Basketball: Shawano boys topple Preble at Sun Drop Shootout

GREEN BAY — The Shawano Community High School girls and boys basketball teams got the opportunity to compete at the Kress Center for the Sun Drop Shootout on Friday.

The boys team took advantage, claiming a hard-fought 75-60 win over Green Bay Preble. The Shawano girls came up short in a 67-61 setback to Manitowoc Lincoln.

Weisnicht, Sherman power Shawano boys

The senior duo of Carter Weisnicht and Nick Sherman led the Shawano boys on the offensive end in the victory over Preble. Weisnicht scored 31 points, while Sherman tallied 24.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half, with Weisnicht scoring the Hawks first eight points.

Trailing 16-8, Shawano got back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Ethan Schwitzer and Sherman to get back in it. Schwitzer, Weisnicht and freshman Jacob Landon then converted field goals to put the Hawks ahead.

Preble was able to work back out to a four-point lead, 29-25, but the Hawks ended the half on an 12-4 run. Shawano senior Brayden Dickelman converted an and-one before junior Joe Mente made two free throws. Weisnicht and Sherman each made field goals before Sherman buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 37-33.

“It wasn’t a great start to the game, but we got hot. I hit a few 3s outside that kind of got everybody going and then everyone started clicking and meshing together. Everyone was scoring after that,” said Weisnicht.

Shawano was able to create a bit of a cushion at the start of the second half behind strong 3-point shooting and better defense.

Weisnicht again got the Hawks rolling, hitting two 3s and adding another bucket to give Shawano a 45-37 lead.

Sherman then caught fire from deep, hitting three triples before Mente drilled a 3 to push the lead to 13, 59-46, with 11:24 to play.

“I think we were being aggressive, and then when it came down to it, they started trying to stop us from getting to the hole and then we were able to kick it out and hit some 3s,” said Sherman of the team’s offense. “It kept going back-and-forth and we got to that point where it was a really good flow and balance between shooting and getting to the rim and free throw line.”

While Shawano wasn’t able to keep the momentum going the rest of the game, the team was able to convert enough of its free throws down the stretch to hold the lead and seal up a win.

It was Weisnicht and Sherman who confidently stepped to the line and knocked down the free throws. The duo combined to score the team’s final 16 points and had all but five of the team’s 38 second-half points.

The Hawks are hoping the win can help the team pick up some momentum heading into the new year.

“Obviously, you want to get back to those positive feelings,” said Shawano coach David Ambrosius on the team snapping a two-game losing streak. “That (56-55) loss last week in Menasha really left a sour taste in our mouth and we thought we left one on the table there — there was a lot of things that we needed to do better. But the kids really bought in to what we needed to improve on. They came out here tonight and I really liked the energy and aggressiveness that we came out with.”

Shawano 37 38 — 75

Green Bay Preble 33 27 — 60

Shawano (75): Nick Sherman 5-8 24, Sam Schulze 0-0 3, Joe Mente 2-2 7, Jacob Landon 0-0 2, Ethan Schwitzer 0-0 5, Brayden Dickelman 1-2 3, Carter Weisnicht 7-9 31.

Green Bay Preble (60): Nathan VanSeth 1-1 6, Nic Tuscan 5-5 15, Evan Holm 1-3 9, Connor Novitski 0-0 5, Ashton Markell 4-7 21, Mike Schultz Jr. 0-0 4.

Shawano girls cannot hold on to halftime lead

It was a tale of two halves in the girls matchup between Shawano and Manitowoc Lincoln. Shawano dominated the first half, but Manitowoc Lincoln outscored the Hawks 53-25 in the second half to come away with the win.

It was sophomore Brianna Wright and junior Rachel Reed that powered Shawano in its 36-point first half outburst.

Reed hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points as the Hawks jumped out to a 12-5 lead. Shawano was able to extend the lead to 15, 23-8, after field goals from Wright, Reed and junior Avery Dreier before Wright carried the team to halftime.

Wright hit a 3-pointer, added a field goal and hit two free throws to make it a 30-14 game. Wright then hit two more 3s before the halftime buzzer sounded to give Shawano a commanding lead.

“We really had our fundamentals down and our press really worked good for us,” said Wright on the first half. “We trapped really well, executed and communicated.”

Manitowoc Lincoln opened the second half on a 10-4 run, but Shawano got field goals from junior Lydia Beyer and sophomore Brooke Theis to bump the lead back up to 18, 44-26, with 14:16 to play.

The Ships went on a 9-0 run after the timeout to cut the deficit to single digits and force a Shawano timeout. The Hawks couldn’t get the momentum swung back in their favor, eventually seeing their lead shrink to just three with 10:21 left.

Dreier scored the next six points for Shawano to make it 52-44, but Manitowoc Lincoln went on a 13-0 run to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“It looked to me like we relaxed a little bit, especially on the defensive end,” said Shawano coach Ryan Koenig of the second half. “When you do that and then shots don’t go down, the other team catches up. Once they get momentum in a half game versus quarters, it really makes a big difference.”

Shawano 36 25 — 61

Manitowoc Lincoln 14 53 — 67

Manitowoc Lincoln (67): Emily Bulaban 3-5 9, Claire Swoboda 2-3 24, Lauren Delmore 7-9 18, Cayla Gunderson 3-4 13, Hannah Goral 0-0 2, Moore 1-2 1.

Shawano (61): Lydia Beyer 3-7 7, Brianna Wright 8-8 23, Rachel Reed 0-0 10, Taylor Johnson 0-0 4, Brooke Theis 0-0 6, Avery Dreier 1-3 11.

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