After dropping their previous matchup by a single point, the De Pere Redbirds made sure there was no question this time in who was the champion in the highly anticipated battle of the bridge.
On Tuesday, January 20, De Pere delivered a physical, defensive minded performance to defeat West De Pere 56-43 in a Fox River Classic Conference rivalry game that lived up to its intensity from the opening tip.
Jack Bookter set the tone early with an offensive rebound putback to open the scoring, but West De Pere answered with an and-one three from Erik Bouchard.
From there, points were hard to come by as both teams played strong defense in a fast paced, physical first half.
The rivalry energy showed early.
After back-to-back three-pointers from Patrick Greisen and Will Krueger, De Pere briefly grabbed momentum.
A Silas Cohen layup made it a three-point game with just over 11 minutes left, but West De Pere responded, tying the game and then pulling ahead behind a 9-3 run.
West De Pere stretched the lead to 24-15 following another Bouchard three, but Cohen helped keep De Pere within reach.
He hit a three and followed it with a layup after Kasen Gregoire took a charge, trimming the deficit late in the half and giving the Redbirds some momentum.
Still, West De Pere scored just before the buzzer to take a 26-20 lead into halftime.
The second half told a different story.
West De Pere scored first, but De Pere responded quickly with a three from Noah Maniscolco and a layup from Krueger.
After trading leads early, the Redbirds found their rhythm.
Krueger attacked the rim, converting free throws before throwing down a dunk that energized the crowd and put De Pere in front.
Moments later, Isaac Herlache drilled a three to extend the lead, and Bennett Reimer added a layup as De Pere’s defense took full control.
Behind several blocks from Cohen and forced turnovers, the Redbirds surged ahead 50-38 with just over a minute remaining. De Pere closed out the game to secure the 56-43 win.
Senior Jack Bookter said the team’s focus and urgency were fueled by the earlier loss.
“This win means so much to us, we’ve been working hard all week,” Bookter said. “West De Pere came in thinking they could beat us again, but we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of grit on the defensive side.”
Bookter also pointed to Cohen’s impact off the bench. “Silas Cohen had a huge performance off the bench tonight… we really needed him tonight and he came to play.”
Head coach Brian Winchester praised the defensive adjustments and execution late.
“I think we just made more winning plays down the stretch,” Winchester said. “We did a much better job containing dribble penetration tonight… and gave up 17 in the second half.”
Winchester added that Cohen rose to the moment. “Si was great tonight… had his best game in a big moment.”
For De Pere, the response was exactly what they wanted– a complete team win that flipped the result and reaffirmed their presence in the FRCC race.
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