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Papermakers overcome Pritzl, top De Pere


Kimberly's Caleb Lefeber drives to the basket against De Pere during their game Tuesday night. (Doug Ritchay/WLUK)
Kimberly's Caleb Lefeber drives to the basket against De Pere during their game Tuesday night. (Doug Ritchay/WLUK)
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KIMBERLY — The first three games on the Kimberly boys basketball schedule reads like a “Who’s Who” of top-notch teams in the area: Oshkosh North, De Pere and Neenah.Three teams with designs on long postseason runs and with many players just coming off a state football championship and little practice, the Papermakers knew the start of their season could be tough if not prepared.So two days after the Makers won their second straight state football title those players who would play basketball moved indoors and started working out for the upcoming basketball season.That work has paid off early this season as Kimberly opened the season with a 40-39 win over North last week and Tuesday it continued its good play against De Pere, winning 66-53, despite 36 points from Wisconsin recruit Brevin Pritzl.“We’re not making excuses about that football thing,” Papermakers coach Lucky Wurtz said. “We missed a week. The kids said if we’re going to win these games we’re going to have to practice Sunday night and go on. They did it the right way and got a couple wins, but Friday (at Neenah) is big, too.”Dating back to last season Kimberly now has defeated De Pere three straight games.“I think our kids played very hard and De Pere plays hard,” Wurtz said. “It’s hard to put your finger on that one. We haven’t had it too often. They’ve had our number.”The Papermakers were led by Ben Boots’ 20 points, while sophomore Will Chevalier added 17 points.As Tuesday’s game played out it was evident Kimberly wasn’t going to be able to contain Pritzl, who was drilling 3-pointers, making free throws and even had a dunk. However, Wurtz said if his team could contain the rest of the team he felt good.“I think we’re doing enough against the other players,” Wurtz said. “Brevin’s going to get it, he’s one of the best players I’ve seen in high school basketball.”Boots covered Pritzl at times and admitted it was tough.“He’s unbelievable,” Boots said. “He’s probably the best pure scorer in the state, especially on the perimeter. Sometimes you have to get lucky. You have to get a hand up. He fouled out half our team just about. We got the win, that’s what’s important.”Kimberly is two-thirds through its tough start of the season and has two wins. Friday, the Papermakers play their first road game at Neenah.Kimberly is confident it can go three-for-three and Boots said the team doesn’t pay attention to preseason predictions where the Papermakers were not in conversation to win the Fox Valley Association.“We hear it but we know what we can do,” Boots said. “The public stuff doesn’t matter. We don’t worry about it.“We’re just competitive guys. We come to every game expecting to win. We give it our all no matter who we’re playing.”Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay
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