Morgan Rode sports@newmedia-wi.com
Leader photo by Morgan Rode Bonduel’s Jared Wondra dribbles down the court during the second half of Friday’s Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division game against Shiocton at Bonduel High School.
Trailing by just eight points at halftime despite having leading scorer Parker Bohm held scoreless, it appeared the Bonduel boys basketball team was in solid position to avenge an early season loss to Shiocton.
Instead, the second half was more like déjà vu, as Bonduel watched Shiocton catch fire from the floor and ease to a 71-46 Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division win at Bonduel High School on Friday night.
“We clearly got outplayed tonight, Shiocton is a really good team,” Bonduel coach Duke Copp said. “They probably played one of their better games of the year and we didn’t play one. But we can’t worry about this one — we have six games left and a big one Tuesday (at Rosholt), so we are moving on.”
Bonduel got the night off to a strong start, as Canaan Szoszorek connected on a 3-pointer. Shiocton responded by scoring 13 of the next 17 points to grab a six-point advantage.
With Szoszorek and Bohm, both seniors, battling foul trouble, it was senior Isaac Garside that provided the spark with back-to-back field goals from the paint. Junior Isaac Boldt then connected on a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 14-13 lead with about 7 minutes, 40 seconds to play in the opening half.
Shiocton then hit two triples to force a Bonduel timeout. The Bears were eventually able to close the gap to two points on a three-point play by junior Dylan Burch, but the visitors ended the half on a 9-3 run to create a comfortable cushion.
In the team’s first matchup back on Dec. 14, Bonduel held a five-point halftime lead before being outscored 37-18 in the second half. Friday’s matchup was decided in a similar fashion, as Shiocton outscored Bonduel 39-22 in the final 18 minutes.
Bohm tallied his first two points on a field goal about two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, but it was the only time the Bears scored as Shiocton upped its lead to 15, 41-26.
Bohm added another basket around the 12:30 mark, marking Bonduel’s only points during a 7-2 Shiocton run that gave the visitors a 48-28 lead.
“I think it was our mindset and momentum,” said Garside on what changed to allow Shiocton to pull away in the final half. “We had a lot of momentum in the first half and then it kind of fizzled out in the second half. We just need to start working on finishing games.”
The Bears were able to find their footing and started to put points up on the scoreboard, but Shiocton always seemed to have an answer. Shiocton worked all the way up to a 29-point lead before Bonduel ended the contest on a 7-3 run behind a strong effort from junior big Justin Bahr.
While the game is certainly one Bonduel could learn from, the team also said it would not let the result linger in their mind for too long.
“This should open our eyes a little bit and make us realize that we just can’t walk on the court and win. We have to go out there and compete every single week,” Bohm said. “We also want to try and forget about it and move on to the next game. It was a tough one tonight, but hopefully we will get back on track next week.”
“I feel like we should use this game as motivation to get in the gym more — start shooting a lot more than we have been, playing better defense and working a lot harder in practice,” Garside said.
Shiocton 32 39 — 71
Bonduel 24 22 — 46
Shiocton (71)
Hudson Spencer 0-0 3, Derek Bedor 0-0 17, Cole Wilcox 2-2 6, Caden Schmidt 0-0 3, Deven Bedor 0-1 11, Jack Fielding 5-6 12, Corbin Lorge 3-3 14, Austin Van Den Bosch 1-2 5.
Bonduel (46)
Aaron Margelofsky 0-0 2, Jared Wondra 0-0 2, Isaac Garside 0-0 10, Brooks Dehn 1-2 1, Cole Letter 4-4 6, Isaac Boldt 0- 0 6, Canaan Szoszorek 3-4 6, Parker Bohm 0-0 4, Justin Bahr 0-2 4, Dylan Burch 1-2 5.