By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
DE PERE – “Carpe diem.”
That was head coach AJ Alexander’s message to his Notre Dame Academy boys’ basketball team before its game Dec. 29 versus West De Pere.
“I wanted my players to seize the day,” Alexander said.
His Tritons did just that in an 83-72 non-conference road victory over the Phantoms.
“I teach English at Notre Dame, so I used my cheesy line before the game,” laughed Alexander. “I think we turned some heads with our performance.”
Notre Dame (6-2) received points from nine players, while West De Pere (5-3), the No. 10-ranked Division 2 team in the state, got points from six players.
“That’s a strong suit of our team,” said Alexander. “I was recently looking at the stats, and you’ll find balance in our scoring. We’re an unselfish group. West De Pere is a solid crew, so it’s a good win for us. Our guys rose to the occasion.”
Danny Nennig (23), George Kress (11), Keegan King (10) and Garrett Grzesk (10) all scored in double digits for the Tritons, while Emmett Lawton added nine points.
“It was a great team win,” said Nennig, who hit four 3-pointers. “I let the shots come to me and didn’t force anything. I happened to have a good game, but it’s more important the team won. We have a deep team this season.”
With Notre Dame leading 5-4 early, Grzesk scored eight quick points, including a 3-point play and a 3-pointer.
The Phantoms, who lost their second consecutive game, got to within 26-23 after Mike Moran nailed a three, but the Tritons finished the first half on a 23-10 run to take a commanding 49-33 lead into intermission.
“Unfortunately, we got ourselves too far down,” said West De Pere head coach Todd Deschane. “We didn’t play well overall in the first half.”
The Phantoms were playing without senior Alec Schneider.
“Not having Alex available hurt us offensively and defensively,” Deschane said.
Notre Dame built its lead to 57-37 with 14:50 remaining, but West De Pere, which was led by Dawson Nordgaard’s 17 points, began clawing its way back.
After Ethan Heck’s fifth straight point for the Phantoms, the Tritons stopped the bleeding by going on their own 6-0 run to bump the lead back to 20.
West De Pere then scored 24 of the game’s next 36 points to pull within six, 76-70, with less than a minute remaining, but Notre Dame iced the contest by hitting seven free throws in the final minute.
“We fought back and got it down to a two-possession game at the end but didn’t quite have enough,” said Deschane. “Notre Dame is a good team, but we didn’t do a good enough job defensively, especially in the first half.”
Alexander said he couldn’t help but get a little nervous with the lead dwindling at the end.
“Everyone has nerves,” he said. ‘I have confidence in my guys, and I made a few adjustments with who was out there at the end to make free throws. If you’re not making your free throws or taking care of the ball at the end, we have to find someone who will. It’s using some tough love.”
Moran added 16 points for Phantoms, including four 3-pointers.
Heck (12) and Lukas Ricker (11) also scored in double digits for West De Pere.