Appleton North boys basketball surges past Kaukauna

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

KAUKAUNA – Early in the second half, the Appleton North boys basketball team was on the verge of losing its second-straight Fox Valley Association game.

The Lightning were down by nine points to host Kaukauna four minutes into the second half before a strong defensive push, led by reserve senior Will Guilbeault, and a barrage of 3-pointers led to a big surge, and another victory for North.

Appleton North finished the game on a 35-15 run, erasing that deficit, and finished off a 67-56 victory on Tuesday night at Kaukauna High School.

Nathan Ramus hit six 3-pointers, four in the closing run, and had a game-high 20 points to pace the Lightning, who are now 11-1 overall and 6-1 in the FVA, closing to within one-half game of first-place Oshkosh North (7-1) in the conference standings.

Kaukauna pulled out to a 12-3 lead before North fought back and went ahead 21-19 following 3-pointers from Sean Hansen and Ramus.

The lead went back-and-forth until the Ghosts finished the half on a 7-0 run and took a 33-28 lead into halftime.

Following a pair of baskets inside by Kaukauna’s 6-foot-10 senior center Jon O’Neill in the opening 90 seconds of the second half, Guilbeault entered the game for the first time and did his job of making it tougher for the Ghosts’ big man.

Kaukauna built its lead to 41-32 after a basket by Keegan Van Kauwenberg before North turned up the defensive pressure, holding the Ghosts scoreless for six minutes, forcing four turnovers as it made its comeback.

Ramus, Will Sweeney and Grant Hardy had 3-pointers to tie the game at 41-41. Following a three-point play by Andrew Jensen for the Ghosts, North ripped off nine points in a row to finish off an 18-3 run to take control. O’Neill would not score again until the final minute when the outcome was already decided.

“We were the aggressor,” Appleton North coach Chris Kellett said of the team’s second-half push. “We played scared in the first half. Their length is really intimidating. In the second half we hit the gaps better, we moved offensively, and Nathan Ramus got going and it was contagious.

“It was a full team effort in the second half. Will Guilbeault’s energy was awesome off the bench. He fouled out in probably eight or nine minutes, but he threw his body around, was physical and competed. His energy was contagious and I thought that was a big reason we were able to turn it around.”

Ramus drilled 3-pointers on three-straight possessions to up the Lightning’s lead to 56-46 with 3:04 remaining.

North made 7 of 9 from the free throw line in the final 1:49 and Kaukauna could not make a dent into the Lightning’s lead. A windmill breakaway dunk from Abraham Tomori closed the scoring and sent the Lightning to another victory.

Sweeney finished with 19 points, and Hardy and Hansen each chipped in nine in the win for North, ranked No. 4 in this week’s Wissports.net Division 1 state coaches poll.

“With the snow days (last week) we didn’t get to practice much, but these guys are young and maybe a little bit naïve in that they don’t know how big games are,” Kellett said. “They just get after it and compete. We were at ‘Clubhouse Live’ last night listening to the Packers talk about the same thing. I’m like, ‘This is what we are too. We’re young, not supposed to be here, start four sophomores. If you play together and compete, good things can happen.’”

Jensen and O’Neill both had 16 points for Kaukauna (8-4, 5-3 FVA).

Appleton North will host Hortonville on Friday as part of a boys-girls FVA doubleheader. The boys game starts at 6 p.m., with the girls to follow at approximately 7:45 p.m.

Lightning 67, Ghosts 56
Appleton North   28   39   –   67
Kaukauna   33   23   –   56
APPLETON NORTH (67): Will Sweeney 5-11 7-10 19, Brayden Hechel 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Ramus 7-15 0-0 20, Grant Hardy 3-7 0-0 9, Sean Hansen 3-5 2-2 9, Luke Kritzer 0-2 0-0 0, Will Guilbeault 1-1 0-0 2, Abraham Tomori 2-7 0-0 4, Ben Zdzieblowski 2-5 0-0 4. FG: 23-53. FT: 9-12. 3-pointers: 12-34 (Ramus 6-13, Hardy 3-7, Sweeney 2-7, Hansen 1-3, Kritzer 0-1, Tomori 0-3). Rebounds: 19 (Tomori 4). Turnovers: 4. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Guilbeault. Record: 11-1, 6-1 Fox Valley Association.
KAUKAUNA (56): Brody McMullin 0-0 0-0 0, Caden Graff 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Deprez 4-10 6-8 14, Andrew Jensen 6-8 3-3 16, Jonah Roehrig 0-3 0-0 0, Jon O’Neill 7-9 1-4 16, Keegan Van Kauwenberg 4-12 0-0 10. FG: 21-42. FT: 10-15. 3-pointers: 4-16 (Van Kauwenberg 2-5, Jensen 1-1, O’Neill 1-2, Roehrig 0-3, Deprez 0-5). Rebounds: 30 (Jensen 10). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record; 8-4, 5-3 Fox Valley Association.