Jacy Zollar sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Bonduel went on an 11-0 run midway through the first half to take its first lead and controlled the rest of the matchup en route to a 77-63 Central Wisconsin Conference-East victory against Menominee Indian at home on Friday.
After trailing for the first nine minutes, Isaac Garside hit back-to-back threes to secure the a 20-18 lead for the Bears with 10 minutes remaining in the half. A layup by Garside and 3-pointer from Cole Letter capped the 11-point run.
Menominee Indian’s Menom Powles ended the streak with a 3-pointer of his own, but the Bears took 10 of the next 12 points to diminish hope of an Eagles comeback.
“We just let it go early on,” Menominee Indian head coach James Oshkeshequoam said. “Once (Bonduel) went on that run, we ultimately couldn’t come back from that. They’ve got some good shooters that we just couldn’t stop.”
“Every game is such a battle for us, so it feels really good to win a game,” Bonduel head coach Duke Copp said. “We had some kids step up in this game. Isaac Garside kind of carried us through the first half coming off the bench, so that was great to see.”
The Bears’ win comes after three close losses on the road.
“We’ve given up a lot of points the past few games,” Copp said, “so it was great to get that more under control tonight and just play hard, the way I know these kids can play.”
Bonduel (6-7, 2-2 CWC) faces a tough road ahead, hosting Oconto (10-2) and then traveling to conference rivals Wittenberg-Birnamwood (6-5, 2-3 CWC) and Amherst (7-3, 5-0 CWC).
“Our next three games are tough, so this was a nice win at home to get us in the right mindset for those.”
The Bears had four shooters chip in double-figures. Bryce Weier hit three 3-pointers to contribute a team-high 18 points. Dalton Cairns added 16 points, Isaac Garside 15 and Parker Bohm 14.
“We have definite shooters,” Copp said. “They’re naturally talented shooters, and improving each week, so that’s nice because we’ve got shooting down I think and that allows us to focus defensively.
“We haven’t been stopping people defensively, so we need to improve on that. Once we do that, I think we’ll solidify as a team and look complete out there.”
Raymond Fish led the Eagles (4-8, 0-5 CWC) with 22 points, including 5 for 5 at the free-throw line, and Warren Wilber followed with 12 points.
Bonduel and Menominee Indian each had four shooters contribute behind the arc and both teams recorded seven threes.
Bonduel (77)
Bryce Weier 1-1 18; Jared Wondra 0-0 3; Isaac Garside 1-2 15; Cole Letter 2-2 7; Austin Acker 0-0 2; Canaan Szoszorek 0-0 2; Parker Bohm 2-4 14; Dalton Cairns 4-6 16.
Menominee Indian (63)
Warren Wilber 0-3 12; Mequan Corn 0-0 4; Menom Powles 3-4 6; Nathan Frechette 0-0 9; Richard Wayka 0-0 8; Kyle Lyons 0-0 2; Raymond Fish 5-5 22.
Bonduel 49 28 — 77
Menominee Indian 33 30 — 63