Peaking heading into postseason

The Cedar Grove-Belgium High School boys’ basketball team is cruising into the Division 3 playoffs on a five-game winning streak.

The Rockets knocked off Two Rivers, 57-37,  on the road on Monday in a makeup game. They took control early, building a 29-15 lead by halftime and survived a Purple Raiders’ run.

Point guard Jeffrey Emperley led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

Max Ford had nine points, and Matthew Voskuil, Michael Navis and Ethan Wonser each scored seven. Sam and Jacob Peiffer each had six.

“Defensively, we communicated well, we switched well,” coach Josh Ketterhagen said.

“Offensively, we took care of it. We were a little loose at times. Matthew Voskuil hit a shot at end of first half to get momentum going into halftime.”

Cam Daffner scored 13 points to lead the Purple Raiders.

On Saturday, the St. Mary Central nail-biter pendulum swung the Rockets’ way. They avenged a season-opening 79-75 loss in overtime with a 72-70 win in the Big East Conference Tournament.

In the Nov. 27 game, Voskuil missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation. This time, he hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to two with four seconds left.

A “somewhat contested” three-pointer for the Zephyrs missed, and the Rockets won.

Navis and Wonser had each gone 1-for-2 on free throws before that.

The Rockets bounced back from a 13-point deficit with nine minutes to play.

“Really, it starts on our defensive end. We just made things a little bit tougher. They were taking the same shots but when you make it a little tougher they think about it a little more,” Ketterhagen said.

Against overmatched opponents last week, the Rockets took care of business, beating Elkhart Lake-Gleneulah, 89-27, on Thursday and Mishicot, 95-51, the day before.

Against the Resorters (0-13 in the Big East) on senior night, the Rockets built a 45-18 halftime lead and emptied the bench in the second half.

Sam Peiffer scored 13 points. Voskuil and Wonser each scored 12, and Aaron Veldhorst had 11. Jacob Peiffer had nine, Emperley eight and Navis seven.

Against the Indians (2-10) on Feb. 13, the Rockets had a 42-27 halftime lead and kept up the scoring to nearly hit triple digits.

Sam Peiffer had 17 and Jacob Peiffer had 14. Voskuil had 13. Navis had nine and Wonser seven.

The five-game winning streak stopped a two-game skis.

“We just needed to come back. We haven’t been doing the hottest, so we just thought, let’s get these games in the bag and keep rolling,” Emperley said.

Ketterhagen said he was glad the team didn’t fall asleep against weaker competition.

“I thought we did what we needed to do,” he said. “We’re really about 10 deep at the moment. I’m confident with all of those kids coming in.”

The Rockets (5-8 Big East, 12-10 overall) earned a 10 seed i the Division 3 playoffs and go to No. 7-seeded Sturgeon Bay on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The winner plays at No. 2-seeded Denmark on Friday, March 1.
 

Ozaukee drops a pair of games

Ozaukee is playing good ball these days, according to coach Bob Domach, but that hasn’t translated into victories.

The Warriors lost to visiting Kohler on Feb. 13, 52-48. On Saturday, they lost at Manitowoc Lutheran, 70-60.

Both contests were part of the Big East Conference tournament.

The Warriors made it into top bracket of the tournament, but they were one of the lower-seeded teams and had to play teams with better records.

After losing big to Howards Grove in the opening round, the Warriors lost their second close game to Kohler. Eight days earlier, Kohler won, 64-61.

“We are a play or two away from winning both games. It was hard to get into any type of flow on offense, but our defense was excellent.”

The Warriors got 12 points from Brent Hoffmann and 10 from Ivan Garcia. Mitch Weyker scored nine and had 10 rebounds.Logan Bell had eight points and nine rebounds.

Carter Gebler had 20 points for Kohler.

The Warriors lost their next game, but not due to a lack of effort.

“At Manitowoc Lutheran, I was proud with how we never gave up. We kept battling,” Domach said.

They couldn’t stop Trey Zastrow, who poured in a game-high 34 points. Santana Lambao had 11 points.

For Ozaukee, Hoffmann scored 21 and Miller had 18.

The Warriors hosted Kiel last Monday and will close out regular season play against visiting Milwaukee School of Arts on Thursday.

 They earned a 9 seed in the Division 4 playoffs and get another shot at No. 8-seeded Manitowoc Lutheran on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Ozaukee Press correspondent Deb Hamm contributed to this article.