Energy Bares

As the clock began to tick down last Saturday in Fredonia, the Ozaukee High School boys’ basketball team needed a big play against rival Cedar Grove-Belgium.

Junior Simon Bares provided it. The guard made a three-pointer from the corner to knot the game at 64.

From there, the Warriors took over, outscoring the Rockets, 18-11 in overtime for an 82-75 win and season sweep.

Ozaukee coach Bob Domach called Bares’ shot “huge” and Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Josh Ketterhagen said, “Give him credit. He hit a big shot.”

The Rockets had a final shot with a few seconds left in regulation but a 10-footer on the baseline by Jeffrey Emperley was just short.

Warrior Brent Hoffmann scored a season-high 35 points, which included going 6-for-12 on three-pointers, and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Noah Miller scored 18 and Jotham Higginbotham had 16. Bares had nine. Logan Bell had nine rebounds.

“Our kids are tough and resilient and never quit,” Domach said.

For the Rockets, Sam Peiffer scored 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

Michael Navis scored 12 points. Emperley and Matthew Voskuil had 10 points each, and Emperley had nine rebounds.

The Warriors held a 42-32 halftime lead and it ballooned to 49-34 with about 14 minutes left.

“That’s when we started to go on a run,” Ketterhagen said.

A 14-0 run in seven minutes got the Rockets back into the game, with several points coming from Peiffer on turnovers.

“It was a team defensive effort. Sam just got the bust outs and gets the layups,” Ketterhagen said. “Those don’t come without all the deflections and all the steals and all the assists from the other guys as well.”

Domach said the extra period makes for a good time.

“Overtime games are great games to be part of,” he said.

In that case, the Warriors have been having a blast. Three of their last four games went to overtime, and they won two of them.

On Jan. 20, the Warriors lost, 79-77, to nonconference foe Campbellsport.

Miller scored 24 points and had six rebounds.  Hoffmann scored 20 and had eight rebounds. Bell had seven rebounds and eight points. Bares and Jesse Schauer each scored eight points.

Ozaukee trailed, 37-33, at halftime but tied the game at 71-71 at the end of regulation.

“Two hard-nosed tough teams battled,” Domach said.

“Campbellsport is well-coached, and we love playing them every year in a nonconference game. Unfortunately, we fell just a little short.”

Ozaukee beat Hilbert, 65-62, in overtime on Jan. 17.

On Jan. 23, there was no danger of overtime as the Warriors lost at defending Division 5 state champion Sheboygan Lutheran, 104-57.

Jacob Ognacevic, towering over all the Warriors at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, scored 52 points on 21-of-23 shooting and had 13 rebounds. Casey Verhagen had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Miller scored 16 for Ozaukee. Higginbotham had nine points and Schauer had eight.

“It was a tough game to be part of. I am very proud of the class and sportsmanship that our players exhibited,” Domach said.

The Warriors, 7-5 in the Big East Conference and 7-6 overall, were to host Reedsville (5-7) on Tuesday and Random Lake (5-7) on Friday.

The Rockets on Jan. 23 lost at league-leading Oostburg, 68-52.

Voskuil and Max Ford each scored 12 points. Peiffer had eight points, three steals and three blocks. Navis had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Rockets were up, 33-31, at halftime, and their lead was nearly bigger. The Flying Dutchmen hit two threes at the end of the half.

“I was really pleased with our energy in the first half of that game. I thought defensively we played extremely well,” Ketterhagen said.

In the second half, the Flying Dutchmen took charge.

“When they got hot, it’s really difficult to stop them,” Ketterhagen said.

Oostburg’s big men, two at 6-6 and one at 6-5, took advantage. The Rockets were outrebounded, 17-6, and the Flying Dutchmen had 23 second-chance points.

But Ketterhagen said the final score wasn’t indicative of how the game went.

“I don’t believe it was a 16-point game. It felt closer than that,” he said.

For Oostburg, now 11-0, Cam Jaeger scored 20, Jonathan Heinen had 12 and Derek Oonk had 10. Ashtin Smies had nine, Logan Brock had eight and Braden Dirkse had seven.

The Rockets, 4-8 in the Big East and 6-8 overall, were to host Howards Grove (6-6) on Tuesday, Sheboygan Lutheran (11-1) on Friday and play at nonconference foe Lomira on Tuesday, Feb. 4.