Panther boys basketball team continues to build under Zepnick

Oconto Falls drops NEC game to Clintonville
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team has spent its winter season trying to build a foundation under new coach Aaron Zepnick.

After the team’s 72-46 North Eastern Conference loss to Clintonville on Jan. 14 in Oconto Falls — which moved the team to 0-8 in conference play and 1-10 overall — Zepnick said that the process of building a foundation isn’t necessarily about wins or losses right now.

“I tell the kids every night in our pregame speech, ‘I don’t care what the scoreboard says, I’m focused on how we compete, how hard we play and how we behave on the court,’” said Zepnick. “It’s about things bigger than basketball. Changing the culture takes some time.”

For seniors on the team, Zepnick is the fourth varsity coach they’ve worked under in high school, with a new coach every winter.

Zepnick said a big thing he’s looking at this season is how the players respond in tough times or after a loss. He’s even extended that same message to the athletes’ work in the classroom.

“The scoreboard doesn’t matter — it does, everyone wants to win — but my message to the kids is, ‘you control your response to every situation. You have the ability to handle adversity, stare it in the face and overcome it,’” said Zepnick.

During the team’s conference loss to Clintonville, the Panthers showed flashes of strong play, but weren’t able to sustain it.

Zepnick said the lack of size on the team hurt against Clintonville, and added that the team’s lack of varsity experience has led to some of the inconsistencies in the team’s play. “We have five or six kids that play significant minutes and (for several of them) this is their first time playing varsity basketball,” said Zepnick.

For about the first 10 minutes against Clintonville, Oconto Falls was able to hang around.

Senior Isaac Raddatz hit a pair of free throws to get the Panthers going before junior Caden Birr knocked in a 3-pointer. A Raddatz jumper tied the game at seven.

Buckets from Raddatz and senior Noah Hirst before free throws from sophomore Thomas Carmody helped Oconto Falls trail by just three, 16-13.

A 6-0 run helped Clintonville create some separation, and Oconto Falls was never fully able to recover. The visitors went on a 22-3 run over the final 8:40 of the opening half.

Raddatz said the team’s lack of chemistry has led to some of the slumps in games.

“It’s my last year and it’s kind of hard but it doesn’t really matter until the start of March (playoffs) when you need to start winning, so we’ll just work hard until then and hope it works out,” said Raddatz.

As the team nears postseason play, Raddatz said that communicating more and simply making more shots are things the Panthers need to improve on to see better results.

The start to the second half also saw Oconto Falls match Clintonville. A 3-pointer from junior Carter Hill followed by free throws from Raddatz and a bucket from Hirst helped the Panthers get going.

Baskets from senior Logan Seymour, Raddatz and Carmody had the Panthers down 19 before the visiting Truckers went on a 8-0 run. Both teams eventually pulled their starters, and Clintonville coasted to the win.

Raddatz led Oconto Falls with 10 points in the contest, while Carmody had eight points. No other Panther had over five points.

Clintonville 38 34 — 72

Oconto Falls 16 30 — 46

Clintonville (72): Braiden Behnke 2-2 6, Brayden Branstrom 1-2 4, Riley Heeg 1-1 7, Kade Rosenow 1-2 5, Jonathon Scherschel 0-0 3, Cole Rosenow 4-4 21, Andy Lamia 2-2 4, Kolton Barkow 0-0 5, Jordan Wegener 3-6 7, Jack Yaeger 0-0 8, Joshua Wilson 0-0 2.

Oconto Falls (46): Logan Seymour 1-2 3, Braden Vandermoss 0-0 5, Thomas Carmody 2-2 8, Noah Hirst 0-0 4, Isaac Raddatz 4-4 10, Kody Vorpahl 0-0 4, Dylan Przybylski 0-0 2, Caden Birr 1-2 4, Caleb Clark 1-2 1, Carter Hill 0-0 5.

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