Shared scoring, defense help Warriors jump into 2nd place in league race
Balance continues to be a key to success for the Ozaukee boys’ basketball team.
Sharing the scoring load and helping each other on defense allowed the Warriors to post two wins last week, including a 64-55 victory in a high-profile
Central Lakeshore Conference game against Sheboygan Lutheran on Jan. 13.
Ozaukee emerged on top even though Lutheran got 36 points from standout Sam Dekker, who is being heavily recruited by several college programs, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
While Dekker scored more than half of his team’s points, the Warriors had three players score in double figures, led by Patrick Kroening with 24.
“We played a great game,” said Ozaukee coach Isaiah Ketterhagen, whose team improved to 8-1 in CLC play, good for second place, and 10-2 overall.
“We controlled the whole game except for about three to four minutes in the first quarter. Other than that, we were able to do what we wanted, and we attacked their pressure when they increased it.”
The Warriors trailed, 17-16, after one quarter but used a 21-9 run in the second period to build an 11-point lead by halftime.
After taking a 47-32 lead into the fourth quarter, Ozaukee withstood a late rally by Lutheran, which fell to 7-1 in the conference.
“I thought it got a little sloppy at the end with us not taking care of the ball, but you have to figure that Lutheran was playing desperate,” Ketterhagen said.
Besides Kroening’s big game, the Warriors got 18 points from Alex Janke and 10 from Stephen Street.
“Patrick and Alex played very, very well offensively for us, while Stephen and Eric (Hartnett) really picked up the defensive end and boards,” Ketterhagen said.
“Although Sam Dekker scored 36, I thought Stephen did a great job making him work for them.”
Hartnett had eight points and nine rebounds, and Street added eight rebounds.
The Warriors had more to contend with than the Crusaders.
“I also thought we handled the intangibles very well,” Ketterhagen said. “They celebrated Sam’s 1,000-point career mark before the tip, it was a packed crowd at an away gym, a lot of press was there, and (UW coach) Bo Ryan was there to watch Sam.”
Other than Dekker, no Lutheran player scored more than six points.
Ozaukee 52, Campbellsport 45
After trailing by two points at halftime, the Warriors used a big third quarter to take charge in a nonconference road win Jan. 11.
Ozaukee outscored the Cougars, 12-2, in the third period and never trailed again.
Kroening scored 18 points, including a trio of three-point baskets, and had three assists and three blocks. Janke scored 12 points, and Street had seven
points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
The Warriors continued conference play Tuesday against Sheboygan Christian and will travel to Oostburg on Jan. 25 for a 7:30 p.m. showdown against
the first-place Flying Dutchmen.
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