Adam Werner’s 18 points were not enough to lift a shorthanded Gillett Secondary School boys basketball team over Bonduel in both teams’ season opener Saturday in Bonduel.
Gillett lost 44-33 after keeping the game close until the final minutes of the game.
“They’re (Bonduel) a good team, good program,” first-year Gillett coach Jeff Cross said. “I think my guys played them tough. I don’t want to take anything away from my guys, either. They came out, they battled.”
Werner, a 6-foot-2 senior, led the Tigers with 10 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers that helped Gillett build a 12-6 lead in the first period.
“I always knew he could shoot,” Cross said. “We have certain offensive sets where we have him set in certain spots.”
Bonduel rallied to tie the game 16-16 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bears built a lead on three early turnovers that led to breakaway baskets.
“We want to run and pressure,” Bonduel coach Duke Copp said. “We picked up the pressure full court a little bit tonight. We wanted to get through tonight just playing solid half-court defense. They played really well. They hit shots and made it tough on us.”
“We just got to work on the ball control a little bit,” Cross said. “We had a couple, too many, turnovers. The guys know it. I don’t even have to tell them. Turnovers kill us.”
Gillett managed to pull to within 32-29 late in the fourth period on a pair of free throws by junior Brock Warden.
Two minutes later, Gillett again pulled to within three, 36-33, on another 3-point basket by Werner, but the Bears closed out the game on a 8-0 run.
“I give my guys all the credit in the world,” Cross said. “Basically, who I had, they played the whole game. They ran the floor the whole time.”
Bonduel finished with three players in double digits in scoring. Seniors Connor Rosin and Colton Dobratz each had 10 points, and junior forward Peyton Czarapata also put in 10 points.
Gillett 12 4 9 8 — 33
Bonduel 6 10 14 14 — 44
Gillett (33)
Peterson 1 0-1 2, Bubolz 1 0-0 2, Torres 3 0-4 6, Werner 6 3-4 18, Taylor 1 3-4 5
Bonduel (44)
Pedersen 2 1-6 5, Rosin 5 0-0 10, Dobratz 5 0-0 10, VanDerLinden 2 0-0 4, Czarapata 4 2-2 10, Petcka 1 0-0 2, Marcks 0 1-2 1, Berry 1 0-0 2
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