Basketball Scoreboard- Thursday December 29
BOYS
Green Bay City Classic
Notre Dame 74, Green Bay East 40
Pittsville Tournament
Port Edwards 55, Wautoma 38
Aquinas Classic
Xavier 60, Prairie Du Chein 53
WBY Shootout
Oshkosh North 94, Milwaukee Riverside 84
Kaukauna 84, Whitnall 57
Gresham Holiday Tournament
Gresham 70, Menominee Indian 48
Sentry Classic- UW-Stevens Point
Stevens Point 69, Hortonville 53
Hortonville kept the game competitive, but just didn’t have enough on the offensive end to beat Stevens Point in the Sentry Classic matchup. Things started off sluggish for the Polar Bears, as Stevens Point took a 32-20 lead into halftime, thanks in large part to seven 3-pointers.
“I thought we played the whole first half on our heels and scared of the situation, or the moment,” said Hortonville head coach Matt Hintz. “We were very lackadaisical in everything that we did, which led to terrible defense initially and obviously when that happens and the other team gets confidence, you’re kind of in a fight. I just thought our effort was terrible and communication is an effort thing. I didn’t think we had it tonight.”
The second half was a different story for the Polar Bear offense, which relied heavily on leading scorer Ryan Krueger, a player who the Stevens Point defense had no answer for. Krueger finished with a game-high 28 points, 21 of them coming in the second half alone, all on his way towards eclipsing the 1,000-point mark in his career.
“Ryan allows you to quickly get back into things at times, especially when goes inside and gets some baskets at the rim because obviously everyone knows he can shoot it,” Hintz said of his star player. “It was good to see him kind of put us on his back there in the second half to try and get us over the hump, and he did it in different ways than he typically does.”
Hortonville has plans to honor Krueger’s achievement next week at home.
Charlie Schabo was the only other Polar Bear to reach double-figures. He had 10 points, while Chandler Guyette added nine.
For Stevens Point, Drew Blair paved the way with 25 points, going 8-of-8 from the free throw line and connecting three times from long-range. As a team, the Panthers shot an efficient 16-of-20 from the charity stripe.
Hortonville will play their second game of the Sentry Classic at approximately 1:40 against Wisconsin Rapids, which coach Hintz believes will be a telling performance of his team.
“Needless to say, the first month of the year here hasn’t gone necessarily the way we wanted, I know we’ve had a tough schedule, but we’re going to find out a lot about our group tomorrow. We’re either going to come here and compete like we’ve never competed, or we’re going to come here and be scared or timid, and go through the motions, and get our backsides kicked.”
Hortonville is still looking for their first win of the season.
GIRLS
Gresham Holiday Tournament
Gresham 50, Menominee Indian 27
Oconto 43, Oneida Nation 40
Sentry Classic-UW-Stevens Point
Appleton West 39, Stevens Point 31
Wild Rose 50, Weyauwega-Fremont 33
Freedom 47, Kiel 32
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 71, Northland Pines 38