Bulldogs Title Hopes Fade with Loss to Storm

With their Packerland Conference hopes on the line, the Peshtigo Bulldogs’ offense completely sputtered Tuesday night in a 63-34 loss to Kewaunee.
The Bulldogs and Storm, both chasing Southern Door, each had two losses coming into the game to the Eagles’ one.
The Bulldogs took only five more shots than they had turnovers against Kewaunee’s pressure.
“The last three times we played them, we handled it and we beat them, I don’t want to say easily, but if you handle Kewaunee’s pressure, you have a good chance of beating them if you slow it down,” Boucher said. “They sped us up tonight and for some odd reason, we couldn’t handle it. Most of the time our guards handle the basketball well, and tonight we only took 32 shots and we turned the ball over 27 times. That’s not a recipe for success.”
Mason Doberstein’s 13 points were a Bulldog-high. Kaine Fort scored eight and Grant Bauman scored six.
The Storm’s Thomas Stangel scored 22 points and led all scorers.
With Peshtigo’s third loss, a share of the conference is probably not in the cards, but Bulldogs coach Jason Boucher was still able to find some light in Tuesday’s blowout loss.
“We’re still 17-4. We’re having a great year. Maybe the conference is out of reach right now with us now having three losses, Southern Door only having one, and Kewaunee only having two, but I’m still proud of my guys,” Boucher said. “I wouldn’t trade my guys for anything. We’re going to be ready for Friday night.”
The Bulldogs have a road game at NEW Lutheran on Friday night and a home game against Oconto on Monday to wrap up the season. Both teams have winning Packerland records this season, at 9-4 and 7-6, respectively.
The last time Peshtigo played NEW lutheran on Jan. 13, the Bulldogs were handed their first conference loss of the season.
“We’ve got two tough games to end the season. We have to be ready because at NEW and at home against a hot Oconto team, we have to be playing better basketball going into the playoffs if we want to make a run,” Boucher said.
Southern Door plays Kewaunee on Monday in a game that will likely decide whether the two teams share the conference title or the Eagles win it outright.

Wolverines Thump
Thunderhawks to
Clinch M&O Title
There has been little doubt for a few weeks that the Crivitz Wolverines would eventually hoist the 2022-23 M&O Conference basketball title, but they claimed the title Monday with a 79-47 win over Oneida Nation.
According to Crivitz Coach Jeff Baumann, the MO Conference will make it official with a trophy presentation next week.
The Wolverines’ win ensured that they will finish with two M&O Conference losses at worst, ahead of three-loss Coleman and Gillett.
Tegan Werner scored 25 points to lead the way. He had four rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block.
Sean Christiansen had 13 points with a team-best eight rebounds and seven steals. He also had three assists.
The Wolverines had assists on 24 of 30 field goals. Cashton Mertens had five assists and seven points and Kaden Klaver scored three points with four assists.
Jackson Flowers scored 10 points with five rebounds. Brady Tadisch and Seth Sellen had seven points and three rebounds apiece.
The Wolverines play a non-conference game against Kewaunee (9-2 Packerland Conference) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season with Gillett and Wausaukee on Monday and Thursday, respectively.

Wildcats Fall to
Thunderhawks 59-43
Dane Van Boxtel dropped 29 points to power Oneida Nation past Lena on Thursday night, 59-43.
Van Boxtel hit seven 3-pointers in the game. He scored 15 points in the first half and 14 in the second.
The two teams were tied 8-8 early before a 7-0 run by the Thunderhawks, four of which were scored by Donovan Danforth.
Oneida Nation led just 29-25 at half, but the second-half effort saw the Thunderhawks outscore Lena 30-18.
Lena’s leading scorer was Reed Hosking. He scored 13 of his 16 points before halftime.
Caleb Schlosser scored 10 points, all in the first half. Anthony Seefeldt and Logan Graef each scored six points in the contest.

