Star pair lead Ozaukee boys to trio of hoops victories

A huge week by junior Braydon Lowrance-Eischen led to a pair of victories, and a hot night on Monday sent the Ozaukee High School boys’ basketball team over .500 at 11-10.

Lowrance-Eischen scored a total of 60 points last week in victories over Sheboygan Christian and Sheboygan South.

He had plenty of scoring help from Chase Mills, who totaled 41 points in the two contests.

The Warriors earned a comeback 47-39 win over host Sheboygan Christian Feb. 10 after trailing by three at halftime.

“We struggled to find a comfort zone in the first half as we struggled on the offensive end,” Ozaukee coach Bob Domach said. “Our second half offense was much better. We started to take advantage of our strengths, and we were able to scrap back and take the lead. “

Domach praised guard Mason Schroeder for his savvy.

“Mason Schroeder was very crafty on the offensive end. He made some really nice plays to get other guys some inside out shots. When we get inside-out looks our offense is much more efficient,” he said.

“We gave up too many three pointers toward the end of the game to let Sheboygan Christian to stay close.”

Ozaukee went up by seven with about nine minutes to play, 46-39, after Nick Schubert drained a three-pointer.

The Eagles went on a little run in the next two minutes to trim the deficit to three at 48-45.

Ozaukee rebuilt its lead to seven after baskets by Lowrance-Eischen and Schroeder. The score never got closer than five points after that.

Lowrance-Eischen scored 11 in the first half before pouring in 20 points after the break. His total included making nine of 11 free throws and a pair of three-pointers. He also had nine rebounds.

Chase Mills scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists.

Schroeder had his best all-around game of the season with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Ozaukee hosted Division 1 Sheboygan South last Friday and surprised the Redwings with a 64-62 nonconference victory.

“Our defensive effort was tremendous. Probably the best defensive game of the season,” Domach said. “It was a great high school basketball game to be part of. Great environment in our gym.”

The Warriors trailed 31-30 at the break.

With about seven minutes to play, Ozakee had built a 52-45 lead, but in the next minute South scored six straight points to pull within one.

Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the way.

With the game tied at 60-60, Lowrance-Eischen scored with 33 seconds to play.

The Redbirds got a pair of free throws with 22.1 seconds to play to knot the game at 62-62.

“Tight game coming down the stretch. We didn’t call a timeout at the end because we had faith that Chase Mills or Braydon Lowrance-Eischen would make a game-winning play and Chase did at the end. We showed toughness going down the stretch,” Domach said.

Mills scored with 4.6 seconds to play and South could not answer.

Lowrance-Eischen led the Warriors with 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Mills finished with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. Eighteen of Mills’ points came in the second half. Dylan Budzisz scored seven points.

On Monday, Mills had 31 points in a 71-34 rout over visiting Milwaukee School of Arts. Lowrance-Eischen added 22 points and Dylan Budzisz scored 11.

Ozaukee, 4-6 in the Big East Conference South, hosts Sheboygan Lutheran (8-2 Big East, 17-5 overall) on Friday, Feb. 20 and hosts Valders (7-13) on Monday, Feb. 23.