Although caution is always the byword at playoff time, it might be time to get excited.
The Shawano Community High School boys basketball team gave such a thorough account of itself in Saturday night’s WIAA Division 2 regional-title clash that it was hard to leave the gym without thinking big-picture.
The Hawks’ 55-28 dusting of Hortonville was a wire-to-wire blowout that was every bit as lopsided as the final score indicated, and made a believer out of several on the visitors’ bench.
“They’ll win their next game for sure,” Hortonville coach Matt Hintz said. “Shawano has a nice team. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to state.”
Shawano’s game plan was to thwart the Polar Bears’ outside shooting arsenal, and to say the plan worked is to break new ground in understatement. Arctic was indeed a fitting adjective for the shooting of the Polar Bears, who put up enough bricks to construct a medium-sized cathedral.
Hortonville shot 6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (1 of 17).
“We wanted to chase their shooters off their spots,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “Our team defense was outstanding tonight. We prepped all week to stop their outside shooters.”
Junior center Zeke Gueths (nine points, eight rebounds) got things rolling with a three-point play 40 seconds into the game, and senior guard Zach Sousek (12 points) followed with a 3-point field goal and a three-point play to make it 9-0. Hortonville got three of those back on a bucket by Sam Thompson and a free throw by Charlie Schabo, but Sajen Knueppel’s put-back at the first-quarter buzzer began a 14-0 Shawano run for which Hortonville had no answers.
Shawano, which improved to 19-5 on the season, led 32-13 at half and kept the pedal to the floor all night, giving Kellett the chance to empty his bench in the fourth quarter.
“I was very surprised at how it wasn’t really close,” said Knueppel, who for the second night in a row came off the bench to give Shawano some instant offense and good energy on defense. “We’re confident, but we have to just keep taking them one at a time.”
Knueppel led all scorers with 20 points.
“Sajen hasn’t been starting — although that could change — but he plays starter minutes,” Kellett said. “He’s been phenomenal over the last few weeks.”
Jack Lacy and Braden Mueller turned in solid defensive performances for the Hawks, as did center Dylan Hintz off the bench. Shawano’s defense was so stingy that Hortonville’s leading scorers — Jake Sommers, Ryan Krueger and Charlie Schabo — had five points apiece. The Polar Bears finished their season 9-15.
With the regional crown tucked away, Shawano’s attention turns to its next opponent, Merrill, in the Marshfield Sectional. Merrill (15-9) defeated Mosinee 55-51 Saturday night to advance.
“We’re definitely going to enjoy this (regional title),” Kellett said. “Then we’ll get back to work.”
The Hawks can hope their preparation nets similar results when they play Thursday in Stevens Point.
“We had fun before the game, getting ready, feeling like everything was clicking,” Gueths said. “The defense was really good tonight, and we’re feeling pretty confident, like this (postseason) could be something special.”
Hortonville 3 10 4 11 - 28
Shawano 12 20 10 13 - 55
Hortonville - Breidel 0 1-2 1, Killoren 1 0-0 2, Sommers 2 1-1 5, Witthuhn 1 1-2 3, Thompson 1 0-1 2, R. Krueger 2 0-0 5, Schabo 1 3-4 5, Turkow 2 0-0 4, K. Krueger 0 1-2 1.
Shawano - Jacob Lacy 0 2-2 2, Knueppel 8 2-3 20, Sousek 5 1-3 12, Bartz 1 0-2 3, Jack Lacy 2 0-0 5, Hintz 2 0-0 4, Gueths 2 5-5 9.
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