The Wisner-Pilger Boys are 1-5 in their last six games, losing 73-36 at Oakland-Craig on Thursday, December 15th, 57-50 at Arlington on Tuesday, December 20th, and 47-41 at home to Stanton on Thursday, December 22nd before beating Wakefield 71-47 in the Shootout on the Elkhorn last Wednesday, losing 56-44 to Lutheran High Northeast in the Shootout on Thursday, and falling 58-44 to Ponca in the Shootout on Friday.
The Knights exploded early and never looked back, taking a 27-5 lead at the end of one. Oakland-Craig won the second quarter 17-15 to go up 44-20 at halftime.
The Knights outscored the Gators 20-8 in the third quarter to lead 64-28 at the end of three.
Oakland-Craig won the fourth quarter 11-8.
Keegan Ruskamp had a team-high 9 points for Wisner-Pilger while Jayden Raabe notched 8.
Head Coach Duane Mendlik on the loss.
"They're long and they're quick, and they can do a lot of things, but we just wanted to execute what we wanted to do, and we didn't do a very good job of that. They took us out of it early. They shot the ball really well in the first half. I think we had them down at 58%, over 40% at the three-point line, 60% at the two-point line, and some of that is we didn't do a very good job on them."
The Eagles led the Gators 15-11 at the end of one. Wisner-Pilger won the second quarter 15-13 to make it a 28-26 game at halftime.
Arlington outscored the Gators 12-8 in the third quarter to go up 40-34 at the end of three.
The Eagles notched 17 points in the fourth quarter compared to 16 for Wisner-Pilger.
The Mustangs outscored the Gators 22-15 in the first half.
Wisner-Pilger outscored Stanton 16-12 in the third quarter to make it a 34-31 game at the end of three.
The Mustangs won the fourth quarter 13-10.
Wisner-Pilger jumped on the Trojans early and led 23-12 after one. The Gators won the second quarter 19-7 to lead 42-19 at halftime.
Wisner-Pilger outscored Wakefield 17-16 in the third quarter to go up 59-35 at the end of three.
Both teams scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Hunter Waterman led all scorers with 18 points while Ruskamp and Raabe totaled 17 and 14, respectively. Gunner Labenz added 8.
Mendlik.
"Yeah we got off to a good start. Keegan Ruskamp did some things really well early. He ran the floor well, and the ball went in the basket. That's the big deal. And defensively I thought we did a pretty good job of taking away some of the things they wanted to do, and hence we get out to a lead, and makes things a little easier."
Despite the lopsided score, Mendlik says their defense could have been better.
"We gave up a lot of threes. I thought we should have got out and defended that a little bit better than what we did. But inside game for them they didn't get much in there, and I thought we rebounded pretty well so it was good game for us, we have not played that well. And in this tournament if you don't play well you're going to be on the loser's side in a hurry."
The Eagles led 14-8 at the end of one. Lutheran High Northeast won the second quarter 13-12 to take a 27-20 lead into the locker room.
The Eagles outscored the Gators 28-12 in the third quarter to go up 55-32 at the end of three.
Wisner-Pilger outscored Lutheran High Northeast 12-1 in the fourth quarter.
The Indians held a 19-9 lead at the end of one. The Gators won the second quarter 14-13 to make it a 32-23 game at halftime.
Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter, and the score at the end of three was 45-36 in favor of Ponca.
The Indians outscored Wisner-Pilger 13-8 in the fourth quarter.
I thought perhaps the Wakefield win would get this team going, and in a way it may have as Lutheran High Northeast and Ponca are really good teams.
The Gators (3-6) host West Point-Beemer (4-5) Friday night in action that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.
The Cadets won 47-35 at Fort Calhoun Tuesday night.
West Point-Beemer is a pretty good team. Wisner-Pilger definitely has their work cut out for them.
The Gators have to watch out for Austin and Chase Streeter. Both are very good players who can do damage.
I think this will be a good game. Both teams have been playing good basketball lately, and I look for this contest to be decided by 7 points or less,
It's a pretty even match up if you ask me. I feel Wisner-Pilger is playing the best basketball between the two at the moment though.
Both teams pride their selves on defense, and I look for a close, low scoring, tightly contested ball game.
Execution, free throw shooting, contesting shots, and rebounding will be big in this game, in my opinion.
I feel the team that does those things the best is most likely to come out on top.
This is a rivalry game, and I fully expect both teams to get after one another and play at a high level and with high energy and emotion throughout the game.
Wisner-Pilger, or both teams for that matter, have to keep their cool.
I understand emotions will probably be running high in this game, but the Gators have to keep a cool head and not let their emotions get the best of them.
Wisner-Pilger can't let refs' calls or things said by the crowd get to them.
