Gary Seymour, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
The fabled bad luck of a Friday the 13th doesn’t usually refer to shooting a basketball, although for Bonduel High School, it was a good thing their defense showed up.
Bonduel clawed, deflected and scrapped its way to a 48-34 win over visiting Wittenberg-Birnamwood for its fourth consecutive victory, one that kept the Bears’ faint hopes alive for a Central Wisconsin Conference-8 boys basketball title.
They sent the Chargers to their ninth loss in 10 games on a night when the buckets weren’t dropping for either team. Tough defense prevailed at both ends, allowing the Chargers (3-16, 2-9 CWC-8) to cut a 15-point second-half deficit to eight at the end of the third quarter.
It was the sticky, hard-nosed zone defense of the Bears (15-5, 9-3 CWC-8) that clogged Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s offensive flow and ultimately won the night for Bonduel. The Bears trailed 5-2 before closing out the first quarter with an 11-0 run that effectively set the tempo for the rest of the evening.
“We manned up pretty well on them, and our zone was working well, too,” Bonduel senior guard Colton Dobratz said. “We were able to convert some of the turnovers we forced.”
Dobratz had 13 points, teammate Connor Rosin led all scorers with 16, and junior center Peyton Czarapata turned in a strong game in the low post for the Bears with 12 points and seven rebounds.
“Our shots weren’t falling, and we just had no execution offensively,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Lon Ebel said. “If we don’t take care of the ball, it’s going to be hard to win basketball games. Our effort was there, but we made too may sloppy passes.”
Bonduel senior Hunter Berry, a 5-foot-5 guard, made his presence felt in the first quarter by grabbing three offensive rebounds, all of which kept alive possessions on which the Bears later scored. Bonduel ran down a majority of loose balls and controlled the boards but more often than not saw its shot attempts rattle in and out of the tightly fastened rims.
The Bears shot 29 free throws to the Chargers’ five, but true to the cold-shooting storyline, Bonduel converted only 14 of them. The Bears did not hit a 3-point field goal all night. Wittenberg, meanwhile, got a buzzer-beating trey from Teagon Lehman (nine points) to pull the Chargers within 36-28 at the end of three.
“We’ve done that a lot this year,” said Ebel, whose starting lineup included no seniors. “We’ll grind and battle our way back into a game, but we’ve had a hard time closing out the comebacks. We need to trust each other and play team ball.”
Bonduel closes out its regular season hosting fourth-place Pacelli and travelling to Iola-Scandinavia, which is tied for second with the Bears.
“We’re going to try to win conference,” Dobratz said, “and then win our regional. This time of year, the goal is to keep winning.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood (34)
Stewart 2 0-0 4, Kapitz 0 0-2 0, Fraaza 3 2-2 8, Lehman 4 0-1 9, Donnelly 1 0-0 2, Groshek 2 0-0 5, Wellner 1 0-0 2, Adamski 2 0-0 4.
Bonduel (48)
Pedersen 1 0-0 2, Berry 0 4-6 4, Rosin 5 6-12 16, Dobratz 6 1-7 13, Vanderlinden 0 1-2 1, Czarapata 5 2-2 12.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 5 8 15 6 — 34
Bonduel 13 10 13 12 — 48