Shooting barrage propels Rockets

They picked the postseason to peak, and the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School boys’ basketball players ran a rival right out of their gym on March 1.

The No. 5-seeded Rockets made nine of 15 three-pointers and went 9-for-10 inside the arc in constructing a 22-point halftime lead in cruising to a 77-47 win over No. 12-seeded Random Lake in a Division 4 regional playoff game.

Senior Sam Peiffer and junior Parker Knight each drained three three-pointers, and senior Cole Ketterhagen sunk two in leading the Rockets to a 48-26 edge at the break.

“It felt like magic, to be honest,” Ketterhagen said of the white-hot start.

“Everyone came out hot. No one could miss. We got out to a good lead and never looked back. It’s awesome,” Knight said.

“We just kept firing, kept moving the ball around well. We weren’t forcing shots. When they went into a zone, we did the same thing. We were playing team basketball,” Peiffer said.

Knight hit a three-pointer from the corner 22 seconds into the game, and the Rockets never trailed. The Rams’ defense couldn’t select a player to shut down since so many were on fire. Unselfish ball movement found the open man, who knocked down shots.

“We’ve been working on that all week. I told the guys, ‘If you’re wide open, take the shot. Have some confidence,’” coach Derek Wimmer said.

Senior Logan Arrowood, the team’s second-leading scorer averaging 16.9 points per game and one of its biggest inside forces, only had four first-half points. He played solid defense and distributed the ball.

“That was amazing. Everyone was hitting shots. Everything was working for us. We were playing good defense, good team basketball,” Arrowood said.

The long-range barrage didn’t come in a burst but was consistent throughout the half, with a minute or two between swishes. The Rockets hit four in a three-minute stretch from the 14-minute, 32-second mark to the 11:35 mark, then three more from 5:46 to 3:23.

As a result, “that opens it up for us to drive,” Wimmer said.

On the other end of the floor, the Rockets also upped their game.

“Our defense finally stepped up. For a couple of games in a row we didn’t have very good defense,” Wimmer said.

That kept up throughout the game. The Rams never got closer than 22 points in the second half.

Most of the starters were pulled with five minutes to play.

“We made the extra passes and we allowed our defense to finally just sit and stop them,” Wimmer said.

Peiffer had 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting and 3-for-7 on three-pointers, along with six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Knight had 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting, including 5-for-6 on three-pointers. Ketterhagen had 11 points, making all three of his long-range shots, and Arrowood had nine.

The Rockets shot 12-for-22 (54.5%) behind the arc and 29-for-53 (54.7%) on two-pointers.

The win stopped a seven-game losing streak and gave the Rockets the rubber match with their rival. They beat the Rams, 61-50, on Dec. 3 at home and lost on the road, 56-51, in a game in which Wimmer got called for a technical foul late.

“There was some bad blood from last game. We wanted to win this one, especially with what happened last time we played them,” Ketterhagen said. “We just came out as hard as we could. We stuck it to them.”

For the Rams, Matt Merlo had 20 points and Mitchell Hiller had 13.

It was the final home game for the Rockets’ four seniors — Peiffer, Arrowood, Ketterhagen and Tannor Kettenhoven.

Ketterhagen said the program has meant “everything. Basketball is life. I just love this game. It feels great to play at this place.”

“It’s meant a lot to me. I’ve worked hard,” Peiffer said. “It’s cool looking back and just seeing the progression I’ve made all the way through. I’m just glad I’ve been able to do it in this program.”

Arrowood said, “It’s awesome. It’s definitely been very good to me for four years. I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Winnebago Lutheran’s fast start knocks Rockets out

The Rockets’ season ended last Friday in a 76-67 loss at No. 4-seeded Winnebago Lutheran.

The Vikings, Wimmer said, went 10-for-17 on three-pointers in the first half and built a 20-point lead. The Vikings led, 46-35, at halftime.

The Rockets closed to within three in the second half but couldn’t get over the hump.

“We played really well in the second half. We caught up and fought,” Wimmer said.

Ketterhagen had 17 points and went 5-for-8 on three-pointers.

“Cole probably had his best game all year,” Wimmer said.

Peiffer had 18 points, Knight had 14, Arrowood had nine, and Caleb Beightol had eight.

For Lutheran, Ethan Cole had 32 points, Sam Loehr had 20, and Aidan Bahr had 16.

Wimmer praised his trio of starting seniors.

“Those guys led us throughout the whole year. They fought every single game,” he said.

The Rockets finished 11-13 overall and 9-10 in the Big East Conference, good for fourth place.