Suring boys basketball team downs Lena in low-scoring affair

The Suring High School boys basketball team snapped a two-game losing skid and picked up its second Marinette & Oconto Conference win after taking down Lena 49-33 on Dec. 12 in Suring.

Suring jumped out to a 13-0 lead and then withstood a second-half charge by Lena before pulling away late.

During the 13-0 start to the contest, Suring racked up several offensive rebounds, leading to a bunch of second-chance points. Defensively, the Eagles’ zone defense flustered the Wildcats into several turnovers.

“I feel like the 13-point lead, it really got us going because I mean if we didn’t have that, it might have been harder for us to keep the lead throughout the whole game,” said Suring’s Trent VanDenElzen, who scored seven of the 13 points at the start of the game and finished with a game-leading 19 points.

“I feel like it was very important because we kind of struggled motivating the rest of the team and getting the game going the rest of the way,” said Suring’s Maxwell Yancy. “That 13-0 lead definitely led off the whole game for us and kind of created a path for us the rest of the game.”

VanDenElzen scored the game’s first points about two minutes in and followed that up with a 3-pointer about three minutes into action. Yancy and Ethan Lally followed with buckets before VanDenElzen hit a couple free throws. Yancy capped the big run with a basket off an offensive rebound.

Mason Spice finally got Lena on the scoreboard about eight minutes into the game. Baskets from Reed Hosking and Sidney Sylvester capped a 6-2 run for the Wildcats and forced Suring into a timeout.

The scoring slowed after that, with the teams trading one basket over the next three-plus minutes.

Buckets from Mason Ferrell and Quinn Thompson had Suring threatening to run away with the game again, but a Hosking 3-pointer and two free throws from Logan Graef kept Lena in it. Suring ended the half with two free throws from Ferrell and a basket from Lally to make it 25-13.

VanDenElzen tallied Suring’s first four points of the second half before Lally connected on a triple to make it 32-16.

Just when Suring appeared to be in complete control, Lena fought its way back into it.

A Caleb Schlosser triple and back-to-back buckets from Anthony Seefeldt highlighted an 8-1 run for the Wildcats.

“We’ve had a few games we’ve lost already but we’re starting to learn to keep our heads up and keep moving and that’ll make strides for us this year,” said Hosking of the team’s comeback effort.

A basket from Graef brought Lena within seven, but Suring pulled away after that.

VanDenElzen turned in a personal 5-0 run to help the Eagles go back ahead by double digits. Yancy later scored four straight points to give the hosts a 42-29 advantage with under five minutes to play.

“Just mentally. Mentally keeping each other in check and then keeping each other accountable,” said Yancy on how the team was able to respond to Lena’s second-half push. “Just keep moving the ball around and being basketball players.”

Suring coasted to the win after that, with Trent Thompson, Ashtyn Edwards, VanDenElzen and Yancy scoring the team’s final few points.

The win got Suring back in the win column. After starting the year 3-0, the Eagles dropped back-to-back games.

“It feels really good since we had a two-game losing streak after we went 3-0,” said VanDenElzen of the win. “Now we got another win in conference, so it’s a big (confidence) booster for us.”

Behind VanDenElzen’s 19-point game, Yancy was second on the team with 11 points. Lally chipped in seven points, while Ferrell had six.

The Wildcats left the gym most focused on limiting their turnovers moving forward.

“Stay strong with the ball and take care of the ball. The more we do that, the more shots we’ll be able to get off,” said Hosking.

Hosking led Lena with seven points on the night. Spice and Seefeldt each added five points.

Lena 13 20 — 33

Suring 25 24 — 49

Suring (49): Quinn Thomson 0-0 2, Trent Thomson 0-0 2, Ethan Lally 0-1 7, Trent VanDenElzen 8-12 19, Ashtyn Edwards 2-2 2, Maxwell Yancy 5-6 11, Mason Ferrell 2-6 6.

Lena (33): Mason Spice 0-0 5, Evan Vander Zanden 0-0 2, Reed Hosking 0-0 7, Logan Graef 2-4 4, Sidney Sylvester 2-2 4, Wyatt Dean 0-2 2, Caleb Schlosser 1-2 4, Anthony Seefeldt 1-2 5.

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