Hornets’ rally falls short in Owen-Withee

By Nathaniel Underwood

In their final Cloverbelt-East conference game of the season, the Colby boys basketball team was dealt a loss on the road last Friday evening, falling to Owen-Withee 6057. After trailing by as many as 18 points, the Hornets put together a late second-half rally to pull back within a single basket, but the Blackhawks were able to hold them off to split the season series.

A 31-21 halftime advantage for Owen- Withee grew to a 48-30 lead over the first seven minutes of the second period. A three from the Blackhawks’ Colin Fritz gave them their biggest lead of the contest yet, and with only 11 minutes left to play, things were starting to look dire for the visiting Colby squad.

A steal from Jaxon Polivka on Owen- Withee’s next possession turned into a basket on the opposite end and Miguel Morillon was able to hit a floater in the lane to kickstart the Hornets’ offense that had struggled over the middle portions of the contest.

Colby began clawing themselves back into the game, scoring on five straight possessions at one point during the run. They only surrendered one basket to the Blackhawks over that stretch, their high-trap zone defense proving difficult for the home team to combat. The resulting 15-2 run was capped off with a pair of threes from Reed Fleischmann and Adrian Lopez followed up by a tough layup from Lopez that cut Owen-Withee’s lead down to five.

After the Blackhawks were able to answer, consecutive baskets from Joseph Streveler and Lopez made it a one possession game with just under five minutes left to play. That final two-point hump was too much to overcome, however. The Blackhawks were able to pull back out to a 5650 lead and while free throws from Polivka and Tucker Hayes had the Hornets back within three on two separate occasions and another clutch three from Lopez made it a two-point game with 40 seconds left, Colby could never tie or take the lead. While Owen-Withee missed two key free throws down the stretch, the Hornets came away equally empty-handed on their final three possessions and the Blackhawks were able to escape with the win.

Colby’s lack of offensive production at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second proved to be too much to overcome. A basket from Streveler had knotted the game at 16-16 with nine-and-a-half minutes left in the first half, but they would not score a point over the next six minutes of game time. Another basket from Streveler finally put the Hornets back on the board, but Owen-Withee had put up 11 straight points in the meantime and they were able to enter halftime with a double-digit lead.

Lopez had an impressive night from beyond the arc, hitting eight of his 12 shots from behind the three point line. He ended the game with 30 points going 11-for-16 from the field.

Streveler added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists despite entering the second half with three fouls. Fleischmann finished with eight points, Hayes and Polivka put up three points and Morillon finished with two points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The Hornets will try to get back on track in their final game before the WIAA playoffs begin. They will host McDonell Central Catholic for their Cloverbelt crossover game. The Thursday evening contest will be a rematch of last year’s crossover game, a contest in which the Macks came out on top of the 74-67 final. This season, McDonnel is 14-9 overall and was led on offense by Cooper Mittermeyer and Cael Holm, both of whom averaged over 12 points per game. The game between the two Cloverbelt squads is to begin at 7:15 p.m.

Colby was also given an eight-seed in the upcoming WIAA tournament. Their first opponent is the ninth-seeded Crandon squad, who will be coming into town on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The Cardinals are 7-16 this season and are coming off a 71-47 defeat to Manawa on Monday night. They will also have a final game against White Lake before traveling to Colby for the first round match up. Omar Bailey has been the source of the most consistent form of offense for Crandon this season, putting up 16.6 points per game this season. Matthew Janke is their primary force underneath the basket, bringing down 10.1 rebounds per game and averaging 8.0 points per game. Hayden Greitzinger will also have to be reckoned with, putting up 8.6 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game. Jaxon Keepers was averaging 14.4 points per game and 4.7 assists, but he has not played since January.

Tipoff for the first round of the Division 4 matchup is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

SETTING UP THE DEFENSE - Adrian Lopez steps out as a defender against Owen-Withee on Friday evening. The senior guard led all scorers with 30 points in the game.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

FIGHTING FOR THE REBOUND - Tucker Hayes and Miguel Morillon try to work for an offensive rebound late in the game against the Blackhawks.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD