Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Serving Algoma, Casco, Kewaunee, Luxemburg and all of Kewaunee County
BY JOSH STALOCH
SPORTS EDITOR
KEWAUNEE – A Parker Lischka three pointer early in the season finale between the Wolves and the Storm in Kewaunee saw the visitors take a 10-3 lead but coach Matt Bosdeck’s group, highlighted by another historic night from senior Thomas Stangel, came thundering back later in the opening half to take a 33-25 lead en route to a 68-46 victory.
“We’ve got to start out a little faster. We can’t dig ourselves into a hole like that in the playoffs, teams are going to be too good,” said coach Bosdeck. “I don’t know what it is, we’re just not starting fast enough. We’ve just got to find a way to play clean, right from the start. They know how to turn it on, they just need to do it earlier.”
With his 18 points, Stangel became the school’s single-season scoring leader, this coming only weeks after he went over the 1,000-point mark for the year. Connor Kilgore added 19 and Kewaunee big man Braxton Riha, who has really been coming on strong late in the season, had 20 points.
“Our transition defense in the first half hurt us, we can’t let them get those easy buckets,” said Algoma Head Coach Eric Schneider. “In the second half, they kind of came out and just took it to us. But our kids never quit. There’s never a letdown with them. We did some good individual stuff tonight. As a team, we just missed things, box outs, rotating on defense, stuff we can easily fix.”
Lischka finished with 24 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals while Grant Vandervest turned in eight points, a rebound, four assists and a steal.
GREEN BAY – The Luxemburg-Casco boys were able to beat the Notre Dame press at the start of Tuesday’s Division 2 Regional opener but couldn’t find a way to score with any consistency in a 86-42 defeat.
“We were a little hesitant, we just didn’t get off to a good start,” said first-year Spartans head coach Logan VanderVelden. “It’s kind of been that way all year. We play well in stretches but then we end up on our heels. We’re going to have to do a lot of work in the offseason. Guys are going to have to really commit to it, as much time as they can give.”
The Spartans got 11 points out of JD Glampe, six from Jacob Coisman, five apiece from Braeden Schley and Caleb Radart, four from Reagan Doell, three from Mason Trimburger and two each by Blake Jauquet and Lance Cherovsky.
WEYAUWEGA – Algoma used an 8-2 run at the end of the first half to go up 21-18 at the break against Weyauwega-Fremont to kick off the regional round of the WIAA Division 4 tournament but the Warhawks rallied in the second half to snatch a 44-42 victory.
The Wolves had the ball with 42 seconds left, down 42-39 but missed a three-pointer that would have tied the game. Parker Lischka led Algoma with 15 points, Chase Romdenne added nine, Cody Kirchman had six, Braedan Leist had four, Jack Cole and Grant Vandervest each had three and Carson Leist scored two.
KEWAUNEE – Thomas Stangel became Kewaunee High’s single-season scoring leader with his 18-point performance on Thursday, surpassing the previous mark of 569 set by Tim Dworak, who attended KHS from 1994-99 and played for the Storm his sophomore through senior years, by one point.
“Tim’s in relation to us, so we kept in the family,” said Stangel after the game. “My dad’s side of the family is huge and we’re related to a lot of people.”
Stangel was also quick to highlight the role his teammates have played in helping him achieve the record.
“Especially Braxton (Riha). We’ve been playing together since around the second grade so we know how each other works. I know where he is on the court always and I don’t even need to see him sometimes and I can dish to him. I can trust him to get a basket. The same with the other guys, like Conner (Kilgore) and Avery (Jerabek), they’re sophomores who are really developing into their roles. It helps,” he added.
