A different player steps up every game for the Shawano Community High School boys basketball team.
Sajen Knueppel took his turn Friday in a 50-38 win over Bay Conference foe New London.
Knueppel, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, came off the bench to score six points in the second quarter and spark the Hawks after a quiet first quarter.
With about seven minutes left in the half, Knueppel drove the lane to the basket and tied the game at 9-9. He then forced a turnover midcourt and made the layup.
“He’s had some rough times toward the start,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “Him and I have talked quite a bit. Tonight, gosh, I can’t say a single thing negative about him. He really saved us; he was the catalyst.”
Knueppel finished the game with 11 points, two steals and a team-high seven rebounds.
“He stayed in there the entire second half and sucked it up,” Kellett said. “I’m proud of that young man.”
All of Shawano’s 13 points in the second quarter came from bench players.
“It makes it tough coaching,” Kellett said. “There’s 10 or 11 guys that can play. It’s a great, tough luxury to have. It must be tough to scout against us because there’s a lot they have to worry about.”
New London would tie the game at 13-13 on a Ryan Wolf 3-pointer, but Kyle Raddant, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, hit a 3 to give the Hawks the lead.
Shawano stayed ahead the rest of the way, building a big lead after halftime with a 13-4 run fueled by 3s from Knueppel and senior Clint Dallas.
“One person who doesn’t get a lot of credit is Clint Dallas,” Kellett said. “He does all the little things and it’s hard for me to keep him off the court.”
Shawano targeted Wolf and Jacob Pinch in the second half, holding them to five and 12 points respectively.
“We really wanted to run Wolf and Pinch off their shots because they are a couple of excellent shooters,” Kellett said. “I thought Sajen and Zack (Sousek) had those two guys. Travis Geenen did an excellent job defensively, too.”
Sousek, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, led Shawano with 14 points, getting nine in the fourth quarter.
In junior varsity action, Shawano beat New London 45-34.
New London (38)
Porath 4 1-1 9, Wolf 2 0-0 5, Pinch 4 202 12, Thomas 0 2-2 2, Krueger 0 2-2 2, Barrington 1 1-3 3, Thiemer 0 1-2 1, Zaddack 1 1-2 4
Shawano (50)
Geenen 1 0-0 2, Sousek 5 4-6 14, Schlise 1 0-2 2, Cox 1 1-4 3, Gueths 0 1-2 1, Dallas 3 0-0 8, Quinn 1 0-0 2, Knueppel 5 0-0 11, Raddant 1 0-0 3, Lacy 1 0-0 2, Wilber 1 0-0 2
New London 7 9 6 16 — 38
Shawano 7 13 14 16 — 50
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