Strong finish propels Hawks boys basketball team to Sun Drop Shootout win

The Shawano Community High School boys basketball team let a comfortable lead slip away, but ended the game strong to claim a 56-47 win over Green Bay Southwest in a Sun Drop Shootout contest on Dec. 27 at the Kress Center in Green Bay.

Shawano led for a good majority of the game and looked to be in control up 44-35 with under nine minutes to play, but Green Bay Southwest rallied and eventually tied things at 46 with under five minutes to go.

The Hawks called two timeouts to regroup and did just that in ending the game on a 12-4 run.

“It really just came down to our coach (David Ambrosius) telling us to calm down. We turned the ball over and just weren’t playing smart, not taking good shots — we just had to relax. When we were playing our game, we were winning that game, so that’s just what we did,” said Shawano’s Michael Metcalf-Grassman.

“Coach called that timeout, which was a good chance for us to regroup and really take a step back and think about what we were doing wrong and what we could do better,” said Shawano’s Jacob Landon. “That regroup probably propelled us to get those good looks.”

After calling timeout after Southwest got within a point, 44-43, Julian Perez converted a tough shot near the rim. Green Bay tied it with a 3-pointer, but Landon got the lead back for Shawano after hitting a shot.

After another Shawano timeout, Metcalf-Grassman made an acrobatic layup to push the lead to four, 50-46.

Shawano sealed the game from the free throw line. The Hawks converted three one-and-one opportunities in the final minute-plus, with Metcalf-Grassman making two free throws and Luke Guenther hitting four.

The win in the battle of one-loss teams pushed Shawano to 8-1 on the season.

“We looked at this game and we really wanted to win it,” said Landon. “They got a win over a team that was our only loss, West De Pere. We wanted to keep turning heads and take a win.”

“We always love to play big games and when you can win them, that’s a big boost in our confidence,” said Metcalf-Grassman. “We’re going to take this into our next matchup (versus) D.C. Everest.”

The senior added the team’s goal was to reach 20 wins this season and that sometimes “you have to win the ugly ones. We didn’t play well, and I don’t know if they played their best, but we came out with the win. It’s nice that we can win these games too.”

Metcalf-Grassman led a balanced Shawano scoring attack with 15 points, while Landon added 12 points. Metcalf-Grassman, Landon and Logan Sipple all scored eight first-half points to help the Hawks to a 33-26 halftime lead.

Sipple provided a great spark off the bench, attacking the rim early and often. He got to the free throw line on three different occasions.

Guenther finished the game with nine points, with seven coming at the free throw line. Brandon Reed chipped in seven points.

Shawano jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind points from Metcalf-Grassman, Reed and Landon.

Southwest tightened things up before a 9-0 Shawano run made it a 22-12 game. Sipple scored four of the points, while Metcalf-Grassman hit another field goal and Landon buried a triple.

Green Bay outscored Shawano by three the rest of the half to stay within striking distance.

Shawano pushed the lead to 12 after Metcalf-Grassman hit a free throw, Guenther converted a shot and Metcalf-Grassman had a steal and dunk early in the second half.

Southwest answered with a quick 7-0 spurt to get back in the game. Reed hit a 3-pointer and Landon made a shot to briefly halt Green Bay’s second-half push.

GB Southwest 26 21 — 47

Shawano 33 23 — 56

Shawano (56): Logan Sipple 4-6 8, Luke Guenther 7-8 9, Julian Perez 0-0 5, Michael Metcalf-Grassman 3-4 15, Jacob Landon 0-0 12, Brandon Reed 2-2 7.

Green Bay Southwest (47): Jack VanBoxtel 2-2 2, Micah Johnson 0-0 2, Connor Pytleski 3-6 18, Gavin Yang 0-0 2, Nick Ristow 0-0 2, Chris Seals 0-0 14, Miles Rauschenbach 0-0 7.

sports@newmedia-wi.com