Peshtigo Pulls Away for Wins Over Coleman/Oconto

Area Boys Basketball

Bulldogs Pull Away

in Second Half of

Battle With Cougars

For many years, Peshtigo and Coleman's battles were of M&O Conference significance. Those days have gone with Peshtigo's move to the Packerland, but that didn't change the hard-fought nature of Saturday's non-conference showdown.

Through eight minutes, the score looked like a football score, at just 6-3, with great defense on both sides and both teams a bit timid on the offensive end.

Coleman coach Jeff Bronson said early on, both teams were feeling each other out. Coleman was adjusting to the Bulldogs' interior size, while Peshtigo had to adjust to the aggressiveness the Cougars displayed.

By halftime, Peshtigo had taken a 22-12 lead.

"It was an offensive struggle the first 10, 12 minutes of the game. Both teams, especially Coleman, they're aggressive, they're strong kids, and it was hard for us to adjust to that," Peshtigo coach Jason Bouchser said. "We tend to struggle sometimes when teams are more aggressive than us, but our defense tonight, especially first half, was really good. We played defense with our feet other than our hands like we usually do. They took their time on offense, we took our time on offense. It was a slow first half. I was pretty happy with our defense in the first half and pretty much the whole game."

The Bulldogs' offense found its groove and the team scored 38 points in the second half to pull away for a 60-32 win.

Landon Lemke scored 14 points to lead all scorers. Interior big man Kaine Fort had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, also grabbing 15 rebounds in the game, and forward Collin Engman had a big game as well, with eight points and nine rebounds.

"We got the ball to our big guys. I think we have to do more of that, more often. I know that Collin and Kaine don't score the most points most of the time, but when we get it down under the hoop, they make teams double us and then there's other people open outside, so I think we did a good job today, especially in the second half, of passing the ball to the open man," Boucher said. "Collin Engman, he might not have scored many points tonight, but he had a great game offensively, because when gets it, he's probably our most willing passer. Kaine Fort did a really good job on the offensive glass and defensively. I think he had 15 rebounds. It helps when we get the ball down low first and then kick back out to our shooters."

Both Fort and Engman stand 6-foot-8, so it can be an adjustment for opposing teams. That was the case for Coleman as well.

"I think we rushed things because of the height. It's an easy excuse, but you have to play through it. I think once we understood that we can score still from the inside, we relaxed and we became a little more of ourselves. We fell in love with the 3-point shot, and that's not who we are," Bronson said. "They took advantage of everything we did wrong, whether it was a close-out, whether it was not seeing the help, whether it was turning your head on defense. Kudos to them, they definitely earned the win. They shot the ball well, they played very unselfish, and it's a team that knows their role."

Eli Zablocki was the top Cougar scorer with eight points (4-6 FGs). Tieg Sadowski scored seven.

"It's a great learning experience for us," Bronson said. "We need games that are competitive like this so we can see what it is we need to get better at and what we need to work on."



Bulldogs Use Big

Second Half to Power

Past Blue Devils

When the Peshtigo Bulldogs play like they did in the second half of Tuesday's 81-53 win over Oconto, they're going to be tough to beat.

Oconto came out strong in the first half, but after a few adjustments by the Peshtigo coaching staff, the Bulldogs powered ahead and beat their I-41 Packerland rivals by a 28-point margin when all was said and done.

"Oconto, they have a good team over there. They've got some shooters, they've got some slashers, they've got some strong kids. Give them credit. They punched us in the mouth in the first half, to be honest, and we didn't know what to do," Peshtigo coach Jason Boucher said. "The coaches and I switched up a couple things at half, and the second half was fun to watch."

Peshtigo shot 52% as a team, making 34 of 65 attempts from the field.

Kaine Fort led the team with 21 points on 9-13 shooting, also grabbing 14 rebounds. Fellow forward Collin Engman had nine rebounds to go with eight points (4-6 shooting). The pair out-rebounded Oconto by themselves.

"Those two guys, Collin and Kaine, they rebounded the ball. I'm not sure offhand, but I think they had 25 rebounds together. Most teams don't get 25 rebounds in a game, and we had two guys that had that tonight, so I'm really proud of my guys tonight," Boucher said. "We've got another tough one on Thursday, so hopefully we can keep it going."

Landon Lemke also scored 19 points for the Bulldogs, making seven of his 13 field goal attempts, including three of five shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

"To be honest, Landon's our number one priority on offense, and I think all the other teams know it. Sometimes, I think he rushes or forces too much and doesn't let the game come to him, and tonight he did an excellent job in the second half. I don't think he played much in the first half - he had two fouls," Boucher said. "He did an excellent job tonight letting the game come to him. He got it going with a couple free throws and then he hit a couple wide open threes, and I think that triggered everybody. That was fun to watch, and I was happy that he finally got on track."

