Seniors and multi-year starters Trevor Pedersen and Peyton Czarapata were able to showcase their leadership skills Monday in the opening game of the Bonduel High School boys basketball season.
The duo combined for 29 points as the Bears easily downed Gillett 54-35 in a nonconference contest in Gillett.
“Our two big guys, Peyton and Trevor, played like I thought they would,” said Bonduel coach Duke Copp, who also was happy to get some younger Bears more playing time.
“We had many guys who hadn’t played varsity before this year, so they got a lot of experience,” he said.
Bonduel had a comfortable 31-19 lead just a few minutes into the second half, then erupted on a 17-4 run over the next 5 1/2 minutes to pull away.
“We left one of their shooters open a little bit and we didn’t rebound too well,” Gillett coach Todd Carlson said about Bonduel’s second-half run. “I didn’t think we got bodies on players, and we need to. We’re not a very tall team, you can see that, and if don’t do the little things it’s going to be hard for us to compete.”
The run was fueled by Pedersen. He scored 11 of his game-high 15 points during that stretch with two steals, each followed by three-point plays.
“I think we just started executing,” Copp said. “We got a few fastbreaks, and the kids just started making shots.
“We’re trying to play better defense this year and I think for that period of time we created offense out of defense, which is what we want to do.”
Czarapata added 14 points for Bonduel. At 6-foot-5, he had 4 inches on the tallest Gillett player. Bonduel tried to utilize its big man, who scored 10 in the opening half and pulled down six rebounds. A number of those boards were put-back chances on the offensive glass.
“We were going to go inside first and see what we could get,” Copp said. “We have some kids who can shoot 3s, too. I think we missed a lot of easy shots, but we got a lot better as the game went on.”
Bonduel, which had 17 assists on 23 field goals, also got a good all-around game from another senior, Preston Robaidek, who had seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
Bonduel led 9-7 midway through the first half before finishing on an 18-8 run. The Bears took their biggest lead of 26 points, 52-26, before a late 9-2 push by Gillett.
“I didn’t think they gave up,” Carlson said. “I thought their hearts were in the game, which is nice. I told the kids before, ‘It comes down to a lack of skill or a lack of will. I can live with a lack of skill, because we can come back and work and get better. But I can’t live with a lack of will. There’s no coach that’s going to bring the will out of you; that you’ve got to have.’”
Gillett’s second man off the bench, Brock Warden, led the team in scoring with 10 points. Leeland Kahler – the team’s leading returning scorer from last season – added nine points.
The Tigers finished with just 13 field goals and had a rough first half, shooting under 25 percent.
“We just need to know which ones are our shots and which ones aren’t,” Carlson said. “I thought they forced some things just because they thought we needed to score.”
This game was just the start for both teams. Copp said the first few games of the season will be a feeling out process for the Bears.
“I think we’re just trying to find the kids and find roles for them,” Copp said. “They’re new to varsity basketball, so just find out where they fit and go from there.”
Gillett (35)
Warden 9; Kahler 12; Zahn 5; G. Sexton 7; Long 2; Weise, 2.
Bonduel (54)
Ballestad 1 1-2 3, Pedersen 6 2-2 15, Thiel 1 0-0 1, Robaidek 2 0-0 4, Petchka 2 0-0 4, Olsen 1 0-0 2, Engel 1 0-0 2, Bohm 2 1-3 6, Czarapata 7 0-0 14.
Gillett 15 20 — 35
Bonduel 27 27 — 54
Categories
