By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON — The Ashwaubenon boys’ basketball team has been perfect since Dec. 30.
The streak, now 10 in a row, continued Feb. 2 as the Jaguars defeated Notre Dame Academy 73-66 in a Fox River Classic Conference game at Ashwaubenon High School.
Marcus Tomashek led Ashwaubenon with a game-high 23 points, while Keegan King paced the Tritons with 15.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Kyle Krueger connected on two free throws to push him over 1,000 career points in an Ashwaubenon uniform.
“It was a special moment,” said Krueger. “To have my parents and teammates get to experience this alongside me is cool. My team pushes me in practice, and the guys stay positive during the games. It energizes us. Everybody has worked hard, and I’m one piece of the Jaguars.”
Matt Imig connected on an early triple to give Ashwaubenon a 12-4 lead.
The Jaguars connected on a dozen 3-pointers during the game.
“These kids work on their outside shooting,” said Mark Tomashek, Ashwaubenon head coach. “They put the time in, and it has helped their cause. It’s hard to play back-to-back nights and keep the same intensity.”
The Tritons seemed to have a run whenever Ashwaubenon was threatening to pull away.
With under three minutes left in the first half, Chris Mitchell connected on a 24-footer from the top of the key to pull Notre Dame to within four, 30-26.
The Jaguars (14-5 overall) took a 35-31 lead into halftime.
Ashwaubenon increased the lead to start the second half, only to see the Tritons (14-6) even the score at 44-44 after George Kress connected on a triple with 12:36 remaining.
“It’s hard to game plan against those (Ashwaubenon) guys,” said AJ Alexander, Notre Dame head coach. “I refer to them as their ‘big three.’ They stay steady the entire game. We showed fight and resiliency to battle back each time we were down seven or eight points.”
Coach Tomashek called a timeout to settle his team down, and the Jaguars went on a subsequent 11-0 run led by Krueger.
He hit a long-range bomb, grabbed two defensive rebounds and then went to the free-throw line, where he went over the 1,000-point mark to give Ashwaubenon a 55-44 lead.
“Reaching a milestone like Kyle did motivates younger kids to work hard,” Tomashek said. “Kyle has been a great role model for this program.”
A bit later, trailing 60-58, Notre Dame saw a layup hang on the rim for an eternity and not go in and another shot rattle in and out.
With less than two minutes remaining, Brady Wittig connected on a three and Tomashek converted a three-point play to ice the game for the Jaguars.
“The key for us was transition defense,” said Tomashek. “Notre Dame loves to get up and down and is an excellent team. It’s a big win for these kids.”
Box score:
Notre Dame: 31, 35 — 66
Ashwaubenon: 35, 38 — 73
Tritons: King 15, Mitchell 13, Grzesk 11, Kress 8, Nennig 8, Hornacek 5, Warden 4, Lawton 2.
Jaguars: Tomashek 23, Krueger 18, Wittig 14, Imig 13, Zollar 5