SPORTS

Kaukauna suffers first defeat

Gannett Wisconsin Media

It took a stellar shooting night by Oshkosh West to hand Kaukauna its first loss of the season Tuesday.

The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the field, made 13 3-pointers and then sealed the upset at the free throw line to beat Kaukauna 74-66 in a Fox Valley Association boys’ basketball game in Oshkosh.

Blake Johnson had 20 points and 10 assists, Jake Guenther and Billy Courchene had 14 points apiece and Spencer Henke hit a 3-pointer with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter to break a 57-57 as the Wildcats upset the state’s top-ranked team in Division 2.

“The environment was amazing, the whole team came to play and it was a great team win for every one of us,” Guenther said.

West led 55-51 heading into the fourth quarter, but a Jordan McCabe floater with 5:34 to go tied the game at 57-57. Neither team scored over the next two minutes, but Henke stepped up and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner. Courchene then connected from long range after Nic Patterson’s layup brought Kaukauna within one for a four-point lead.

The Ghosts used a quick 5-0 run to get within two with 48 seconds left, but Oshkosh West converted 8 of 9 free throw attempts after that for the win.

Patterson had a team-high 18 points and McCabe added 16 for Kaukauna. Carter Belling had 14 and Adam Smith chipped in with 13 for Kaukauna (15-1, 11-1 FVA), which is now tied with Kimberly atop the FVA.

Kaukauna …

…17

21

13

15

66

Oshkosh West …

…20

18

17

19

74

Kaukauna: Belling 14, McCabe 16, Smith 13, Patterson 18, Moreau 3, Hansen 2. Totals 29 6-7 66. Three-pointers: McCabe 2. Fouls: 14.

Oshkosh West: Guenther 14, Johnson 20, Cottrell 6, Zuleger 2, Courchene 14, Gabrielson 5, Miller 5, Henke 8. Totals 26 9-14 74. Three-pointers: Johnson 4, Courchene 4, Henke 2, Guenther, Miller, Gabrielson. Fouls: 10.

Neenah 56, Oshkosh North 41

At Neenah, Matt Heldt scored 35 points in a dominating effort to lead the Rockets.

“He was very active,” Neenah coach Scott Bork said. “We got on him this past week and told him that he’s gotta look to score more and be more assertive.

“I thought the guys did a better job of getting the ball into him. He found a spot in their zone and kept the ball high and finished.”

Neenah (12-4, 9-3) raced to a 15-6 lead in the first quarter and also held Oshkosh North (10-7, 8-5) to just four points in the third quarter.

“We were very good defensively,” Bork added. “We stood and contested every shot. We did a pretty good job of getting their sets and our kids worked very hard at that end and it paid dividends tonight.”

Oshkosh North …

…6

12

4

19

41

Neenah …

…15

14

7

20

56

Oshkosh North: Taylor 9, Madut 8, Flory 16, Marquardt 8. Totals 18 1-1 41. Three-pointers: Flory 2, Marquardt 2. Fouls: 15.

Neenah: Hegg 2, Entwisle 9, Boccheciamp 4, Jung 2, Pronschinske 2, Matulle 2, Heldt 35. Totals 23 8-10 56. Three-pointers: Entwisle, Heldt. Fouls: 10.

Kimberly 35, Appleton East 28

At Kimberly, Ben Boots scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the first half, including a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer, to spark Kimberly.

Austin Weyenberg added three 3-pointers and scored nine points for the Papermakers, who led 24-11 at halftime.

Parker Ourada scored six points to lead the Patriots, who outscored Kimberly 13-1 in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our defense was as good as ever against East,” Kimberly coach Lucky Wurtz said. “I thought we contained people and just made it hard on them. It was one of our better defensive efforts.”

Appleton East …

…2

9

4

13

28

Kimberly …

…8

16

10

1

35

Appleton East: Brice 4, Herrmann 4, Hanlon 2, Thome 3, Brunker 3, Ourada 6, Murphy-Pociask 4, Kuklinski 2. Totals 8 10-12 28. Three-pointers: Brunker, Ourada. Fouls: 5.

Kimberly: Vanden Boom 3, Weyenberg 9, Boots 16, Chevalier 5, Janssen 2. Totals 13 2-4 35. Three-pointers: Weyenberg 3, Boots 2, Chevalier, Vanden Boom. Fouls: 13.

Appleton North 55, Fond du Lac 49

At Appleton, Tony Mattioli scored 13 points and the Lightning led pretty much from start to finish.

“We played very, very well defensively for most of the game,” North coach Eric Eastman said. “The third quarter we held them scoreless for a little over six minutes.”

That allowed the Lightning to grab a 39-21 advantage. But from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth, the Cardinals scored 17 points in a row to close to within 39-38.

From there, the Lightning went on a 6-0 run to retake command.

“We settled down and we made enough free throws down the stretch,” Eastman said. “We had five guys hit threes and that really helped.”

Sam Fredrickson paced the Cardinals with a game-high 14 points.

Fond du Lac …

…12

9

4

24

49

Appleton North …

…17

13

9

16

55

Fond du Lac: Goldstein 9, Schneider 2, Jorgenson 3, Fredrickson 14, Walgenbach 9, Maratik 2, Luteyn 6, Ruch 4. Totals 19 9-14 49. Three-pointers: Jorgenson, Ruch. Fouls: 25.

Appleton North: Mologne 7, Mattioli 13, Christensen 5, Gasick 9, Valk 2, McGraw 6, Bellin 8, Dahlke 5. Totals 16 17-28 55. Three-pointers: Mologne, Mattioli, Christensen, Bellin 2, Dahlke. Fouls: 19.