Sports

Led by senior McKenna Larsen’s 25 points, the Oconto Falls High School girls basketball team beat Bonduel 52-40 in a nonconference game Friday night in Bonduel.

“It was a well-played high school basketball game,” Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmarek said. “Bonduel has a very nice team.”

The Panthers (15-2, 10-2 Bay Conference) came out roaring, building a 16-point lead in the first quarter, but allowed Bonduel (14-4, 9-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) to get back into the game in the third quarter.

“We came out flat,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We decided to pick up the defense in the second half … and away we went.”

Trailing 38-36 to start the fourth quarter, Bonduel twice tied the game, but a pair of baskets, one by Larsen and another by Elizabeth Watzka, gave the Panthers a four-point lead they would maintain until pulling away in the final minutes.

It was a bittersweet day for the Oconto Falls High School wrestling team at the WIAA Division 2 regional Saturday at OFHS.

The young Panthers advanced six wrestlers to sectionals, but did not qualify for the team sectionals for the first time in a number of years.

“Six was kind of the magic number,” Oconto Falls tri-head coach Marc Kinziger said. “I was hoping for as many as seven or eight; that’s if we would have had really good days out of some guys.”

Dewey Krueger, Nate Trepanier, Brett Ash and Jake Yatso won individual regional titles, while Sam Konitzer and Bryce Ash placed second in their weight classes.

With only the top team in each regional advancing, Oconto Falls (227.5 points) placed second to Freedom (279.5).

The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team earned a No. 4 seed in the WIAA Division 3 regional tournament.

The Panthers will host No. 5 Wittenberg-Birnamwood to open the playoffs Tuesday. The winner will face No. 1 Peshtigo in Peshtigo on Feb. 28.

In Division 5, Gillett is a No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Sevastopol on Tuesday. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas Academy and No. 7 Valley Christian.

Suring earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Phelps on Tuesday. The winner will play either No. 2 Goodman/Pembine or No. 7 Three Lakes.

Lena has the No. 8 seed and travels to No. 1 Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran on Tuesday. The winner will play either No. 4 Oneida Nation or No. 5 Hilbert.

The higher seed will host games throughout the tournament until the sectional finals, which will be played at neutral sites.

Falls no match for Seymour boys

The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team lost to Bay Conference leader Seymour 72-30 on Friday.

Tyler Kowalczyk led Oconto Falls (3-16, 2-13 Bay) with nine points.

Sandy Cohen scored 26 points to lead Seymour (19-1, 14-1 Bay).

Gillett beaten by Coleman

The Gillett Secondary School boys basketball team lost to Coleman 40-36 in a Marinette & Oconto Conference game Saturday in Gillett.

Dylan Roberts led Gillett (6-14, 5-9 M&O) with eight points. Jake Kasten, Leeland Kahler and Dan Torres added six each.

Lena blown out by Wausaukee

The Lena High School boys basketball team lost to Wausaukee 81-28 in a M&O Conference game Friday in Lena.

Hunter Borchert led Lena (1-19, 0-14 M&O) with 11 points. Nash Haney added 10.

Zach Orlando scored 19 points to lead Wausaukee (17-3, 12-2 M&O).

Suring falls by 1 to Crivitz

The Oconto Falls High School girls basketball team bounced back from a tough 58-55 loss Friday to Hortonville with a 42-31 victory over Seymour on Saturday night in Oconto Falls.

Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmarek Jr. said his team was just trying to get back on track.

“We were just trying to somehow, some way come out of here with a win,” Kaczmarek said. “This is a tough game to come and play after a very intense game last night.”

The difference against Seymour (2-12, 2-8 Bay Conference) was McKenna Larsen. The 5-foot-7 senior guard led all scorers with 22 points.

“She had 22, but she made some poor decisions,” Kaczmarek said. “We’re going to get that out of her, but we need her to have a complete game.”

Oconto Falls (12-2, 8-2 Bay) trailed 23-20 heading into halftime, but limited the Thunder to eight points in the second half.

