Appleton North boys basketball takes control late in first half, cruises to win over Kimberly
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
APPLETON – Appleton North and Kimberly came into their Fox Valley Association boys basketball game on two-game conference winning streaks, and one massive run from the Lightning provided the difference.
Basketball is a game of runs and most of the Lightning’s damage came as part of a 35-8 spurt to break the game open on their way to a 71-50 victory Friday night at Appleton North High School.
Appleton North is now 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the FVA as it extends its overall winning streak to five. Kimberly drops to 4-4 and 2-3 in conference play.
“I was very proud of the kids and how they responded tonight,” Appleton North head coach Chris Kellett said. “Their pressure gave us some problems in the early stages of the game. We couldn’t find the shots we wanted to get and just weren’t crisp with the ball. Once we got them out of zone, we started to get the shots we wanted to get and they were falling.”
Even with Will Sweeney coming out strong to score the first five points for the Lightning, it was all Kimberly early as it used a 12-2 run to open up a 17-7 lead. Mikey Wildes was a big reason for that run for the Papermakers as he connected on three 3-pointers.
From that point on, it was all Appleton North as the Lightning closed out the first half on a massive run to take the lead and never look back.
Grant Hardy and Abraham Tomori got things started with their ability to drive to the hoop and pulled North within 17-15. Then came another driving layup from Nathan Ramus as North responded with a 10-0 run of their own to tie things back up 17-17.
Even with the Papermakers taking a brief lead on another triple, it was the Lightning continuing to have their way as another Ramus bucket kept things close before Matthew Rosplochowski gave the Lightning the lead for good with a 3-pointer from the corner.
North would close out the first half in dominating fashion as Hardy drove straight to the rim to beat the buzzer to cap off a 25-8 run a 32-25 lead at the break. Kellett on his team’s play once they started to settle in on both ends of the floor.
“We just started to take the shots that we wanted to take,” he said. “When we struggled earlier in the year, we were not only taking quick shots, but tough shots. Today, we were extremely patient on the offensive end and we were able to get a lot of good looks.”
As if the strong finish to the first half wasn’t good enough, why not start the second half just as strong with five quick points from Hardy continuing to build that lead. Throw in another Ramus bucket and a Sweeney 3-pointer and the Lightning opened the second half up on a 10-0 run to extend their overall run to 35-8, and a 42-25 advantage.
To their credit, the Papermakers found something that worked with the size of Landen Van Offeren leading to six consecutive points to keep things close. Aaron Cullen added a triple of his own to pull Kimberly within 11 while another Van Offeren bucket on the inside capped off a 12-2 run to cut North’s lead to 46-37.
That was as close as things would get for Kimberly as Ben Zdzieblowski responded with a big bucket on the inside followed by another transition basket from Sweeney to push the lead back up to double digits.
It was at that moment when Ramus began to take over on both ends of the floor. Not only was he getting things done on the defensive end of the floor, but he was coming through offensively to finish with 20 points. That included a stretch where he scored eight of his team’s 10 points to push the Lightning lead to 60-46.
“Ramus is a fantastic player,” Kellett said. “He leads the conference in assists and has been shooting the ball extremely well this season. He is a heck of a player that has been working extremely hard this season and with him handling the ball more often, it has led to plenty of open looks for the rest of the guys.”
Despite the efforts of Van Offeren on the inside to try and power the Papermakers back, North was too much for them in this one as they ended the game on an 11-4 run to pick up the 71-50 victory. With the win, the Lightning remain tied atop the FVA standings with Fond du Lac, Kaukauna and Neenah. North will now embark on a tough two-game stretch that begins Tuesday at Fond du Lac followed by a massive tilt with Kaukauna at home next Friday.
Lightning 71, Papermakers 50
Kimberly 25 25 – 50
Appleton North 32 39 – 71
KIMBERLY (50): Aaron Cullen 3 0-0 8, Michael Wildes 3 0-0 9, Hunter Holschuh 1 0-0 2, Ayden Lom 1 0-0 3, Ryan Buchanan 0 2-2 2, Maddox Mendoza 0 0-0 0, Bryce Mischler 0 0-0 0, Tristen Ruys 0 0-0 0, Landen Van Offeren 6 2-4 14, Kegan Pleau 2 0-0 4, Alex Krause 1 0-0 3, Ben Grabner 2 0-0 5, Will Weyenberg 0 0-0 0. FG: 19. FT: 4-8. 3-pointers: 8 (Wildes 3, Cullen 2, Lom 1, Krause 1, Grabner 1). Fouls: 7. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-4, 2-3 Fox Valley Association.
APPLETON NORTH (71): Will Sweeney 6 0-0 14, Matt Rosplochowski 3 0-0 8, Sam Kuehl 0 0-0 0, Nathan Ramus 10 0-0 20, Grant Hardy 8 0-0 18, Landen Olson 0 0-0 0, Isaac Berken 0 0-0 0, Abraham Tomori 3 0-1 6, Ben Zdzieblowski 2 0-0 5, Ethan Arft 0 0-0 0, Michael Guido 0 0-0 0, Howie Guilbeault 0 0-0 0. FG: 32. FT: 0-1. 3-pointers: 7 (Sweeney 2, Rosplochowski 2, Hardy 2, Zdzieblowski 1). Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 7-2, 4-1 Fox Valley Association.