Coach Kirk Hirst knew from the start of the season what junior forward Tyler Hagemeier was capable of doing.
Hagemeier scored a career-high 26 points Friday to propel the Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team to a 63-49 win at New London, giving the Panthers their first Bay Conference victory of the year.
“Tyler finally broke out shooting the way we anticipated him shooting the ball all year,” Hirst said. “Tyler is a very good shooter, and I felt like he lost some confidence early on in the season.”
Hagemeier’s scoring explosion followed a five-game stretch during which he scored 13 points. He remained humbled by Friday’s performance.
“I really don’t care about the numbers,” he said. “I care that we got the win. That is all that matters.”
Hagemeier scored eight of his 26 points in the first quarter to help the Panthers take a 14-12 lead.
“My first couple of shots fell for me and just continued through the whole game,” he said. “I really shot the ball well.”
“He took good shots, in the rhythm of the offense and didn’t really force a lot of them,” Hirst said. “He played within himself and you could see the confidence build after every made shot.”
Hagemeier added five more points in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer on an assist by 6-5 junior Jack Huberty, to send the Panthers into halftime leading 24-17.
“That ignited us, but then in the third quarter it got physical and there were some technical fouls on New London,” Hirst said.
Hagemeier, who converted seven of his nine free throws, added five and eight points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as the Panthers outscored New London 39-32 to secure the victory.
Hirst also praised junior Michael Manns’ performance. Manns scored 15 points and recorded six assists and three steals.
Senior Riley Gruetzmacher added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Fifield snagged a team-high 14 boards and added nine points.
“We finally talked in our zone and contested a lot of shots,” Hirst said. “In the past, we would try and block shots. We have really stressed just contesting them instead.”
Hirst said the team started to click following its loss to Seymour last week.
“I feel that, after the Seymour game, our guys really felt like we can compete with teams as long as we take care of the ball, have patience on offense, and play solid defense,” he said. “I know that is what every team wants to do, but we are a lot better in my opinion than our record indicates.”
“During that game, we all felt something click and I think that we started to play better, and we all started believing in each other,” Hagemeier said.
Oconto Falls (3-12, 1-10 Bay) snapped a seven-game losing streak since a nonconference win over Coleman on Dec. 30. The win was the Panthers’ first in the Bay Conference since Jan. 31, 2014, when they defeated Marinette.
Sam Porath and Tyler Barrington led New London (4-12, 2-9 Bay) with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
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