It was really a full team effort for Peshtigo, as Christian Boyle scored nine on a 4-5 night, Mason Doberstein had eight (3-8), and Mauz Salem and Landon Beyer had five each.

"We've been preaching that since day one this year. We've got nine, 10 guys deep. It doesn't matter who scores, and we've got a lot of guys that can put the ball in the basket," Boucher said. "Tonight, the second half was probably the first time all year that we shared the basketball like we should and it showed. We got open shots, we passed the ball, got a lot of easy shots under the hoop, and when they did double our big guys under the hoop, we kicked out and we made some open outside shots tonight."

Oconto's leading scorer was Christian Koch, who scored 13 points on 6-14 shooting. Carter Koch was 5-16 for 12 points. Kadin Baxter (2-11) and Luke Krueger (3-11) scored nine and eight, respectively.



Maroons Get Defensive

in Win Over Blue Devils

When Sam Larson's Menominee Maroons boys basketball team holds its opponent under 50 points, he likes his chances.

On Thursday, that's exactly what the Maroons did, beating a good Oconto basketball team by a 60-46 score.

Playing at home, the Maroons came out on a 7-0 run to start the game, punctuated by a Brady Schultz 3-pointer. Oconto battled to bring the game back to 13-11, but Menominee went on a 9-0 run from there to retake a 22-11 lead. Just before halftime, Aidan Bellisle blocked on Oconto shot and sent Brady Badker flying down the court for a layup to take a 30-17 lead into the break.

In the second half, the closest Oconto would get was eight, at 44-36, with a pair of free throws by Kadin Baxter. Menominee would pull away from there and pick up the 14-point win.

"We had our moments. I think anytime you hold a team to 46 points, I like our chances. I think offensively, we're capable enough to get over the 50 hump most of the time. I thought we had some really good stretches," Larson said. "I thought we came out with a little bit of fire today, which was a change from last game. Oconto's a good defensive team. They make things really hard on your offensively and we didn't shoot the ball particularly well tonight. It took us a little bit to get going offensively, but I thought in the second half, we were able to string a couple shots together, and then our transition offense got going, and we got some easy baskets down the road, and that's what kind of expanded the lead."

For Oconto, Baxter scored 10 points and Christian Koch had 14. Luke Krueger chipped in eight on what was a bit of an offensive struggle for the Blue Devils.

Oconto coach John Moe said he felt his team was rushing shots a little bit trying not to get blocked in the paint by Menominee's size. He also said the Maroons' pressure had a big effect.

"First half, especially, we didn't handle it very well. We knew they were going to do it, but we didn't handle it very good. They're a really good team, and we knew that coming in," Moe said. "We told the kids we're going to have to play one of our best games, or we're going to get blown out of the gym, and we knew that coming in. They're a senior-dominated team, big, strong, very athletic, so it was going to be a tough match for us. We knew that."

He said he'll take some positives from the game, including his defense's work in a zone, which isn't something they do too often.

Bellisle scored 15 for Menominee, and Cooper Conway scored 18, including 14 in the second half.

"I thought Cooper Conway was awesome tonight, just really strong, really patient with the basketball, and making good decisions in the paint for us," Larson said. "I thought Brody Waara came in and attacked really well, and with [Brady] Schultz out for a majority of the game, I thought Eli Beal and Andrew McIntyre came in and filled really good minutes for him as well. I thought everybody stepped up and had a piece in this win."

Badker scored nine points in the game for the Maroons as well.



Bulldogs Fall Out of

First Place With

Loss to Blazers

The Peshtigo Bulldogs have developed a knack for winning close games, but on Friday, it was NEW Lutheran that came away with a tight 63-59 victory.

The Bulldogs were 6-1 this season coming into Friday in games decided by seven points or less. NEW and Peshtigo both came out playing good basketball in this one, and the game sat tied at 23 with a minute to go until halftime.

The Blazers would score four straight points before the half and held a slim advantage at the break, 27-23.

In the second half, the game consistently stayed within one or two possessions before NEW made a late run to take a 12-point advantage with about two minutes left on the clock.

The Bulldogs didn't throw in the towel, making a couple of 3-pointers to cut the game back to four. Ultimately, they just ran out of time to stage a full-fledged comeback.

Peshtigo coach Jason Boucher said he felt the Bulldogs got a bit lazy on defense to allow that run, but he was happy with their fight overall.

"Give my kids some credit. They looked up at the clock, and we were down 12 with two minutes. They could have folded and just gave up, but they didn't. We played until the final buzzer," Boucher said. "We hit a couple, banked a couple threes in to make it closer than it probably should have been with a four-point loss, but all in all, NEW's a good team. They're first in the conference. I'm pretty pleased with our effort, but we've got to play smarter in crucial situations down the stretch of the game."

