Junior sets Ozaukee scoring mark

A record game by junior Brayden Lowrance-Eischen led the Ozaukee High School boys’ basketball team to a 73-72 overtime victory at Ripon on Jan. 6.

Lowrance-Eischen broke the single-game scoring record with 42 points. The record was previously shared by professional baseball player Noah Miller, Bret Hamm and Sawyer Kowalkowski.

It was a contest of two heavy hitters, as Ripon’s Blake Bradley scored 39 points, going 9-for-13 on three pointers.

Lowrance-Eischen’s total included four three pointers and going 14-for-18 from the free throw line.

His scoring was especially important in the first half as the rest of the Warriors tallied a total of three points.

Lowrance-Eischen had 19 points in the first half, 17 in the second half and six in overtime.

Ozaukee coach Bob Domach said it was a “great come-from-behind win.”

“We didn’t panic, we just played hard and kept our focus. It was a great game of growth for us. There was a six or seven-minute stretch in the second half where we played our best defense of the year. We are starting to trust each other more and that should help us as we flow through our season. 

“A key stat for us was we only had 10 turnovers.  We try to keep the turnovers under 12 a game and only having 10 allowed us to maximize our offense. Really happy to see us playing with confidence from all our hard work.”

The Warriors trailed by eight points at the break, 30-22.

Chase Mills and Mason Schroeder picked up their scoring in the second half, with Mills scoring14 of his 16 points after the break and Schroeder scoring eight.

The first few minutes of the second half belonged to Ripon.

With 14 minutes and 1 second on the clock in the second half, Ozaukee trailed by 13. That’s when the Warriors  slowly began to claw their way back.

The Warriors trimmed the deficit to 44-41 with 8:15 to play.

The teams exchanged baskets for the next four minutes.

With 4:06 left, Mills scored a bucket to give the Warriors a lead at 54-52.

Trailing, 60-58, with 23.5 seconds in regulation, Mills scored to tie the game and force overtime.

The Warriors held the biggest lead in overtime with 7.1 seconds remaining, at 73-69, after Lowrance-Eischen sank a pair of free throws.

A last second three-pointer by Bradley only made the final score look tighter.

Lowrance-Eischen added six rebounds to his stat line.

Mills had seven rebounds and four assists.

The Warriors took their 4-4 overall record into Monday’s game against visiting Kohler.

Ozaukee will travel to Sheboygan Lutheran (9-1) on Thursday, Jan. 15, and host Sheboygan Christian (2-5) on Monday, Jan. 19.