First Half Surge Pushes
Blazers Past Blue Devils
Oconto fell 71-65 to Green Bay NEW Lutheran on Tuesday as the Blue Devils grind toward the end of their regular season schedule.
Oconto was out-scored 40-24 in the first half, but the Blue Devils locked in for the second half and outscored the Blazers 41-31.
Coach Antowan Epps said that it’s been a difficult week for the Blue Devil boys.
“The first half was definitely a rough half for us, but we battled the second half,” Epps said. “We’ve had a tough week. It’s been a really tough week for us. I’m really proud of these guys being able to step up to a challenge with heavy hearts and be able to come out and play a basketball game, so I’m really proud of these dudes.”
Kadin Baxter scored 30 points to lead the Oconto offensive charge. He scored 20 in the second half alone.
Cooper Campshure scored 14 points, followed by eight each from Dominik Baxter and Carter Koch.
The Blazers are 16-5 overall, with their only two losses since a Jan. 7 defeat to Oconto coming by three-point deficits to Southern Door and Kewaunee.
On Tuesday, Tristian Lynch scored 27 points and Griffin Steffel scored 18.
Oconto (13-7 overall, 7-6 Packerland Conference) faces Kewaunee (13-5 overall, 10-2 Packerland), and Peshtigo (17-5 overall, 11-3 Packerland) over the next two games before finishing the regular season with 2-19 Sevastopol.

Maroons Cruise to Win
Over Bark River Harris
Seven Menominee players scored five or more points as the Maroons raced past Bark River-Harris 64-21 on Friday.
Connor Coduti and Trevor Theuerkauf each scored 13 points, Kaden Starzynski and Nathan Schultz each scored nine, and Landon Bardowski added eight points.
Tanner Theuerkauf scored seven and Eli Beal chipped in five.
Menominee led 19-9 after one quarter and 36-14 after two.
An 18-5 third quarter and 14-2 fourth salted the game away for the Maroons.
Bark River-Harris got six points each from Vincent Martin and Jacob Mileski.

Bulldogs Build Big Lead,
Hold Off Vikings 60-45
Peshtigo took a 37-16 lead in the first half and held off Gibraltar 60-45 on Thursday.
Kaine Fort scored 14 points in the first half and Grant Bauman scored 10 to help Peshtigo to its big first-half lead. They finished with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
Will McMahon also scored all seven of his points in the first half.
Landon Beyer scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Silas Williams scored eight in the game.
The Vikings’ leading scorer was Will Friedenfels, who scored 11 points.

Bulldogs Get Past
Wolves 54-46
Despite eight wins separating the two teams in the Packerland Conference standings, the Algoma Wolves did not make things easy on Peshtigo on Saturday, with the Bulldogs securing a narrow 54-46 win.
Peshtigo led 23-20 at halftime behind Kaine Fort’s 11 points. He would finish with a game-high 25 in the game.
Mason Doberstein scored 11 and Grant Bauman scored 10 with the help of two second-half 3-pointers.
One Kavin Kleikamp basket provided the only two points of the second half not scored by one of those three. Kleikamp finished with four points.
Kaden Vardon scored 14 points to lead the Wolves’ offense.
With the win, Peshtigo improved to 11-2 in conference play, while Algoma is 3-11.

Maroons Edged by
Eskymos 51-50
Escanaba picked up an important 51-50 Great Northern Conference win over Menominee on Wednesday night in the race for conference title.
Casey Brey scored 18 points and Shane Wallin scored 13. Bray scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Esky outscored Menominee 21-11 in the final period after the Maroons led 39-30 entering the quarter.
Trevor Theuerkauf scored a game-best 22 points to lead Menominee. He had seven of the team’s 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Connor Coduti scored 14 and Eli Beal had six.
Escanaba was beaten by Marquette on Thursday, so both teams are sitting at two losses in GNC play.
Kingsford sits in the driver’s seat with a 5-0 GNC record. The Flivvers still have to play Escanaba and Marquette once more each, along with a road game at Menominee. If the Flivvers win two of three, they’ll win the conference outright.