It’s a match that could pay long-term dividends for the Oconto Falls High School wrestling program.

The Panthers had the daunting task of traveling to rival Luxemburg-Casco on Thursday night and were handed an overwhelming 43-15 defeat.

However, facing some of the best wrestlers in the state should make the young Oconto Falls grapplers get better, especially with regionals right around the corner.

“It’s really good to have this competition,” Oconto Falls tri-head coach Dave Brasier said. “I told Bob (Berceau, Luxemburg-Casco head coach) at the end, ‘You bring out the best in us.’ Luxemburg is who you shoot for all year, and this is at the end of our schedule. I think some of our kids wrestled their best here tonight.”

The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team exploded in the second quarter to take a dominating lead in a 69-40 win over Gillett in a nonconference game Saturday in Oconto Falls.

The two teams were tied 12-12 after the first quarter when the Panthers (3-14, 2-11 Bay) exerted control, outscoring the Tigers 22-5 in the second quarter. In the third quarter it was more of the same as Oconto Falls outscored Gillett 21-9.

Riley Gruetzmacher scored 15 points, Bo Shroyer 13 and Michael Fifield 12 points to lead the Panthers.

Dylan Roberts scored 16 to lead Gillett (4-13, 3-8 Marinette & Oconto). Jake Kasten added 12.

Gillett edged by Niagara

The Gillett High School girls basketball team lost to Niagara 33-27 in a Marinette & Oconto Conference game Thursday in Niagara.

Kara Brennan led Gillett (5-11, 5-5 M&O) with 11 points.

Casey Spigarelli scored 14 points to lead Niagara (6-8, 6-4 M&O).

Wildcats blown out at home

The Lena High School girls basketball team lost to Goodman/Pembine 59-33 in a nonconference game Saturday in Lena.

Melissa Bushmaker led Lena (5-10, 3-6 M&O) with 17 points. Kayla VanLanen added nine.

Rachel Stankevich had 19 points and Courtney Goyak had 18 to lead Goodman/Pembine (13-2, 8-2 Northern Lakes).

Borchert’s 24 not enough for Lena

Hunter Borchert scored 24 points, but the Lena High School boys basketball team lost to Crivitz 75-40 in a Marinette & Oconto Conference game Friday in Lena.

Steven Rouer and Matt Marquardt added six points each for Lena (1-16, 0-11 M&O).

The WIAA Board of Control granted final approval Jan. 29 of a realignment plan that affects 76 schools and overhauls the Bay, Eastern Valley and Marinette & Oconto conferences for the 2015 season.

Oconto Falls High School, along with Denmark, Luxemburg-Casco and Marinette, will move from the Bay Conference to the Eastern Valley to join current members Clintonville, Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Little Chute and Waupaca, which will play football in the Bay. Wrightstown will move from the Olympian Conference to the Eastern Valley.

The new-look Bay Conference will include current members Shawano, New London, Seymour and West De Pere and add Appleton Xavier from the Eastern Valley, Menasha from the Fox Valley Association, and Green Bay East and Green Bay West from the Fox River Classic Conference.

The M&O will remain largely unchanged, but will welcome Oneida Nation High School, a move that conference officials objected to earlier in the process.

Dewey Krueger earned a championship, and the Oconto Falls High School wrestling team finished 10th Saturday at the Pulaski Invitational.

Oconto Falls scored 81 points. Kaukauna (244) won the invite, followed by Bay Port (193) and Merrill (173).

Krueger, a 145-pound junior who earned a 132-pound Division 2 state title a year ago, earned a championship at the Pulaski Invitational for the first time, beating Luxemburg-Casco’s Austin Worachek in overtime by pin at 6 minutes, 42 seconds.

“A lot of kids place better at state than they will at that tournament, depending on weight class,” Oconto Falls tri-head coach Marc Kinziger said. “Last year, Dewey ended up second there and ended up first at state.”

The 132 championship match was delayed by a clock issue, so the finals on the other mats were completed by the time Krueger and Worchek got to overtime, turning all eyes on them.