Behind Pesky Defense, Badgers Beat Cougars

A flurry of first-half turnovers by Coleman resulted in a 15-point scoring run for Niagara on Thursday, Feb. 1, setting up a frantic second half that saw Niagara hold off the surging Cougars and take the 56-53 win.

“I think we’re just starting to get our act together as a young team,” said Niagara head coach Terry Youren after the game. “Each day, all we want to do is improve. It’s the little things you do that make a big difference. This is a good team; a young team and we’re peaking at the right time.”

After the big Niagara run to close out the first half, Coleman began chipping away at the lead in the second. After making adjustments at the break, the Cougars roared back into it and, behind a bucket from Tyler Rennie with a bit under three minutes to play, Coleman had closed the gap to just four points with the scoreboard reading 53-49 Niagara.

Rennie came up big for the Cougars again with under 20 seconds to play, draining a three-pointer to cut the lead to just one at 54-53. 

A free throw from Niagara’s Tommy Martin put the visitors up by two with time running out before Dante Stachowicz stole a Coleman inbound pass with just a few seconds left on the clock to seal the win.

“We played faster mentally in the second half and, unlike the first half when we got frustrated on offense, we kept playing defense. Turnovers have been an issue all year and a large part of four conference losses,” said Coleman head coach Jeff Bronson. “I have to find a way to help this team get better. With that being said, the second-half effort was great and something that I am hoping the team can build off of and use to see that they can play at that level for an extended period of time.”

The Cougars got 18 points from Victor Kostreva, who also turned in six rebounds and three steals. Rennie had 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals while Logan Kurth finished with 12 points, two steals, an assist and three rebounds.

Niagara’s Martin, one game removed from passing the 1,000-point mark for his career with the Badgers, poured in 18 points of his own, along with seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Cameron Schiefelbein also had 18 points, in addition to nine boards, a steal and a block. 

Baxter comes up big at buzzer, Bulldogs beat Wolves

ALGOMA – The Peshtigo boys found themselves down by a dozen at halftime on Friday, Feb. 2 in Algoma but came to life over the game’s final 18 minutes, reeling the Wolves all the way back in and then snatching victory at the buzzer on a spectacular three-pointer from Dominik Baxter.

“For some reason, we always seem to get off to a slow start and on Friday, it was a combination of things, we didn’t defend anybody, offensively, we weren’t doing what we were supposed to be doing, we weren’t moving the ball,” said Peshtigo head coach Jason Boucher. “But my guys know how to figure it out. They really buckled down on defense. Offensively, we started running more sets.”

Looking up at a 28-16 deficit to begin the second half, Baxter got the Bulldogs going by draining a three from the top of the key. Will McMahon, who had a tremendous game for Peshtigo with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks, scored moments later on an inbounds play before coming up with a steal and a score on the ensuing Algoma possession to make it 30-23.

The gap was down to just five right after that on another steal and a quick score, this time by Canon Bickel. Before the nine-minute mark arrived on the second half, Peshtigo had come all the way back, thanks largely to terrific play on defense to hold Algoma to just three field goals in the half, down by just one at 30-29.

Bickel came up with another score down low to tie things up at 42 with under two minutes to play, setting up a dramatic stretch of defensive back-and-forth play, with the game looking like it was headed to overtime, before Baxter’s clutch shot as time ran out to give it to the Bulldogs by three. 

Tigers outlast Rangers for M&O win

GILLETT – The Gillett boys outscored Wausaukee 30-16 in the second half of play on Thursday, Feb. 1 as the Tigers improved to 10-2 in M&O Conference action with a 59-41 victory over the Rangers.

Aydin Franti led all scorers with 18 for Gillett while teammate Ben Matczak added 14 and Tyler Frank 11.

For the Rangers, Seth Kraemer finished with 13 and Conner Schroeder chipped in nine.

Hard-working Badgers fluster Florence

FLORENCE – Niagara got 29 points, seven boards and a block from Blake Holmes on Tuesday, Jan. 30 in Florence as the Badgers squeezed by the Bobcats by a final score of 62-60.

“We beat a very good team tonight,” said Niagara head coach Terry Youren. “We worked very hard defensively as a team. That is what wins close games. Extremely proud of our team effort tonight.”

Niagara also got 17 points, three rebounds, six assists and four steals from Tommy Martin.

Wolverines stump Wildcats

LENA – The Crivitz Wolverines improved their M&O Conference record to 10-1 with a 75-26 win over Lena on Thursday, Feb. 1 in a game that saw the visiting Crivitz squad outscore the home team 50-13 in the first half.

Jackson Flowers turned in a big performance with 13 points, 14 rebounds, a block and an assist. Tegan Werner added 16 points, along with eight steals, three assists and three rebounds to go along with 13 points, two steals, three assists and a board from Colten Tarmann.

The Wildcats got seven points out of Mason Belongia, five from Braden McVane and four each from Anthony Seefeldt and Logan Graef.

Maroons edge Eskymos in OT

ESCANABA – When the dust settled on an overtime thriller in Escanaba between the Eskymos and the Maroons, it was Menominee on top 77-76. 

“We certainly find ways to make it entertaining. I am proud of our guys for finding a way to win when it wasn’t our best night,” said Menominee head coach Sam Larson. “I thought our pressure bothered Esky for the first 4 minutes of the game. After that, they adjusted well, and we seemed to lose our decisiveness in rotations on defense.”

The Theuerkauf brothers had a big game for Menominee, with Tanner scoring 32 points to lead all scorers, followed by 32 from Trevor.  

“I appreciate the ability our guys have to find ways to win games. However, we have the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the U.P. coming up next on our schedule,” coach Larson said. “We better figure out how to defend better if we want to keep our momentum rolling.”

Bulldogs over Wildcats by a point

PESHTIGO – The Peshtigo boys got past Green Bay West 61-60 in a high-scoring, non-conference contest on Monday, Jan. 29.

Will McMahon led all scorers with 25 points while also clocking 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Dominik Baxter had 14 points, a steal, two assists and five boards and Carter Roeder turned in 10 points to go along with three boards and an assist.

Maroons fall in OT

MARQUETTE – The Menominee boys got into a slugfest with Marquette on Friday, Feb. 2, going into overtime for a second-straight game, with the home team Redmen coming out on top by a final of 75-71.

“Overall, I thought we really played hard. We’ve shown time and time again that our guys will not quit, and they keep battling for the entire course of the game,” said Menominee head coach Sam Larson. “We came up short tonight, but that will make us hungrier and make us better as we head towards playoffs. Two overtime games this week against two quality opponents. We are really learning how to play in close games right now and I think that pressure is good for us.”

Tanner Theuerkauf turned in 24 points to lead the Maroons, followed by 14 from Connor Coduti, 12 from Landon Bardowski, 11 from Eli Beal and 10 from Darrent Butler.

Tigers tame Rebels behind double double from DeBauch

GILLETT – Jesse DeBauch finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, two boards and two blocks on Tuesday, Jan. 30 as the Gillett boys dusted off Laona/Wabeno 71-58.

Aydin Franti nearly had a double double of his own with 20 points, nine assists and four steals while Ben Matczak turned in 12 points, six boards, an assist and two blocks.