It’s one up, one down for Ozaukee in playoffs

By DEB HAMM

Ozaukee Press correspondent

Five Ozaukee High School boys’ basketball players scored in double digits last Friday, but it wasn’t enough to win at Kohler in a Division 4 regional semifinal.

Kohler, the Big East Conference South Division co-champs, earned an 82-73 win to end Ozaukee’s season.

The Warriors closed out the season with a 13-12 overall record. They finished fifth in the Big East South with an 8-10 record.

After the Warriors fell behind, 17-15, they went on an 11-2 run to build a 26-19 lead with 6 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half.

Kohler rallied to score nine straight points and took a 28-26 lead.

At halftime, the Warriors trailed, 35-34.

Ozaukee faced foul trouble in the first half. Starter Bret Hamm spent much of the first half on the bench with three fouls. By halftime, Otto Utecht also had three fouls and two more Warriors had two each.

Ozaukee finished the game with 23 fouls while Kohler had just 14.

The Warriors made 5 of 9 free throws while the Blue Bombers went 16-for-22.

Early in the second half, Ozaukee fell behind by six points.

Hamm returned to the lineup and scored two consecutive baskets to give Ozaukee a 60-59 lead. It wasn’t long, however, before he picked up his fourth foul and headed back to the bench, and Kohler took the lead back. Hamm eventually fouled out.

Sawyer Kowalkowski rolled in a three-pointer that closed the Warriors’ deficit to 66-64 with 4:44 left. An Aaron Nehls’ bomb got the Warriors to within four points at 73-69 with 1:38 left, but the Blue Bombers closed out the game with a 9-4 run.

The Warriors couldn’t stop Max Breitenbach, who poured in 33 points to lead all scorers, and added 10 rebounds.

Trey Keller added 16 points for Kohler, and Jalen Paul scored 12. Reese Breitenbach had 10 points.

The Warriors got 18 points from Kowalkowski in one of his better offensive efforts of the season. Hamm scored 13, and Otto Utecht and Nehls each scored 12. Connor Rennicke scored 10 points.

The teams split the regular season series, with Ozaukee winning an 89-85 thriller at home on Dec. 15 and Kohler winning, 87-65, on Feb. 10.

The Warriors advanced to the regional semifinal with a 61-46 win at home over Roncalli (8-17) in Fredonia Feb. 28.

With 8:48 left in the first half, Ozaukee trailed, 16-14. The Warriors scored the next seven points and never trailed again.

Nehls led the Warriors with 18 points, going 6-for-9 on three-pointers. Rennicke had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and went 8-for-10 on free throws. Utecht scored 10 points and Hamm added eight.

Roncalli’s leaders included Brayden Yerda with 17 points, Bret Simmer with 12 and Deacon Gray with eight.