A win is a win is a win, especially at this time of the boys basketball season, but Shawano Community High School coach Chris Kellett will be among the first to tell you that some are better than others.
His Hawks rolled to a comfortable 20-point halftime lead against Marinette and appeared on the verge of atomizing the visitors in their Bay Conference clash Friday night.
The Marines had other ideas, however, and did not go quietly, as their eight 3-point field goals and strong floor play kept the outcome in doubt until the final few minutes when Shawano finally put it away, 62-46.
“I thought we played OK,” Kellett said, “but Marinette wanted it more than we did. We got a little complacent, and they were getting to most of the loose balls. Fortunately (center) Zeke (Gueths) got his shot going in the second half and kept them from getting our lead to under 10.”
Gueths shook off a lukewarm first half to finish with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Hawks improved to 13-3 overall and 8-3 in the league. Marinette, which looked and played nothing like a 3-11 team, fell to 1-9 in conference despite the hot shooting of Elijah Krah, whose 15 points all came from beyond the 3-point arc.
It looked like it was going to be a laugher for the hosts, who broke out to a 9-0 lead when Zach Sousek made one of his four steal and lofted a feed to a streaking Jack Lacy (nine points), who finished the break with a dunk that got the rafters knocking.
“I hesitated a bit on it,” he said, “but I got it in there.”
In what would be a recurring theme, Marinette bounced back, putting together a 7-0 run of its own and ending the quarter down only 13-10.
The Marines whittled away at the 34-14 halftime deficit and drew to within 57-46 with 1:31 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Jonte Webb (10 points) before a free throw by Shawano’s Braden Mueller and four more by Sousek (11 points) finally iced it.
Sajen Knueppel had 10 points for the Hawks, while Matthew Richmond and Reilly Benson scored eight apiece for Marinette.
“Our first and only goal is to be playing our best ball at the end of the year,” Kellett said. “We want to win our regional and get back to the sectional.”
The Hawks will get a good test Tuesday when they host Luxemburg-Casco, a team that edged the Hawks 55-47 on Dec. 19.
“It’s a huge game for us,” Kellett said. “They’ve got three guys averaging 15 points a game. We’re going to have to contest their shots and play hard for four quarters.”
Marinette (46)
Waloway 1 0-0 3, Krah 5 0-0 15, Nelson 0 2-2 2, Webb 4 0-0 10, Richmond 4 0-0 8, Benson 4 0-0 8.
Shawano (62)
Knueppel 3 4-6 10, Mueller 1 1-2 4, Sousek 1 9-11 11, Bartz 0 1-2 1, Jack Lacy 3 1-2 9, Carl 2 0-0 6, Richards 1 0-0 2, Gueths 8 3-3 19.
Marinette 10 4 14 18 — 46
Shawano 13 21 9 19 — 62
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