead in dramatic fashion by hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 47-46 but the Panthers reclaimed the lead down the stretch by getting to the free throw line and hitting their shots.