When nothing seemed to be going in favor of the Shawano Community High School boys basketball team, some unlikely players stepped up in big ways.
Senior center Zeke Gueths had another strong game, including 13 second-half points and 19 overall, but junior Austin Kohl and sophomore Cole Nelson hit the biggest shots of the night, cutting a once-21-point lead down to just six with four minutes remaining in the second half.
That was as close as Xavier would allow Shawano to get, though, as the visitors posted a 62-53 win to open the Bay Conference season.
“We never stopped fighting, regardless of getting down 20, 21,” Shawano head coach David Ambrosius said. “Our kids were always fighting.”
After a Xavier timeout at the 4-minute mark, senior guard Sam Burkart hit a layup for two of his 26 points to extend the lead to eight.
Gueths made two more baskets on the offensive end, each time cutting the lead to six points, but Xavier, which shot 68 percent from the free-throw line, hit crucial shots down the stretch to keep Shawano at Bay.
Jacob Lacy’s 3 with just over a minute left in the game marked the final points of the night for Shawano, as Xavier continued to hit its free throws to extend the lead.
“Cole Nelson, Austin Kohl, Jacob Lacy kind of stepped up and just started being aggressive offensively and trying to score instead of just facilitate, and I think that was the big difference,” Ambrosius said. “They are talented basketball players.
“They stepped up and hit difficult shots, but when you watch them in practice, that wasn’t a surprise to anybody here. They do that every single day.”
The 12-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome with hot shooting, as Shawano scored just 11 points in the first 16 minutes and 50 seconds of the first half before two 3-pointers gave the hosts momentum going into the second half.
Once the shots started falling, Shawano (1-3, 0-1 Bay Conference) felt the confidence growing against Xavier (3-1, 1-0 Bay), the WIAA Division 3 state runner-up a season ago.
“We just started knocking them down and taking them with a little more confidence, I think,” Ambrosius said. “We just didn’t execute down the stretch to really get it done.”
Shawano grabbed 15 rebounds in the second half, compared with only nine in the first half. Senior Adam Bartz led the Hawks with nine. Gueths added six.
Xavier (62)
Simons 0 2-2 2, S. Ferris 0 0-2 0, Christensen 1 0-0 2, Headington 2 4-4 9, Plamann 6 5-9 18, Burkart 12 2-2 26, M. DeYoung 1 0-0 2, Schlicht 1 0-0 3.
Shawano (53)
Richards 2 1-2 5, Nelson, 3 2-7 10, Lacy 2 0-0 6, Hesse 1 0-0 2, Bartz 2 1-5 5, Kohl 2 0-0 6, Gueths 6 7-12 19.
Xavier 30 32 — 62
Shawano 18 35 — 53
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