Peshtigo can also look to the shooting stats to see where they lost the game.

The Bulldogs were 22-for-64 (34%) from the field, 7-for-22 (31%) from 3-point range, and 8-for-17 (47%) from the free-throw line. NEW shot six percentage points higher from the field and five higher from the 3-point line. The nine missed free throws hurt as well.

"Coaches and I preach in practice that free throws are an important part of the game. When you lose a game by four, you make half of those, you win," Boucher said. "And it comes down to execution at some point, taking good shots. We struggled with that in both ways last night. We held the ball a little too much on offense, and when we did take shots, I think that we forced them and didn't make the extra pass to get to the actual open shot, and that probably led to the shooting struggles last night."

NEW has just one loss on the season, a non-conference loss to Kohler. Peshtigo's loss is its first in conference play, and they'll get another shot at NEW on Feb. 18, that one to be played in Peshtigo.

"You never want to lose a game, but maybe it was good for us to get one out of the way, get us back on track of having to play a whole 36-minute game and stay concentrated for the whole night," Boucher said.

Landon Lemke led Peshtigo with 16 points (7-15 FG, 2-5 3-point), also adding 11 rebounds and a team-high four assists. Christian Boyle scored nine, while Kaine Fort and Mason Doberstein each got six.

NEW's Tristan Lynch led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting.



Wildcats Score Early

and Often in Win Over STAA

Lena ran away with a 73-25 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy on Thursday.

The Wildcats started the game on an 8-0 run, which would be a sign of good things to come. They quickly led 27-6, and took a 41-12 advantage into halftime.

Logan Shallow was Lena's top scorer, as he dumped in 17 on 7-for-19 shooting. Max Beyer scored 16 (6-13 FG, 4-4 FT).

Sidney Sylvester scored an efficient 12 (4-5 FG, 4-6 FT), and Logan Graef scored nine on a 4-for-5 night from the field. Bladyn Anderson made three of four for seven points.

As a team, Lena grabbed 50 rebounds, led by Reed Hosking's 10. Beyer had nine, Sylvester got eight, and Shallow added seven.

STAA's leading scorer was Ethan Braley, who scored 10. Henry Piasecki and Blake DeDamos each had six points.



STAA Beats White

Lake in Non-Conference Action

Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy ended a four-game losing streak with a 60-57 victory over White Lake on Friday in non-conference action.

The win was STAA's third of the season and its second road victory of the year.



Marinette Suffers

Loss to Freedom

The Marinette Marines fought hard but fell to the Freedom Irish due to a strong effort from the Irish over the second half, propelling the Irish to the 78-51 win.

The loss saw the marines right in the action over the first half as they went into the locker room behind 38-32.

The second half unfortunate was a game breaker for the Marines who watched as the irish slammed down 40 additional points to their 19.

Leading the way for the Marines was Sommerfeldt with 14 points and Erdman with 11 points.

Freedom was led by VanCalster with 19 points and Kortz with 15 points.



Beyer Leads Lena to

Win Over Badgers

Lena doubled up Niagara on Tuesday behind a big night from Max Beyer.

Beyer made 12 field goals and nine of his 10 free throws to finish the night with 35 points, more than the Badgers scored as a team.

Logan Shallow put in 14 points as well.



Truckers Roll

Past Panthers

in NEC Matchup

The Oconto Falls Panthers fell 72-46 to Clintonville on Friday.

Clintonville led 38-16 at halftime. Cole Rosenow had 21 points on 7-10 shooting (4-4 FT) to lead the Truckers, which had 11 different players score in the game.

The second half was better for the Panthers, as they scored 30 points in the half.

Isaac Raddatz scored 10 in the game to lead Oconto Falls. He had four rebounds, tied with Logan Seymour for the most on the team as well.

Thomas Carmody scored eight, and Carter Hill and Braden Vandermoss got five apiece.

The loss was Falls' ninth straight after a 1-1 start to the season.



Cougars Jump Out

to Early Lead, Cruise

Past Eagles 60-26

Coleman held Suring to seven points in the first half of a 60-26 win on Friday night.

Suring made just three buckets in the half, while Coleman made 12 shots from the field and two free throws to lead 24-7. The Cougars scored 36 more in a faster paced second half to take home the win.

Noah Nosgovitz led with 15 points and Liam Zeitler scored 13.

Three Cougars ?? Evan Hockers, Tieg Sadowski, and Eli Zablocki ?? each scored eight.

Suring's leading scorer was Taron Haak, who scored seven. Ethan Lally scored six on a pair of second-half triples.

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