First-half effort not enough for CG-Belgium

A sharp first half had the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School boys’ basketball team on the right track to a playoff victory over visiting New Holstein on Feb. 16.

But it didn’t last. The No. 6-seeded Huskies hit their stride on both ends of the court in the second half and turned an 11-point deficit into a nine-point victory, 59-50, in a Division 3 regional game.

“Tale of two halves,” Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Derek Wimmer said. “First half looked good, second half looked bad.”

Rocket senior guard Logan Ketterhagen scored 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field in his final high school game. Junior guard Sam Peiffer scored 22 and was held to 6-for-18 shooting, but he went 4-for-6 on three-pointers.

Ketterhageand Peiffer had it going in the game’s first 18 minutes, combining for 21 points and helping the Rockets to a 27-16 halftime lead.

In a span of less than three minutes midway through the half, Ketterhagen made two free throws, a fancy drive to the basket that would have won style points even from the proverbial Russian judge and drained a jumper to extend the Rockets’ lead to 14-7.

Later in the half, Peiffer scored seven points in one minute, 47 seconds. He made four free throws and, after a slow dribble up court, calmly buried a three-pointer that made it 26-14.

The Huskies, on the other hand, struggled from the outside against the Rockets’ 2-3 zone and couldn’t make anything inside, even after securing offensive rebounds. Shots from point-blank range bounced in and out or off the rim time after time.

That all turned after halftime.

The Huskies, who could have dominated inside with their size — center Sam Casper is 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and two forwards are 6-4 and 6-3 — began to make a few shots, and the guards began to heat up.

On the other side of the court, defensive intensity picked up.

“They started to double team Sam as soon as he touched the ball and put pressure on Logan,” Wimmer said.

Compounding issues for the Rockets was the absence of 6-4 forward Logan Arrowood, their biggest inside presence, who was on a trip to Florida.

“We got out-rebounded in the second half and that would have helped, being our leading rebounder,” Wimmer said of having Arrowood.

The Huskies clawed their way back to within one at 31-30, triggering Wimmer to call a timeout.

Rocket junior forward Caleb Beightol followed with a shot inside, and a Ketterhagen drive and score brought the lead back to 35-30 with more than 11 minutes left.

Consecutive three-pointers by Trevor Roehrig gave the Huskies their first lead of the game, 36-35, but a drive and score from Rocket guard Parker Knight took the lead back, and Peiffer extended it to 40-36 with an open three-pointer from the left corner.

An inside shot by Casper while being fouled — he missed the free throw — followed by a drive by Sam Cady knotted the game at 40.

A Henry Schnell three-pointer gave the Huskies the lead, 43-40, with 7 minutes, 21 seconds left.

The deficit reached 46-40 before two Ketterhagen free throws and a Peiffer three-pointer cut it to 46-45.

Schnell faked a three and drove inside for a bucket, but Ketterhagen tied the game at 48 with a three-pointer from the left wing with 4:05 left.

The Huskies missed a three-pointer on the next possession but got the offensive rebound. Cameron Olson was fouled and made two free throws to give the Huskies the lead for good with 3:44 left.

The Rockets closed to 52-50 with 2:49 left on a Peiffer cut to the basket and shot inside after he took a pass from Tannor Kettenhoven, but that’s as close as they would get.

New Holstein went 4-for-4 on free throws in the final 45 seconds.

“They started hitting shots. Hats off to them,” Ketterhagen said. “They played well defensively on Sam and me.”

Peiffer said, “It’s just a physical game. We had a tough time handling it.”

Schnell had 16 points, Cady had 15 and Casper had 11 for the Huskies.

Rocket junior guard Cole Ketterhagen fought for eight rebounds despite his 6-0 frame. Knight had four assists.

On Saturday, No. 2-seeded Kiel (20-5) beat New Holstein (6-11), 65-60.

The Rockets finished 10-9 and in fourth place in the Big East Conference South Division. They were 11-11 overall.

Wimmer, in his first season as head coach, said it was a good year overall, citing the hot 10-4 start before “we lost our energy a little bit” during a busy second-half schedule.

Logan Ketterhagen is the only senior.

“He was definitely my main leader all year long — getting the guys together, communicating. He has definitely made my first year a huge success,” Wimmer said.