MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Jan. 9–16)
SWAL BOYS BASKETBALL: Southwestern 63, Cuba City 60
Wildcats snap 13-game losing steak to Cubans
By A.J. Gates, Tri-County Press / Herald Independent
CUBA CITY — The date was Jan. 12, 2017. With just one returning starter from the previous season, fourth-year head coach Clint Nemitz led his Southwestern Wildcats to a 55–48 victory over their neighboring rivals from Cuba City.
Since that night, the Cubans have gone on to win the next 13 meetings with the Wildcats.
The streak was snapped last Thursday night though, as Nemitz, now in his 11th season with the Wildcats, led his young Southwestern squad to a thrilling 63–60 victory over host Cuba City.
The win puts the Wildcats in sole possession of third place in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League standings with a mark of 4–2, while improving to 8–4 overall. Coach Tanner Schieve, who is in his first season as head coach of the Cubans, saw his squad fall to 2–4 in league play and 4–7 overall with Thursday night’s loss, and sits fifth in the eight-team league standings.
Holding onto the top spot in the SWAL is Mineral Point (12–0, 6–0), who last Thursday night defeated Riverdale, while Darlington (13–1, 5–1) holds the second spot with their victory over Boscobel.
Thursday night’s meeting between Cuba City and Southwestern was a tight one from start to finish with neither team able to break away with a comfortable lead.
“The guys had to settle into the environment and the emotions of the game,” said Nemitz. “We challenged our guys to get to the hoop early and often as we haven’t had a ton of success shooting the ball from the outside in that gym.”
After one half of play the Cubans held a 36–34 lead over their visitors, but couldn’t hold off a second-half surge orchestrated by the Wildcats.
In the second half, Southwestern outscored the Cubans 29–24, getting nine points each from junior Everett Droessler and sophomore Aiden Keleher. Keleher hit a big 3-pointer down the stretch for the Wildcats, while Droessler came up big at the free throw line, making 3-of-3 attempts in the second half.
“Cuba City pressed the majority of the game and I thought our guards did a great job handling the pressure,” Nemitz explained. “Half the time we turned the press into points, but in the first half we did have 12 turnovers. In the second half we only had four, which was a credit to the kids finding the right guys on the press break.”
It was Keleher who led Southwestern with 21 points, knocking down two 3-pointers and going 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
He was followed by junior Bryce Pearce, who netted 13 points, eight coming in the first half, and Droessler with 11, nine coming in the second half.
Pearce also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds in the victory, while Droessler led his team in assists with four, steals with three and blocks with one.
As a team the Wildcats made 25-of-58 (43%) total shot attempts, including 4-of-16 (25%) from long range. They were 9-of-13 (69%) from the free throw line, including 6-of-9 (67%) in the second half.
The Cubans got a team-high 18 points from junior Henry Kruser, 12 of which came in the first half. He also pulled down a team-high six rebounds to go along with four assists and two steals.
Tyson Richard chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Andy Miller also finished with 11 points to go along with five boards, two assists and three steals.
As a team the Cubans were 25-of-54 (46.2%) from the field, including 5-of-13 (38.4%) from downtown. They were also 5-of-13 from the charity stripe, including 2-of-6 (33.3%) in the second half.
“Cuba City has weapons all over the floor as you can imagine. I was very happy with our defensive effort,” said coach Nemitz. “We had some ball screen coverages that we thought would be effective and they worked great. It was probably our best defensive performance of the year, where everyone was locked into their assignment. It was great to see from a maturity standpoint.”
Southwestern 63, Cuba City 60
(from Thursday, Jan. 11, at Cuba City)
Southwestern......34 29 – 63
Cuba City..............36 24 – 60
Southwestern - Aiden Keleher 21, Carsen Splinter 7, Austin Furlong 5, Jack Runde 6, Everett Droessler 11, Bryce Pearce 13. Totals - 25-58, 9-13 63.
Cuba City - Henry Kruser 18, Tyson Richard 11, Gavin Vaassen 6, Chase Marshall 2, Miles Hinderman 5, Trevor VanNatta 5, Hudson Kieler 2, Andy Miller 11. Totals - 25-54, 5-13 60.
3-point goals - SW: (4-16) Keleher 2, Splinter 1, Furlong 1; CC: (5-13) Richard 3, Hinderman 1, VanNatta 1. Team fouls - SW 11, CC 13. Fouled out - None.
