Meet Eric Carl.
The Shawano Community High School freshman hit three 3-point shots from an empty corner Tuesday in Shawano’s 69-62 win over Bay Conference foe West De Pere.
“Zack Sousek was the catalyst tonight, and then Eric Carl took over,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “This was a coming out party for Eric Carl. He’s probably our best shooter on our team, and it showed tonight.”
The Hawks were hot from outside the perimeter all night, starting with a trio of first-quarter 3s by senior guard Zack Sousek, senior forward Jack Lacy and junior center Zeke Gueths that helped get West De Pere out of its man-to-man defense.
Once that happened, the corners opened up. Carl hit a pair of 3s and senior Braden Mueller had another.
“It was a great team win,” Kellett said. “West De Pere has a ton of talent, not just Cody Schwartz, but Jesee Owens and some of those other guys.”
Carl, a 6-foot-1 guard, finished with 13 points, including three 3s. Gueths led the Hawks with 18 points and an unofficial nine rebounds. Sousek finished with 17 points.
“Zeke was our steady scorer throughout the game,” Kellett said. “I have to take my hat off to those three guys. I thought they played outstanding. Adam Bartz on the inside on Cody was tremendous as well.”
Sousek finished a perfect 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, but his team wasn’t as good from the charity stripe.
Trailing 49-37 heading into fourth quarter, West De Pere sent Shawano to the line five times. Shawano made 6 of 12 shots as West De Pere slowly closed the gap, outscoring Shawano 25-20 in the final period.
Schwartz, a 6-8 senior forward, led the Phantoms with a game-high 22 points. He also broke the West De Pere school scoring record with 1,401 points with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Senior Jacob Bostedt added 16.
“Cody is too good of a player not to get his points,” Kellett said. “His shots were contested. He hit one 40-foot 3 tonight. You have to tip your hat to that kid if he’s that talented.”
Shawano has been playing without the services of injured senior Sajen Knueppel, but Kellett is hopeful he’ll have his athletic guard back soon.
“We’re starting to come together,” Kellett said. “We always defend, night in and night out. Our offense is starting to come around. We’re hoping to get Sajen back soon and get back in the conference race.”
The win pulled Shawano (6-2, 3-2 Bay) into a tie with West De Pere (5-4, 3-2) for third place in the Bay, behind undefeated Seymour (7-1, 4-0) and Luxemburg-Casco (8-1, 4-0)
West De Pere (62)
Owens 2 3-4 7, Sanders 2 2-3 8, Bostedt 6 2-3 17, Pannier 0 0-1 0, Schwartz 7 4-7 22, Couture 1 0-0 2, Evans 2 0-0 4, Kempen 1 0-0 2
Shawano (69)
Mueller 1 2-5 5, Sousek 6 4-4 17, Bartz 2 3-7 8, Lacy 1 1-2 4, Gueths 4 4-5 18, Carl 4 2-2 13, Hintz 1 0-0 2, Nelson 1 0-0 2
West De Pere 13 11 13 25 — 62
Shawano 16 20 13 20 — 69
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