With an inexperienced team, Shawano Community High School first-year head coach Dave Ambrosius is making a concerted effort to run his offense through senior Zeke Gueths.
Gueths responded on Tuesday night, leading the Hawks to their first win of the season, a 50-45 home victory over Merrill.
“To have a player with Zeke’s caliber, where you can just give him the ball and you feel like he is going to automatically score, is definitely a comfort zone for us right now,” Ambrosius said.
The 6-foot-6 center scored the first six points and 11 of the first 13 points for Shawano before taking a breather about 10 minutes into the game. He also got the Bluejays 6-foot-8 center, Jon Gruetzmacher, in foul trouble early, making Gueth’s night a bit easier.
With Gruetzmacher on the bench, Merrill (0-1) had no one who could guard Gueths, who posted up and passed the ball easily en route to his 27 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Five of his boards came on the offensive glass, leading to second-chance points for the Hawks (1-2).
“On offense, getting another chance to put the ball in,” Gueths said. “Even on defense, getting boards so they don’t get a second chance. Those are all little points here and there that add up in the end.”
“Zeke is a heck of a basketball player,” Merrill head coach Kurt Soderberg said. “A heck of a high school basketball player. I’ve never seen a kid post up that well. He’s just a load.”
Shawano allowed the Bluejays to stay in the game, leading by only two at halftime, but the Hawks then began to hit threes, with senior Adam Bartz connecting on one, and sophomore Cole Nelson knocking down two to begin a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 12.
“When Zeke is playing like that, you almost always have to put five guys … in the lane to force him to give it up,” Ambrosius said. “I think he did a great job, first of all, reading that, and finding the open shooter, and then our kids just went out there and hit some shots from the outside.”
Cold shooting and missed free throws kept Merrill in the game, but the Bluejays could never come within striking distance the rest of the night.
Shawano missed six of eight free throws, and Merrill continuously chipped away at the lead, but time eventually ran out.
Junior forward Austin Kohl recorded 10 rebounds and four assists for the Hawks.
For the Bluejays, Zach Mootz led the scoring with eight points. Gruetzmacher tallied four points in limited time with foul trouble.
Ambrosius was glad that his players had gotten their first win.
“They work hard every single day in practice,” Ambrosius said. “I know how hard they work and they came out here and played like they really wanted this game, and they deserved it.”
Merrill (45)
Wallace 2 2-2 6, Hoff 3 0-0 7, Sutton 3 0-1 6, Pyan 2 0-0 6, Tabor 1 0-0 2, Reissmann 3 0-0 6, Mootz 3 1-2 8, Gruetzmacher 2 0-0 4.
Shawano (50)
Nelson 3 1-3 9, Hesse 2 2-2 6, Bartz 2 2-4 7, Kohl 0 1-3 1, Gueths 8 11-14 27.
Merrill 26 19 — 45
Shawano 28 22 — 50
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