Two big runs push Xavier boys basketball past New London

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – With less than a month remaining in the high school boys basketball regular season, the Bay Conference has come down to a two-team race with Xavier railing first-place West De Pere by one game. These teams have been on a collision course for some time and will meet on Feb. 13 in what will likely decide the conference champion.

In the meantime, the Hawks must take care of the business in front of them, which started with a matchup against New London on Monday night at Torchy Clark Gymnasium.

Despite the Bulldogs coming to play and using the 3-point shot to punch the Hawks in the mouth, a pair of runs made the difference, including a 36-14 spurt to close out the first half, and lifted Xavier past the Bulldogs 71-55.

“Great team effort,” Xavier head coach Matt Klarner said. “Several players have been under the weather this week, and we had foul trouble throughout the game. Our bench really stepped up and gave us solid minutes.”

The 3-point shot was a massive part of both team’s success with the Hawks knocking down 10 threes on 27 attempts while New London nearly matched them on the other. Cole Hietpas got the scoring started with a 3-pointer to put the Hawks in front, that was about the only good thing in the early going for Xavier.

Led by back-to-back triples from Parker Heise and Ryan Dalhoe, the Bulldogs grabbed the 6-3 lead and had the Hawks searching for answers. They continued to make the Xavier defense pay as Brett Marquardt knocked down the Bulldogs third 3 in the early going to cap off a 12-0 run to put them in front 12-3.

As is the case more often than not, basketball is a game of runs and after the Hawks managed to weather the Bulldogs run it was time for a run of their own and one that virtually changed the entire outcome of the game. Logan Ramczyk had the hot hand all night for Xavier as he went on to score the next seven points and 10 of its next 18 points as part of a 17-point first half. Ramczyk led all scorers with 23 points as the Hawks offense was starting to settle in.

Not only did Ramczyk have the hot hand, but Kyler Bleck was starting to get involved on the inside as the Hawks ripped off a 17-0 run to take control of the game 20-12. They would continue to have their way with the Bulldogs as Ramczyk knocked down two more triples later in the half to push the Hawks lead to 31-14, finishing off a massive 28-2 run.

“We knew they were a team streaky from three and they started the game hot,” Klarner said. “I thought we stayed consistent with our closeouts and were able to stem the tide. I also thought we responded from their run with some really good offensive possessions to build a lead. I was proud of our offensive execution.”

New London did its best to battle back late in the half with Joseph Daly going to work on the inside while also stepping outside to knock down a late 3-pointer, but with the Hawks using a 36-12 run to end the first half, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 39-24 at the break. Like in the first half, the Bulldogs came out firing to begin the second half as it was their turn to use the outside shot to jump start a run.

Marquardt got things started with a quick triple, which opened things up for Daly and Camron Taylor in the paint. As if one 3-pointer wasn’t enough, Marquardt continued to make the Hawks defense pay as he connected on back-to-back from long range a few minutes later to cap off what was a 16-4 run, and just like that the Hawks’ lead was cut to 43-40.

Despite all the momentum that the Bulldogs were gaining, all it took was back-to-back 3-pointers from Luke Oelhafen and Caden Schuler to put the Hawks back in front 49-40. Klarner loved the way his team responded not only from this run, but from the early New London spurt in the first half.

“I thought our interior defense was on point all night, but when you are defending inside you can give up some threes, and that’s what happened at the start of both halves,” he said. “Our kids were checked in on the scouting report and we were able to outlast them.”

Trailing by nine with the midway point of the second half approaching, the Bulldogs knew they were going to need offense in a hurry, but with the 3-point shot suddenly struggling to go down, they would need to find other ways to score. Going inside to Cory Brooker and Daly was a good start, but the Hawks wouldn’t let them get too close as Grant Neumann triple pushed the lead back to double digits and closed out another strong 15-4 run.

With the Bulldogs (7-10, 4-5 Bay Conference) still within striking distance and needing a stop, it was Ramczyk who put an end to it as he knocked down one of his six 3-pointers to push the Hawks lead to 17 and they never looked back. It was the perfect exclamation point for a player who has come on strong this season and has helped the Hawks get into the position they are in.

“Logan continues to improve each week,” Klarner said. “I thought he found a good balance of playing, hunting his shot, attacking the hoop, and making plays for his teammates.  His continued development as a well-rounded point guard has been huge for us.”

The final five minutes of the game saw both teams exchange buckets with the Hawks doing damage from the free throw line and the field itself. All that resulted in their 71-55 victory as the Hawks (14-5, 8-1 Bay Conference) keep pace with front-running West De Pere (9-0 Bay) in the standings.

With the win, Xavier has won two straight and nine of its last 11. The Hawks will look to keep things rolling as they host Green Bay East on Tuesday night before heading to Menasha on Friday.

Hawks 71, Bulldogs 55
New London   25   30   –   55
Xavier   39   32   –   71
NEW LONDON (55): Ryan Dalhoe 8, Nick Ploederl 2, Reid Oberstadt 2, Brett Marquardt 12, Camron Taylor 16, Cory Brooker 2, Joseph Daly 10, Parker Heise 3. Record: 7-10, 4-5 Bay Conference.
XAVIER (71): Logan Ramczyk 7-18 6-8 23, Kyler Bleck 6-11 5-6 19, Caden Schuler 2-5 0-0 5, Joe Gallucci 1-3 0-0 2, Jonah Gentry 0-2 0-0 0, Quinn Comerford 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Neumann 2-2 0-2 5, Cole Hietpas 3-6 0-0 7, Luke Oelhafen 4-7 0-0 10. FG: 25-54. FT: 11-16. 3-pointers: 10-27 (Ramczyk 3-9, Bleck 2-5, Oelhafen 2-5, Neumann 1-1, Schuler 1-2, Hietpas 1-3, Gentry 0-2). Rebounds: 35 (Oelhafen 9). Record: 14-5, 8-1 Bay Conference.