Iola-Scandinavia High School senior Caleb Loken pump-faked and stepped under a reaching Peyton Czarapata to hit the game-winning shot as time expired in a 71-69 victory over Bonduel on Friday night.
It was the biggest shot of the night in a back-and-forth battle between two evenly matched teams. The difference was the poise down the stretch for the senior-heavy Thunderbirds vs. the inexperienced Bears.
“All I remember was my sophomore year, I got blocked on a last second shot,” Loken said of his shot. “I knew if I pump-faked, I could get an open shot. I just got him up in the air and got a shot past him.”
Bonduel opened a seven-point lead in the second half after Czarapata scored 11 straight points over a three-minute stretch, but the Bears could not seal the deal.
“I think we just needed to get inside to Peyton,” Bonduel head coach Duke Copp said. “We didn’t think they could guard him, and we got their big guy in foul trouble. He carried us in the second half, and we didn’t do that in the first half.”
As the Thunderbirds pulled in closer, Czarapata made his biggest play of the night, this time on the defensive side of the ball, when he drew a charge to give the Bears possession with 35 seconds remaining and up by 2 points.
After a Trevor Pedersen free throw, Iola-Scandinavia senior Adam Cherek hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 9.1 seconds remaining. In the final 9 seconds, there were three turnovers, including an inbounds pass hitting the ceiling on a deep throw intended for Czarapata, which gave the Thunderbirds the final chance for victory.
“We’ve practiced that play, and that’s our play for that thing,” Copp said. “Honestly, we never even considered that it would hit the ceiling on that.”
Bonduel (2-2, 1-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) had to work itself out of a 14-point deficit in the first half after the Thunderbirds (3-1, 2-0 CWC-8) made six 3-pointers to jump out to a 34-20 lead.
The Bears then used free throws, in a tightly called game, to work their way back into it. Bonduel shot 27 free throws, compared to 13 for the visitors.
“Them getting to the free-throw line and slowing the game down,” Iola-Scandinavia head coach Sam Bertsch. “Duke will tell you the same thing, if they play fast, that’s not their ball game.”
Czarapata found his way to the free-throw line many times, especially in the second half, going 9 for 11 from the stripe. His game-high 27 points included nine layups. Senior Gage Petcka added 14 points with four 3s.
Zach Mortenson led the Thunderbirds with 23 points. The visitors made 11 3-point field goals.
The Bears, outside of the immediate disappointment from the loss, can take a good look back at their performance and see how they not only competed, but also controlled the majority of the second half against one of the better teams in the CWC-8.
“Again, we’re proving to ourselves that we’re going to be OK. We’ve just got to take care of a few mistakes,” Copp said. “I love the way we played our guts out.”
Iola-Scandinavia (71)
Mortenson 8 2-5 23, Loken 4 2-2 11, Cherek 3 0-0 9, Holz 3 1-2 7, Korb 1 0-0 2, Welch 8 1-4 19.
Bonduel (69)
Pedersen 3 4-6 10, Robaidek 3 2-4 9, Petcka 5 0-0 14, Dingeldein 1 2-6 4, Olsen 1 0-0 2, Bohm 1 0-0 3, Czarapata 9 9-11 27.
Iola-Scandinavia 34 37 — 71
Bonduel 25 44 — 69
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