Some defeats are easier on the stomach lining than others, and for the Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team, Thursday was one of those nights.
The Panthers spotted host Shawano a 21-point first-half lead and for all the world looked to be about one more basket away from getting blown out of the gym.
As they have done for much of the year, and particularly so in the second half of the season, Oconto Falls kept battling. The Panthers matched the Hawks’ outside shooting and actually took the momentum in the second half, whittling the big deficit down to three points before Shawano finally put it away in the final minute, 63-57.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Oconto Falls coach Kirk Hirst said. “We’ve done that all year — given up runs of 15-0, 18-0, but never stopped playing hard and coming back.”
Shawano’s Eric Carl, who led the Hawks with 17 points, got the hosts out of the gate with a pair of 3-point shots, and despite good shooting nights from the Panthers’ Michael Fifield (18 points), Tyler Hagemeier (12 points) and Jack Huberty (12 points), Shawano kept the heat turned up, using a 20-0 run to turn a one-point game into a 43-22 near-laugher early in the third quarter.
“Coming back against a good team like Shawano was big,” Hirst said. “That’s a quality team — they’ll probably get a No. 1 seed in the regional. They play good defense, and they’re well coached, but our guys kept playing hard, and we made it a game.”
With the score 48-29 in favor of Shawano (16-5, 10-5 Bay Conference), the Panthers (4-16, 1-14 Bay) staged their most impressive run, getting buckets from Fifield and Huberty and a 3-point field goal from Michael Manns that made the score 52-49 with 3:14 to play.
“Our defensive rotations were not good,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “We didn’t contest as many of their open shots as we should have. Once they hit a couple of threes, they were feeling pretty good and started playing with a lot of confidence.”
Riley Gruetzmacher’s bucket with 1:56 left in the fourth quarter pulled Oconto Falls to within three for the last time, 54-51, after which Shawano wisely slowed down the pace and began to pull away with free throws. The backbreaker came with Shawano up 60-55 and inbounding the ball at its own end against a Panthers full-court press.
Braden Mueller (14 points) fired a length-of-the-floor strike to a breaking Zach Sousek (12 points), who took the long feed in stride and converted the layup that finally extinguished Oconto Falls’ comeback.
“The most encouraging thing about this is that everybody’s buying into the team concept,” Hirst said. “Not just one guy — everybody. We knew we weren’t going to win the conference title this year, so our thing was March. We wanted to be playing our best ball in March, and we’re getting there. I love our chances in the regional. I’ll take our chances against anyone.”
Oconto Falls (57)
Hagemeier 5 0-0 12, Huberty 5 0-0 12, Manns 1 0-0 3, Gruetzmacher 5 2-5 12, Fifield 7 3-4 18.
Shawano (63)
Mueller 5 0-0 14, Sousek 5 2-2 12, Bartz 1 0-0 3, Jack Lacy 2 3-4 7, Carl 5 2-2 17, Hintz 0 0-5 0, Gueths 2 6-9 10.
Oconto Falls 12 10 14 21 — 57
Shawano 16 22 11 14 — 63
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