The Wisner-Pilger Boys beat Stanton 52-32 in the C2-7 Sub-District Play-in-Game at Norfolk Catholic Monday night before losing 71-68 to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family in the Semifinals Tuesday night.
The Gators led Stanton 13-10 at the end of one before outscoring the Mustangs 14-5 in the second quarter to take a 27-15 lead into the locker room.
Wisner-Pilger won the third quarter 10-9 to go up 37-24 at the end of three.
The Gators put up 15 points in the fourth quarter compared to 8 for Stanton.
Hunter Waterman led Wisner-Pilger with 15 points. Keegan Ruskamp added 14 while Jayden Raabe notched 11.
In the Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family/Wisner-Pilger Game, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-15 lead at the end of one. The Gators won the second quarter 20-17 to make it a 41-35 game at halftime in favor of Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.
The Bulldogs outscored Wisner-Pilger 17-14 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 58-49 at the end of three.
The Gators put up 19 points in the fourth quarter compared to 13 for Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.
Ruskamp led Wisner-Pilger with 19 points while Waterman and Gunner Labenz added 14 apiece. Nathan Hatterman and Raabe notched 11 and 10, respectively for the Gators.
Head Coach Duane Mendlik on the loss. "We did a nice job. Came up a little short. We missed a couple of shots down the stretch that we'd certainly like to have back. But it was a good game. I'm pleased."
Mendlik's boys put up 19 points in the fourth quarter to make it close. "Offensively I think we did a pretty good job. We did come back and shoot the ball pretty well. They're really a good ball club. And they've got a lot of players that can do a lot of different things. I thought our kids showed a lot of heart, and I thought they played very well. We made a couple of mistakes down the stretch that we probably shouldn't of, but that's the way the game is. I tried to tell them that this is the way it is every single game at this point in the season."
Wisner-Pilger ends the season at 11-13.
It was a strong finish to the season for the Gators, who won five out of their last seven games.
I think the progress Wisner-Pilger made and the success they had at the end of the season will definitely carry over to next year.
I feel the Gators finished the season about as well as anyone could have hoped for.
Sure Wisner-Pilger could have done some things differently during the Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family game, but overall I thought it was a very good performance from these kids.
The wins over BRLD, West Point-Beemer, Wakefield, and Howells-Dodge (twice) were the biggest victories of the season for the Gators, in my opinion, and are wins I feel Wisner-Pilger can build off of heading into next season.
The Gators graduate just two seniors in Gage Reicken and Hatterman.
Big returners include Waterman, Labenz, Koehlmoos, Ruskamp, and Raabe.
Next year should be Wisner-Pilger's year as they figure to be senior laden.
The seniors to be and the rest of the players need to work their tails off this offseason so they can have a good season next year.
Waking up early in the morning in the dog days of summer to get workouts in will be very important, in my opinion.
The more running, lifting, conditioning, skill honing, and just playing of the game the Gators can do, the stronger they will be for next season.
These players have to work together and for one another during open gyms, team camps, summer leagues, and other summer camps.
Everyone has to want to get better, and must work towards the same common goal.
The pieces definitely appear to be in place for Wisner-Pilger to have a really good 2017-2018 campaign.
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