By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
DE PERE – Trailing 29-21 at one point late in the first half, the West De Pere boys’ basketball team used a 30-3 run that traversed two halves in posting a 60-52 non-conference win over Ashwaubenon Feb. 18 at West De Pere High School.
The Phantoms (11-9) ended the first half on a 5-0 surge to trail just 29-26 at the break and then held the Jaguars (6-15) without a field goal for the first 12 minutes of the second half.
“I didn’t realize it was that big of a run, and they didn’t hit a field goal for that long to start half number two,” said West De Pere head coach Andy Werner. “It was kind of an odd game with us being down early, going up big and then we didn’t end the game very well. I wouldn’t say we took a step back, but we seemed pretty sluggish. With the weather and cancelations, we’ve had a lot of games recently.”
After falling behind 51-32, Ashwaubenon went on its own 13-2 run to close the gap to 53-45 with 1:40 remaining in the game, but the Phantoms recovered from there to win their third contest in a row.
“We have been playing good ball,” said Werner, whose team is 9-3 in its last 12 games. “The three games we’ve lost were to good teams – Xavier, Seymour and Kimberly – and we had a chance in all of those games.”
Jovan Webb and Jake Karchinski poured in 16 and 15 points, respectively, for West De Pere.
“I could have shot a little better, but I’m happy with my game and the fact that we pulled it out in the end,” Webb said. “We were a little sluggish in the first half but came alive in the second. I’m excited for the postseason.”
Things started off well for the Jags, who built an 18-11 lead behind the early scoring of Kyle Krueger’s eight points.
After a bucket by Karchinski, Phantoms’ guard John Edinger stole a pass and went in for a dunk to ignite the crowd and his team.
“We had a nice lead toward the end of the first half, but then we let it slip away a little bit,” said Ashwaubenon head coach Chris Karcz. “That was the key moment in the game in my mind – we needed to build more confidence and go into the locker room with a bigger lead.”
Neither team did anything on the offensive side of the ball during the first 7 minutes of the second half, with eight combined points scored.
The Jaguars had only a trio of free throws in the second half until Chris Morgan nailed a three-pointer from the left wing to finally break the scoring drought with 6 minutes remaining.
“Despite the difficult stretch we had with some turnovers and not hitting a shot, I was happy with our effort,” added Karcz. “We can’t just play well for one half – we have to put a full game together. Anything can happen in the upcoming tournament – everyone has a clean slate.”
Krueger (14), Morgan (13) and Matt Imig (10) scored in double digits for Ashwaubenon, while Edinger (11) did the same for West De Pere.
Box Score
Ashwaubenon: 29, 23 – 52
West De Pere: 26, 34 – 60
Jags: Imig 10, Wittig 7, Wendorf 5, Morgan 14, Krueger 13, Wagner 1, Steinfest 2.
Phantoms: Kempen 4, Edinger 11, Darrow 5, Webb 16, Van Vreede 6, Wall 3, Karchinski 15.