Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Menominee Indian High School center Ron Frechette attempts to shoot over Bonduel’s Brandon Olsen in the second half of Bonduel’s 76-60 victory Tuesday night.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Gage Petcka drives past Menominee Indian’s Ron Frechette in the first half of Bonduel’s victory Tuesday. Petcka finished the game with 12 points.
The Bonduel High School boys basketball team wanted to get out and push the tempo.
When the Bears were able to do that, they found easy baskets that opened up an otherwise-close game for a 76-60 nonconference victory over Menominee Indian on Tuesday.
The Eagles, who pulled within 5 points in the second half on a Ron Frechette layup, could not slow down Bonduel after the 11:23 mark of the second half, as the visitors went on a 12-0 run to open a 17-point advantage.
“We’ve been working in practice on just getting out and pushing the ball,” Bonduel head coach Duke Copp said. “When we did it right, we were getting easy baskets.”
The 76 points for Bonduel were a season high in scoring, and showcased a balanced offense behind leaders Peyton Czarapata and Trevor Pedersen.
The Eagles, who played the Bears tightly for the first 27 minutes, were physical and played strong defense while trying to limit the visitors to one shot on each possession.
“We did a good job on both sides of the floor being aggressive and not fouling, going straight up, ending each defensive possession with a rebound our way and being patient and getting the best shot we can,” Menominee Indian head coach James Oshkeshequoam said.
Even though Bonduel was able to pull away, the Eagles, according to their coach, showed vast improvement in playing as a team and finding the holes in the defense.
Once Frechette got into foul trouble in the second half, the Eagles had a hard time slowing down senior center Czarapata, the tallest player on the court, listed at 6-foot-5.
“Ron is one of the few guys that can match up with him physically,” Oshkeshequoam said. “Once (Ron Frechette sat), they did a good job of getting mismatches with Peyton and taking advantage of those.”
Czarapata posted 24 points. Pedersen added 11 points, and fellow seniors Preston Robaidek and Gage Petcka had 15 and 12, respectively.
“We have some really tough losses lately, so it was good to come out on the right side,” Copp said.
Bonduel had trouble stopping Menominee Indian’s senior guard Dustin Waupoose, who used his quickness to get past defenders and to the basket.
His 21 points led the Eagles. Senior Grant Gomeyosh scored 11 points, as did Frechette in limited minutes.
Menominee Indian showed that it could compete with bigger teams, but down the stretch, the Eagles will have to show it can maintain its energy on the defensive boards.
“Once we continue to work hard on defense and continue to finish a possession with a rebound, we should be able to compete with a lot of tough teams,” Oshkeshequoam said.
Bonduel (76)
Ballestad 1 0-0 2, Pedersen 4 2-2 11, Thiel 1 0-0 2, Robaidek 7 1-2 15, Petcka 5 0-0 12, Olsen 2 0-0 4, Engel 1 0-0 3, Bohm 1 1-3 3, Czarapata 11 2-4 24
Menominee Indian (60)
Corn 2 0-0 6, Gomeyosh 3 3-4 11, Nahwahquaw 1 2-2 5, King 1 0-0 2, Waupoose 9 2-4 21, Frechette 5 1-1 11, Martin 1 0-0 2, Lamotte 1 0-0 2.
Bonduel 34 42 — 76
Menominee Indian 30 30 — 60