Three points short

In a year of several close basketball games, the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School boys played one more on Feb. 26 at Sturgeon Bay.

The No. 10-seeded Rockets, coming into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak, ended their season by being edged by the No. 7-seeded Clippers, 62-59, in a Division 3 regional quarterfinal.

“I thought we played hard,” coach Josh Ketterhagen said. “We battled. That’s all I can ask of the guys.”

Inside player Ethan Wonser was the only Rocket to reach double digits in points. The 6-feet-6-inch senior scored 14.

A stretch with a few turnovers and some defensive breakdowns helped the Clippers extend to a 13-point lead with eight minutes to play, but the Rockets never gave up hope.

“They could have gone in the tank,” Ketterhagen said.

But the Rockets fought back to take the lead by two with two and a half minutes left. Defensive pressure forced the Clippers into a few mistakes of their own, and the Rockets took advantage with some baskets in transition.

A couple of Rockets’ mistakes helped the Clippers take the lead back. The Rockets hit a two-pointer at the buzzer to trim the final deficit to three.

“We just ran out of time,” Ketterhagen said. “We played well. We just didn’t play well enough to win.”

Wonser added seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks to his team-leading point total.

The Clippers’ 6-6 senior Carson Talbert was just a little better with 23 points and six rebounds. Guard Mitchell Jackson scored 13 and guard Gunnar Tebon scored 11.

“They were kind of all over on defense, got some deflections,” Ketterhagen said. “The ball bounced a little more to them.”

Rocket point guard Jeffrey Emplerley scored nine points. Matthew Voskuil had eight, Michael Navis had seven, Jacob Peiffer had six and Aaron Veldhorst had five.

“Everybody contributed a little bit,” Ketterhagen said.

The contest was the final high school game for seniors Wonser, Veldhorst, Bryce Ketterhagen and Nick Newkirk.

Coach Ketterhagen said the 2 hour, 15-minute bus ride to the game in a winter storm served as a challenge the team overcame by taking a lead early in the game. The weather was equally as bad on the long ride home, he said.

The Clippers went on to lose at No. 2-seeded Denmark on Friday, 54-36. Denmark then beat No. 3-seeded Sheboygan Falls, 63-57, and faces No. 4-seeded Valders in a sectional semifinal on Thursday at Chilton.

The Rockets finished 5-8 in the Big East Conference and 12-11 overall in a season that included a few tight losses. The Rockets lost at St. Mary Central, 79-75, in overtime in the season opener; to Manitowoc Lutheran, 61-57, in overtime; at Hilbert, 57-56; and to Oostburg, 61-56. They got revenge on Central with a 72-70 win in conference tournament.

“Those flop a different way and all of a sudden it’s not just a good season, it’s a great season,” Ketterhagen said.

“We’ll learn from this year, get better in the offseason and see what happens.”