Big games are nothing new to the Bonduel boys basketball team.
Nobody knows that more than Duke Copp, who coached the Bears to a spot in the WIAA Division 4 state championship game last season and a 50-44 win over Iola-Scandinavia Dec. 5 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-East opener for both teams.
“Our kids have played in a lot of big games, not only basketball, but football and baseball,” Copp said. “They’ve been through a lot of big games. It definitely helps.”
The Bears won the CWC-East last season with a 14-0 record, while the Thunderbirds tied for second with Wittenberg-Birnamwood with an 11-3 mark. Both teams are considered the favorites to win a championship this season.
The Thunderbirds played its home opener without injured starter Alex Robbins.
“Everyone’s saying it’s between us and Iola, but I don’t know there’s a weak team in our conference,” Copp said. “When the schedule came out, we said, ‘This is going to be a tough one.’ We expected that.
“They were undermanned tonight, so they were going on emotion. (Coach Sam Bertsch) always gets them to play well. This is a tough place to play. We always struggle here.”
Bonduel took an early 6-1 lead and led by six points twice in the first half before the Thunderbirds used a 9-0 run to turn a 15-11 deficit into a 20-15 lead.
The Bears responded with a 10-2 run that included a 3-pointer from Jack Weier that tied the game at 25-25. Carter Moesch added a basket later in the half that gave Bonduel a 27-25 lead at the break, and the Bears never trailed again.
Jack Zernicke scored the first six points of the second half on a pair of baskets and two free throws that gave the Bears a 33-25 lead.
Iola-Scandinavia later cut the deficit to one point twice, including once on a Korz Loken basket with 2:20 remaining in the game that cut Bonduel’s lead to 45-44. However, the Thunderbirds turned the ball over on two straight possessions in the final 40 seconds, and the Bears sealed the win by scoring three of their final five points from the free-throw line.
Moesch led Bonduel with 12 points, while Weier added nine, and Quinn Wesenberg and Ryan Westrich chipped in with eight each.
Alex Zielke and Loken led the Thunderbirds with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Bonduel and Iola-Scandinavia had opened the season Dec. 2 with convincing nonconference wins over St. Mary Catholic and Stratford, respectively.
“We try to go one game at a time, like all coaches would say, but obviously, we like to do well in the conference and see where we go with that,” Copp said. “We are definitely a work in progress, and what’s good for us is we have a couple of wins, but we have a lot to work on. As a coach, that’s the best of both worlds.
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle going in even with them missing a few kids. We’re fortunate to get out of here with a win, but we had to battle adversity all night long. I’m proud of the kids for handling that.”
