Shawano boys basketball team holds off Pulaski in thriller

The Shawano Community High School boys basketball team kept its perfect season alive after holding off Pulaski late in a high-scoring nonconference battle on Dec. 3 in Pulaski. Shawano prevailed by a final score of 80-78.

Shawano built a double-digit lead by the end of the first half and led by a couple possessions for much of the second half before Pulaski clawed back into it. The visiting Hawks led by 12 points with two minutes to go, but the Red Raiders kept fighting and trimmed their deficit to just one.

After missing some free throws to allow Pulaski to hang around, Shawano knocked down its final four attempts to finally seal the contest.

“It’s all trust, it comes down to knowing that you have your teammate’s back and they have yours and no matter how hard it gets, you have to keep the same mindset and trust your teammates are going to make the right play,” said Shawano’s Jacob Landon on how the team held on late after giving up its lead.

It was Landon that knocked down four free throws over a minute-plus stretch to put Shawano up 73-61 with two minutes to play.

Pulaski’s furious comeback began with a 3-pointer from Colin Schultz and was followed by a bucket from Derek Shaw. After free throws from Shawano’s Michael Metcalf-Grassman, Shaw buried a 3-pointer.

Shawano missed three free throws over the next couple minutes, and two buckets from Schultz over that span brought the hosts within three with 17.8 seconds to play.

The Hawks traveled after inbounding the ball, giving Pulaski a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer. Shaw, who scored 36 points in the game, wasn’t able to hit on a triple attempt, and then Metcalf-Grassman swatted away a follow-up chance by Pulaski under the basket.

Shawano then decided to foul with 6.2 seconds remaining, with Schultz converting both attempts to make it 76-75.

A infraction was called on Pulaski before the ball was inbounded, giving Shawano two free throws and the ball. Landon made both free throws to reach 30 points for the contest, and then Metcalf-Grassman hit two more free throws to get to 25 points.

Shaw hit a triple as time expired, capping a game in which he buried eight 3-pointers. He kept Pulaski in striking distance all game before Schultz heated up down the stretch.

“I like the fact that we battled back, which is good, that’s what we want to do,” said Shaw of the team’s efforts.

“Our goal every game is to give ourselves a chance at the end, so at halftime we were down a little bit and wanted to make a run so we could get back in it and hopefully make it interesting.”

It was a back-and-forth battle between the teams in the early going. Metcalf-Grassman gave the visitors a 9-7 lead before Schultz hit a 3-pointer and Shaw knocked down two triples to put the hosts up 16-9.

Shawano responded with a big 17-4 run, with Landon doing most of the scoring for the Hawks.

Later on, an 11-1 run by the Hawks — this time with Landon and Luke Guenther doing the majority of the scoring — created a 15-point cushion.

Pulaski didn’t let things unravel though, ending the half on a 7-2 run, with Brady Wotruba and Shaw scoring the points.

The second half was a continuation of the first, with both offenses scoring at a torrid pace.

Deacon Carroll got into the scoring mix for Shawano, while Shaw hit a couple more shots for Pulaski. Brandon Reed then scored three straight buckets for the Hawks off inbound plays — including a thunderous jam off a lob play — but the Red Raiders continued to find ways to score on their end.

Shaw knocked two a couple 3-pointers and scored eight points for the hosts during a quick 10-2 run to make it a three-point game with still nearly nine minutes to play.

Metcalf-Grassman and Landon teamed up to answer for Shawano. In fact, that duo scored all 20 of the team’s points over the next seven-plus minutes.

Pulaski wasn’t able to score at the pace it had most of the contest, but the baskets it converted were crucial in hanging around. Schultz and Wotruba converted and-one opportunities and Wotruba also scored after a steal.

Metcalf-Grassman credited Pulaski for fighting back several times in the contest before the Hawks were finally able to put them away.

“We just had to box out and get rebounds on defense when they did miss and then it was just taking care of the ball at the end and knocking down free throws,” said Metcalf-Grassman.

Shawano 42 38 — 80

Pulaski 32 46 — 78

Shawano (80): Logan Sipple 0-0 2, Luke Guenther 2-4 9, Julian Perez 0-2 0, Michael Metcalf-Grassman 5-6 25, Jacob Landon 7-8 30, Brandon Reed 0-0 10, Deacon Carroll 0-1 4.

Pulaski (78): Derek Shaw 4-5 36, Colin Schultz 3-3 17, Brady Wotruba 1-1 11, Gatlin Robaidek 2-2 4, Derek Block 0-0 2, Dylan Dorn 2-3 8.

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