The Gators have to remain focused for four quarters, and do everything they can to win the game.
That means no technicals, flagrants, or anything else that might cost Wisner-Pilger the game.
Friday night's contest can be heard on the Bull after the Girls Game, which is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m.
The Wisner-Pilger Girls are 2-4 in their last six games, falling 60-53 at Oakland-Craig on Thursday, December 15th, 47-42 at Arlington on Tuesday, December 20th, and 43-30 at Stanton on Thursday, December 22nd, before beating Wakefield 36-29 last Wednesday at the Shootout on the Elkhorn, losing 53-46 to Battle Creek in the Shootout on Thursday, but beating Winnebago 67-45 in the third place game of the Shootout on Friday.
Oakland-Craig held a 15-12 lead at the end of one. The Gators outscored the Knights 20-11 in the second quarter to take a 32-26 lead into the locker room.
Oakland-Craig roared back in the third quarter though, outscoring Wisner-Pilger 18-8 to go up 44-40 at the end of three.
The Knights won the fourth quarter 16-13.
Jordan Wegner posted a game-high 23 points for Wisner-Pilger. Ariel Meyer totaled and Maci Batenhorst added 8 apiece.
The Eagles led the Gators 9-1 at the end of one. Wisner-Pilger outscored Arlington 18-7 in the second quarter to take a 19-16 lead into the locker room.
The Eagles won the third quarter 13-9 to go up 29-28 after three.
Arlington outlasted the Gators 18-14 in the fourth quarter.
Wisner-Pilger and Stanton were tied at 11 at the end of one. The Mustangs doubled up the Gators 12-6 in the second quarter to take a 23-17 lead into the locker room.
Stanton outscored Wisner-Pilger 15-4 in the third quarter to go up 38-21 at the end of three.
The Gators won the fourth quarter 9-5.
The Gators led the Trojans 8-2 after one, and outscored the Trojans 9-5 in the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
Wakefield made a game of it by winning the third quarter 11-2 to cut the deficit to 1 at 19-18 at the end of three.
Wisner-Pilger nearly doubled their output through the first three quarters in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Trojans 17-10.
Alexis Heller and Wegner each had 11 points for the Gators.
Head Coach Karrie Bodwell 's girls were limited to just 2 points in the third quarter.
"We have one quarter that we're just not scoring well, and then we kind of lose our focus a little bit, and our intensity drops cause our confidence is dropping. But luckily we held on this one and was able to finish."
The Braves led the Gators 14-11 after one. Battle Creek outscored Wisner-Pilger 15-9 in the second quarter to take a 29-20 lead into the locker room.
The Gators won the third quarter 13-12 to make it a 41-33 game at the end of three.
Wisner-Pilger also won the fourth quarter 13-12 to make up the final score.
The Gators led the Indians 8-6 after one. Wisner-Pilger outscored Winnebago 15-9 in the second quarter to take a 23-15 lead into the locker room.
The Gators won the third quarter 10-9 to go up 33-24 at the end of three.
Wisner-Pilger outlasted the Indians 15-11 in the fourth quarter.
I feel like the Gators sort of picked things up a little bit in the Shootout on the Elkhorn. Winning 2 out of 3 in that tournament is a big accomplishment, in my opinion.
Wisner-Pilger (4-5) takes on Madison (2-8) on the road Thursday night.
The Dragons won 37-33 at Schuyler Tuesday night.
The Gators honestly shouldn't have much trouble with Madison.
Anything can happen on any given night and upsets are always possible, but I think Wisner-Pilger will be able to come away with a win Thursday night.
I think the Gators have a good shot to win both games this week and be above .500 heading into Monday's game with Wayne.
Two wins this week would be much needed and a big accomplishment for this program.
Wisner-Pilger has West Point-Beemer on the road Friday, and given the Cadets' struggles this season, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Gators come out of there with a win.
First things first though, Wisner-Pilger has to take care of business against Madison.
The Dragons can't be overlooked or underestimated the least bit.
Madison has to have the Gators' full respect and attention.
Wisner-Pilger has to continue to play good defense and have the type of offensive game they had against Winnebago.
I feel this game with the Dragons is a chance for the Gators to gain confidence in their shooting and scoring.
Wisner-Pilger has had trouble scoring the ball so far this season, but perhaps the way the Gators shot the ball against Winnebago will carry over into this game with Madison.
I think Wisner-Pilger certainly has a chance to made drastic strides offensively against the Dragons.
I feel the Gators will play one of their better games of the season, and come away with a big win.
I don't see Wisner-Pilger struggling in this game. I think the Gators will come out very focused and determined, and ready to take care of business.
Friday night's game at home against West Point-Beemer can be heard on 107.9 the Bull beginning at 6:15 p.m.
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