By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
DE PERE – Jake Karchinski scored 25 points and John Edinger 20, as the West De Pere boys’ basketball team rallied past Green Bay West, 72-62, Dec. 18 in Bay Conference action at West De Pere High School.
Dion Coleman led the Wildcats with 22 points, 18 of which were scored in the first half.
With the win, the Phantoms won their first game since beating Sheboygan North Dec. 4.
After the Phantoms (2-4 overall, 1-2 Bay Conference) took an early 4-3 lead, the Wildcats (3-5, 0-3) countered with a 17-6 run behind the dribble-drive penetration of guards Freeman Jackson and Coleman.
The Phantoms cut the margin to 31-28 after Jovan Webb hit a corner three in which he was knocked down.
The Wildcats finished the half with a flurry and took a 40-33 lead into halftime.
“We had a lot of good looks in the first half that didn’t go down,” said West De Pere head coach Andy Werner. “West was taking it to our half-court pressure defense and finishing well.”
The Phantoms hit the accelerator button to start the second half.
Back-to-back treys by Webb and a Karchinski layup gave the Phantoms their first lead (41-40) since the early part of the game.
The Wildcats eventually pushed their lead to six at 51-45 with 10:27 remaining in the contest.
With West going through a seven-minute cold spell from the floor, West De Pere answered with a 16-0 run.
“John (Edinger) really gave us a spark midway through the second half,” Werner said. “He’s a high-energy guy that gave us good scoring and brought us back in the game the last 18 minutes.”
West head coach Jerry Overstreet called his second time out during the spurt, but the Phantoms had seized a 61-51 lead with 3:19 left and cruised from there.
Box Score
Green Bay West: 40, 22—62
West De Pere: 33, 39—72
Wildcats: Coleman 22, Cooper-Holmes 16, Jackson 10, Bates 9, Robinson 5.
Phantoms: Karchinski 25, Edinger 20, Webb 15, Kempen 5, Jensen 3, Mueller 2, Burdette 2.
