Late hoop by Heiges leads Fox Valley Lutheran boys basketball to narrow win over Xavier

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – At long last, the high school winter sports season is underway and what better way to start than with a cross-town rivalry as the Xavier Hawks played host to the Fox Valley Lutheran Foxes in what could serve as a giant measuring stick for both boys basketball programs on Tuesday night.

The game went down to the wire as Xavier rallied from an early 10-point second-half deficit to take a two-point lead, only to have Amani Dahlke tie things up from the free throw line with just over a minute to go.

Xavier had multiple opportunities to put this game away late, including a late game layup attempt that rolled off the rim leading to a Fox Valley Lutheran break and a Gabe Heiges finish to put the Foxes in front 56-54 with just over a second to go.

Once again, Xavier had a chance to at the very worst tie things up in the final second only to miss the front end of a bonus free throw situation, leading to the clock running out. It was a big win for the Foxes in more ways than one as new head coach Tommy Stelter earns his first career victory in game No. 1 with the Foxes.

“First games are always tough,” Stelter said. “One thing we talked about pre-game was embracing the atmosphere and staying the course. I thought our guys showed a lot of resilience and grit all night. When they made their run late in the second half, we were able to come up with timely plays on both ends. Guys stepped up and hit some clutch shots. We saw some great vocal leadership from our senior captains tonight, Lucas Papendorf and Graham Feidt.”

Early on, Cole Hietpas was responsible for the first four points of the night for the Hawks who opened up a 4-1 lead. Despite Logan Ramczyk and Luke Oelhafen putting home a pair of buckets to push the Hawks’ lead to 8-3, offense was tough to come by in the early going as both teams struggled to knock down shots.

Eventually, the Foxes would start to find their rhythm with Papendorf and Feidt setting the tone. Their ability to penetrate off the dribble to create a shot in the lane opened things up for their shooters with Caleb Dahlke knocking home a pair of 3-pointers to bring the Foxes back to even at 15-15.

It didn’t take Xavier long to answer with Quinn Comerford knocking down a triple to put Xavier back in front by three. That was the beginning of what was an 8-0 run as Oelhafen and Ramczyk stretched the Hawks’ lead to 23-15. It was at that moment when the momentum suddenly shifted and all it took was a 3-pointer from Papendorf to ignite the offense as the Foxes were within 23-19.

Following an Eligh Erickson 3-pointer that pulled FVL within one, it was a pair of drives from Papendorf and Jack Schlueter that gave the Foxes a 26-23 lead as they ended the half on an 11-1 run and took a 26-24 lead into the break.

Going even further than that, the Papendorf and Feidt duo came out swinging to begin the second half as they were responsible for the Foxes’ first nine points. With Dahlke adding a three-point play shortly after, it was the Foxes in front 39-30. Stelter felt that 24-7 run was the difference in the game as the Foxes would need every bit of it at the end.

“The turning point in the game was definitely our run in the later portion of the first half,” he said. “I think with us being a relatively inexperienced team in terms of total guys who have played varsity minutes, we may have been a little shell-shocked right away. Once we settled in, saw the floor open up with cutters, and pursued the basketball on the offensive and defensive glass, things got going in the right direction.”

Despite their offensive struggles most of the night, the Hawks offense would start to figure things out and all it took was another Ramczyk triple to put an end to the Foxes’ run. The 3-pointer started a run on the other side as Xavier started to chip away at its deficit.

Trailing by five with time winding down, the outside shot continued to play a huge role for the Hawks as a pair of triples from Ramczyk and Caden Schuler put the Hawks back in front 53-52. Xavier coach Matt Klarner and his team’s offensive struggles, especially from deep.

“Early on we got great looks but couldn’t string any together,” he said. “In the second half we attacked the rim more and got some easy ones, but overall, it wasn’t a great night from the 3-point line or free throw line.”

Xavier managed to tack on an Oelhafen free throw a few seconds later to push its lead to 54-52 with just over a minute to play, but that was it for their offense.

“Effort and intensity were better in the second half,” Klarner said. “Definitely some lessons our team can learn from.”

Dahlke managed to draw a foul and sank both free throws to tie things up for the Foxes. That was followed by a missed layup attempt on the Hawks’ end leading to the fast break the other way to set up Heiges, who took care of the rest.

Needing two points to send the game into overtime, Xavier had the ball with just over a second to go and managed to draw a foul with 0.4 seconds remaining. All the Hawks needed to do was knock down a pair of free throws and the game would be heading to overtime, but the free throw attempt clanked off the rim and the Foxes came away with a 56-54 win.

“There are nights where shots aren’t falling and you run into lulls on the offensive end,” Stelter said. “I think this can especially happen early in the season as shooters are still finding their in-game rhythm. One thing we hope to pride ourselves on this year is our constant, relentless effort on the defensive end. When shots aren’t falling, you need to find a way to generate your offense through your defense.”

Papendorf finished with 16 points and Caleb Dahlke added 13 for the Foxes.

Ramczyk topped the Hawks (1-1) with 16 points, while Oelhafen chipped in 11.

Both teams will hit the road Thursday as FVL opens its North Eastern Conference season at Oconto Falls and Xavier travels to Kettle Moraine Lutheran for a nonconference tilt.

Foxes 56, Hawks 54
Fox Valley Lutheran   26   30   –   54
Xavier   24   30   –   54
FOX VALLEY LUTHERAN (54): Gabe Heiges 4, Eligh Erickson 5, Graham Feidt 8, Malik Schedler 2, Lucas Papendorf 16, Amani Dahlke 8, Caleb Dahlke 13. Record: 1-0.
XAVIER (54): Logan Ramczyk 16, Kyler Bleck 3, Caden Schuler 6, Joe Gallucci 6, Jonah Gentry 0, Quinn Comerford 3, Grant Neumann 0, Cole Hietpas 9, Luke Oelhafen 11. Record: 1-1.