Bulldogs Out Last the Blue Devils for Home WinIssue Date: January 23, 2019 Peshtigo couldn't pull away from Oconto on Monday, but in the end, the Bulldogs' experience paid off as they came away with a 56-47 home win.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 13-point lead early on, but by the end of the first half, they led by just one as the Blue Devils just wouldn't go away.
"I was happy with the way we came out," Peshtigo coach Nate Motkowski said. "I really thought we were going to blow it open in that half and the game was going to be ours and done early. Credit to Oconto, they made some changes and unfortunately we went away from what we were doing well and they came right back."
Oconto coach Jon Bostedt credited the Bulldogs' physicality and aggressiveness for keeping the Blue Devils in check in the second half, with the Blue Devils held to 15 points in the half. The Devils took a few too many quick shots and didn't get into their offense as much as they would have liked. They kept it close, but Peshtigo held on.
"They closed the gap every time we tried to make a run and they had the game back and forth at the end," Motkowski said. "I think our experience just kind of took over. We controlled the pace at the end of the game, we made the right decisions when it mattered and we put ourselves in a good place to win the game so I'm proud of our guys that we got out with a "W' but we definitely have to get better early in games."
The Bulldogs' most physical player, center Mitchell VanVooren, was the leader offensively, finishing with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting as other Bulldogs battled foul trouble, including one important contributor in forward Cameron Noffke, who fouled out in the game.
Oconto only went seven players deep in the game. Josh Woller led with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Zach Sherman had 10 on a 3-of-12 night and Caleb Moe had 10 on 3-of-9 shooting.
"We don't quite have the firepower around here we've had in the last few years, but the kids we've got, they give us what they have for what it's worth," Bostedt said. "I'm happy with the effort from the kids we have and the youngness of our team. I thought they did a great job and at times showed some good composure and some poise and at other times it was a little helter skelter. I think the biggest thing is getting used to the physicality and obviously those guys are really quick."
Cade Tackmier had 15 points for Peshtigo as well, shooting 4-for-15. The Bulldogs were 22-for-55 (40 percent) in the game, while Oconto went 14-for-43.
The Bulldogs struggled to shoot from downtown, making just one of their 11 attempts from downtown.
Peshtigo Downs Green Bay West in Non-Conference Action
The Peshtigo Bulldogs took a break from Packerland Conference play to face off with Green Bay West on Friday. After an up-and-down first half, Peshtigo came away with a 63-57 win.
The Bulldogs took a 9-0 lead in less than three minutes. By the nine-minute mark, West had taken a lead of its own. Peshtigo would rally to take a 33-27 lead at the half.
"Actually, the last thing we talked about before we came out of the locker room was how important it was to have a big start," Peshtigo coach Nate Motkowski said. "We know how quick they are, we know how well they shoot, so we didn't want to get behind on them. I'm really happy how our guys came out and got that 9-0 lead and give credit to Green Bay West because they came back, they didn't fold and they had a nice run themselves."
The Bulldogs didn't have their best shooting night, going 22-for-55 (40 percent) from the field, making just three of the 15 shots from downtown.
The free-throw line was a spot where Peshtigo did succeed to some extent, however. The Bulldogs got to the line often, taking 25 shots from the stripe. After a few early misses, they capitalized more down the stretch and finished with 16 makes (64 percent).
"With this team, the last couple of weeks, we've been spending a lot more time on free throws because we're a little lower than we want to be historically," Motkowski said. "I was proud that our guys knocked down some big ones, especially Reid. Reid Marquardt hit some big shots that I don't think he'll forget for a while."
Marquardt went 4-for-4 at the line and finished with 10 points. Cameron Noffke also had 10, Cade Tackmier had 13 and Mitchell VanVooren scored 23 on an 11-for-21 night from the field.
For Peshtigo's struggles from the field, GB West struggled just as much. Freeman Jackson went 6-for-22 from the field and 3-for-14 from three in the game. He led the team with 18 points.
West shot 43 percent overall and 19 percent on its triples.
Bobcats Overcome Wildcats
In a batle of the forest cats the Florence Bobcat took down the visiting Lena Wildcats 76-42.