Red Raiders Build
Big Lead, Sink
Marines 81-63
Pulaski got the better of Marinette in non-conference action on Friday, 81-63.
Marinette started the game out on a 9-2 run, but Pulaski got hot and outscored the Marines 35-14 from that point until the end of the first half.
Marinette would score 40 points in the second half, but Pulaski scored 44, led by Derek Shaw.
Shaw scored 26 points in the game to lead all scorers. Javon Brown had the unenviable task of trying to contain the Pulaski scoring leader.
“Shaw is a very good player,” Marinette coach Connor Nelson said. “Javon made him work for a lot of his points.”
Marinette’s leading scorer was Sam Sommerfeldt, who scored 13 points despite missing part of the game with an ankle problem.
“Sam went down with an injured ankle and it hurt our offensive momentum,” Nelson said. “He did return in the second half. We played them even the second half but our first half drought came back to hurt us.”
Brown scored 10 points. Cale Ducane, Dominic Smerchek, and Chase MacGregor each scored nine points for the Marines.

Tigers Cage Badgers
67-49 in M&O Contest
Niagara couldn’t match the offensive firepower of Gillett in a 67-49 Tigers win on Friday.
Gillett hit six 3-pointers, half of them before halftime, and led 36-21 at the break.
Austin VandeCorput scored 16 points, Jesse DeBauch got 15, and both Ben Matczak and Brandon DeBauch scored 10. Aydin Franti finished with nine.
“We ran into a very good shooting team tonight,” Niagara coach Terry Youren said. “We played hard but couldn’t match their offensive shooting. Hats off to them.”
Niagara’s leading scorer was Nicholas Krueger with 15, followed by Aiden Colenso’s 12. Blake Holmes scored seven.

Tigers Tear into Marines
With Big Second Half
Wrightstown lit up the scoreboard Thursday against Marinette, dropping 99 points in a blowout win over the Marines.
Marinette hung tough in the first half, and it was 41-33 at the break.
“We played a very good first half against Wrightstown, probably our best half of the season,” Marinette coach Connor Nelson said.
The second half saw the Tigers explode for 58 points, with Keegan Spees and Marshall Edinger leading the way.
Spees scored 24 points in the game, with 14 in the second half, and Edinger scored 17, 10 of which were in the second half. Edinger made three 3-pointers in the game and Spees connected on four. Jason Leitzke connected on three triples in the first half and finished with 13 points.
As a team, the Tigers made 14 of their 26 shots from downtown.
“Wrightstown shot lights-out from three both halves,” Nelson said. “We didn’t play as well in the second half. We hit a lull offensively when Wrightstown couldn’t miss.”
Marinette’s scoring leader was Sam Sommerfeldt. He hit four 3-pointers in the first half, scoring 16 of his team-best 21 points in the half.
Landon Corwin scored 14 points for Marinette, 10 of which came before halftime. Cale Ducane scored eight.

Truckers Roll Over
Panthers in NEC Play
The Clintonville Truckers blew past Oconto Falls on Thursday night for a 73-32 home win.
The Panthers trailed 42-18 halfway through, and were outscored 31-14 in the second half.
Caden Birr led Oconto Falls with 12 points. Alex Haines scored eight points.

Wolverines Fly Past
Eagles in Blowout Win
Suring was no match for the Crivitz Wolverines in a 83-36 Wolverine win on Friday night.
Crivitz stormed out to a 51-14 lead in the first half and never looked back.
Tegan Werner scored 24 points, making 11 of his 12 free throw attempts, to lead the scoring. Jackson Flowers and Seth Sellen each scored 10 points, and Brady Tadisch scored nine.
Kaden Klaver and Sean Christiansen scored eight points apiece, Cashton Mertens scored six, and Kade Thoma added five.
Suring’s leading scorer was Ethan Lally with nine points. Quinn Thomson scored eight, Mason Ferrell scored six, and Trent Thomson finished with five.

Maroons Hold Off
Ishpeming 68-63
Menominee beat Ishpeming 68-63 on Tuesday with a balanced scoring effort that saw four players finish in double figures.
Connor Coduti, Trevor Theuerkauf, Tanner Theuerkauf, and Kaden Starzynski combined for 59 of the team’s 68 points.
Coduti scored 20, including 10 in the first quarter and seven in the fourth. He hit three 3-pointers.
Trevor Theuerkauf scored 16 and Tanner Theuerkauf scored 13. Starzynski finished with 10. Eli Beal added seven points.
The Maroons scored 23 points in the fourth quarter. They led 45-42 going into the period.
The Hematites’ Alex Sundberg scored 16 points.