Rockets, Warriors can’t solve Oostburg but fare better against other teams

The Cedar Grove-Belgium High School boys’ basketball team got back on the winning track after its first two-game losing streak of the season.

The Rockets won at Mayville, 56-44, last Friday behind 23 points from senior Carter Schmidt, who went 5-for-8 on three pointers and had seven rebounds, five steals and three assists.

“That was a nice win. We played four Flyway Conference teams this year and were able to beat them all,” coach Jake Hock said.

Senior Thomas Wiesner had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and four assists. Griffin Knight and Owen Gulke each had nine points.

Hock highlighted senior Bradley Mentink’s effort.

“Bradley Mentink’s been able to come in and be a huge defensive piece for us off the bench. He’s our tallest and lankiest player. When he comes in, we can do some different things defensively,” he said.

Mayville went to 9-6 while the Rockets improved to 13-4.

High-powered Oostburg, ranked No. 6 in the Division 3 Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports Boys Basketball Media Poll, beat the Rockets, 73-61, in a rockin’ atmosphere at Cedar Grove on Feb. 3.

Oostburg’s Jamison Zavatchin scored 30 points on 14-for-15 shooting, and Cade Dirkse had 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting with nine assists.

“They truly are unbelievable. They have two generational players on their team. You can scheme around them as much as you want, but they’re tough,” Hock said.

Gulke had 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting, and Knight had 20 on 7-for-13 shooting, along with 10 rebounds.

Schmitz was held to a season-low five points on 2-for-7 shooting, and Wiesner scored four after getting in foul trouble and sitting for 10 minutes in the first half.

With Zavatchin limiting Schmitz, Hock said, he was pleased that Knight upped his game in front of a standing room-only crowd after Hock told him he had to be the Rockets’ guy.

“There’s no situation he can’t handle,” Hock said.

The Rockets were to host Kohler (11-6) on Tuesday, Feb. 10. On Friday, Feb. 13, they play at Sheboygan Lutheran (15-3), which won the season opener in Cedar Grove, 80-73, on Nov. 25. The Rockets host Northeast Wisconsin Christian Homeschool (10-3) on Monday, Feb. 16, and St. Mary Catholic (14-5) on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Warriors win and lose a pair

Ozaukee sandwiched a pair of victories around two losses during a busy last week of four blowouts.

On Feb. 3, the Warriors routed visiting Random Lake, 94-53.

“We started off really slow but were steady after the start to win by a large margin. Everyone scored, and that is always meaningful to the team,” coach Bob Domach said.

“Random Lake is really improved since the first time we played them. They play really hard.”

That was especially true early on, as the Rams trailed 23-22, with eight minutes left in the first half. By the break, however, the Warriors had pulled away and led, 29-47.

Ozaukee’s two leading scorers, Braydon Lowrance-Eischen and Chase Mills, each scored 27 points. Mills added seven rebounds and eight steals, and Lowrance-Eischen had six rebounds, four steals and four blocks.

Michael Merlo had 22 points for the Rams.

Last Thursday, Ozaukee was thumped, 72-36, at home by Hilbert.

“In my opinion, our worst game of the season. We came out very flat, no energy and every mistake led to more mistakes. We weren’t mentally tough, and that can’t happen,” Domach said.

“We ran into some bad foul trouble, which negatively impacted our mental state. First, we can’t let the fouls get into our mindset, and we have to learn to not foul as much. It’s a discipline thing and we have to get that under control.”

Mills and Lowrance-Eischen each had four fouls in the first half.

Lowrance-Eischen led the Warriors with 17 points.

Ozaukee played tough on the road last Friday in losing, 69-43, to Oostburg, ranked No. 6 in the Division 3 Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports Boys Basketball Media Poll.

The Flying Dutchman built a 14-point lead in the first 14 minutes of the game and never looked back.

“We executed our game plan well. Bounced back after Hilbert to play with some energy,” Domach said.

“Oostburg is one of the best Division 3 teams in the state. They had a few spurts we couldn’t overcome. Too many turnovers hurt us, but we played with toughness and pride.”

Mills had 12 points, Nick Schubert had 10 and CJ Dvorak had eight.

The Warriors won, 48-29, at St. Lawrence Seminary last Saturday, one of their only times facing a zone defense this season.

“It took us a bit to get comfortable but once we figured out the zone, we were able to build a lead,” Domach said.

“Really happy with our defensive performance. They had quickness and we adjusted well on the defensive end.

Mills had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Lowrance-Eischen had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Ozaukee, 8-10, was to play at Sheboygan Christian (4-12) on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Ozaukee hosts Sheboygan South (12-6) on Friday, Feb. 13, and Milwaukee School of the Arts (6-9) on Monday, Feb. 16, in a pair of nonconference games.