Lena had troubles keeping pace from the start as the Bobcats were able to build a 41-19 lead at the half. Florence contained their dominance into the second half where they outscored the Wildcats by way of a 35-23 differential.
The Bobcats had an exemplary night which was bore out in the stat sheets with four Bobcats in double digits. Riley Hixon took top scoring honors for the Bobcats with 17 points while teammate Kaden Schuls got 15 on the night. Evan Beaster took 14 points for the Bobcats while Toby Wheeler posted 12 points.
Leading the Wildcats was Max Beyer who posted 10 points and Simon Gard who got eight. Colby Borchert tacked on six.
Crivitz Looks to Keep Near Top With Win Over Suring
After facing an extremely important match up with the Coleman Cougars last week, the Crivitz Wolverines look to get the postive vibes flowing again with a solid win over the visiting Suring Eagles 59-39.
Now the Eagles are no push over and the Wolverines knew it, coming into the game with a sense of determination to get back on track they did so by breaking the game wide open over the first half 27-15.
Chandler Kaldenberg had everything to do with the early lead, as he struck multiuple times for 11 first half points. He continued to keep the tempo up in the second, hitting for another nine points.
During the second half the Wolverines as a team went to the line six times and were awarded six points. Four of those came off the finger tips of Jaden Werner. But was even more impressive is that they only missed on free throw all game long for an 11of 12 showing at the line. Suring found out that you don't foul these guys.
By the end of the night Kaldenberg had earned top scoring honors for his Wolverines with a 20 point showing. Dawson Andrist chipped in 12 to the effort while Werner tacked on nine to the total.
Wausaukee Slams Niagara
The Wausaukee Rangers took a hefty win over the visiting Niagara Badgers Friday night 68-42.
Nothing but Ranger Basketball in this one. In fact it doesn't appear that the Badgers had the ball at all during the first half as Wausaukee blasted its way to a 43-13 lead.
That enormous lead was built upon some great shooting by Hayden Renikow who fired in 12 first half points., Tyler Gruszynski worked the arc over the first for 10 points.
Niagara was able to adjust a bit over the second half but came nowhere near the mark needed to win.
Though they took a loss the Badgers had the evening top scorer in Landon Kaldor who posted 15 points on the evening. Weber chipped in 11.
The Rangers were led by Renikow with 14 points and Gruszynski with 10 points. Tristan Pollard and Brandon Shigouri both got nine points each.
Gillett Get Much Needed Win Over Lena
The Gillett Tigers who have some close battles this season thus far showed that they can put a game away when they want too as they defeated the Lena Wildcats 57-34 in lena.
Lena sort of kept pace with the Tigers over the first as they found themselves trailing at the intermission 25-18. But a 32 point push by the Tiger squashed the Wildcats 16 point final frame effort.
Gillett Cole Long shined as brightly as possible over both halves, hitting eight first half points and 16 closing frame marks. It was enough for Long to get the evenings top scoring spot with 24 points. teammate Logan Krause stayed lively with 11 points while Antony Carroll added 10 points.
Lena was led by Colby Borchert and Logan Shallow who both added up 10 points each. Max Beyer got eight.
Kewaunee Pulls Away From Oconto in Second Half
Kewaunee's Alex Rohr scored 32 against Oconto on Thursday to lead the Storm to a 16-point win.
Oconto's Zach Sherman had 21 to lead the Blue Devils, who trailed 37-29 at the half. Oconto's offense turned up a bit in the second half, but Kewaunee's did too, as the Storm scored 42 in the half.
For the Blue Devils, Josh Woller also had 16 points and Caleb Moe finished with 13.
Marines Hold Off Truckers For Conference Win
Marinette staved off a 50-point second half from Clintonville to preserve a 78-66 win on Thursday.
The Marines had a big lead at the break, as Clintonville didn't even manage 20 points in the opening half, but the halftime speech must have been a good one, as the Truckers came alive after the break.
The Truckers scored 50 in the second half, but they couldn't close down Marinette, much in part due to Matt Wagner's 32 points.
Jake Poetzl scored 19 points, Tyler Fayta had 11 and Jeremy Wendt finished with seven.
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