Oconto Falls boys basketball team falls against Lux-Casco

The Oconto Falls High School boys basketball team had a valiant comeback effort come up a little bit short in a 77-64 North Eastern Conference loss to Luxemburg-Casco on Jan. 20 in Oconto Falls.

Slow starts to each half had the Panthers playing from behind all night. Oconto Falls trailed by around 20 points for much of the second half and were down 67-43 with under nine minutes to play, but the hosts whittled that deficit down to nine eventually, and might have come even closer had it not been for some ill-timed infractions.

After falling behind 67-43, Alex Haines got Oconto Falls going with a free throw before Caden Birr hit a shot.

After a Lux-Casco basket, Oconto Falls scored nine unanswered points. Carter Hill hit two shots before a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Birr.

Hill had another basket sandwiched between two field goals from the visitors, making it a 15-point contest with about 4:20 to play.

Oconto Falls continued to apply heavy pressure on defense and then attack the rim on offense, and scored six straight points to trim it to a nine-point game with two minutes to play still. Hill hit another shot before Haines made back-to-back buckets.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, that’s where the comeback effort stopped. Oconto Falls was tagged with a pair of technical fouls in a 32-second span, which took away all the team’s momentum, and allowed Lux-Casco to push its lead back up to 12. The hosts didn’t score after the technical fouls were assessed.

“It’s tough losing a lot of games, especially at home. It was a big night (including parent’s night, a fan giveaway and a cancer collection) — we didn’t want it to be a 20-point blowout like that,” said Oconto Falls’ Kody Vorpahl of the team’s comeback effort. “It gave us all the heart for us to kind of battle back there towards the end there, get it a close game. The two techs at the end ruined the whole momentum, but otherwise the fans, student section gave us the energy to keep playing, keep playing for each other.”

In what’s been a tough year for the team, which has its senior players playing under their fourth different head coach in four years, Haines called the comeback effort “progress.”

“We’re working towards next year,” said Haines, a junior. “Those young guys are starting to get good and stuff is starting to come together. I’m looking forward to next year and seeing what we can come to.”

Haines was the Panthers’ top scorer on the night with 19 points. His 10 points paced the team in the first half and kept Lux-Casco from getting too far ahead. Vorpahl scored eight of his 10 points in the opening half to also help out.

Haines and Vorpahl each hit free throws in the early going, but the team’s first field goal didn’t come until about four minutes into the game when Braden Vandermoss converted a fastbreak chance. By then, the visitors already had an 11-5 advantage. A couple more 3-pointers made it 17-5.

Oconto Falls finally got going offensively with a 6-0 run. Haines and Vorpahl made shots before Vorpahl hit two free throws.

Vorpahl also made the team’s next shot, but by the time the Panthers scored again, the visiting Spartans were up 20 points, 34-14.

“I think we just get lazy on defense, that’s really all it is,” said Vorpahl. “We focus a lot on scoring on offense and kind of are out of breath on the defensive end, don’t want to work as hard, don’t want to rebound. That’s what really kills us …”

Vorpahl hit a free throw to halt the Lux-Casco run, and Haines followed with a 3-pointer. Vandermoss later scored on a fastbreak, while Hill and Haines combined for four free throws to help the team go into halftime down just 13, 36-23.

Things spiraled out of control quickly in the second half though, as Lux-Casco scored on its first four possessions to go ahead 47-23. The teams then traded baskets for the next several minutes before Oconto Falls went on its strong run in the final eight minutes.

Hill and Birr joined Haines and Vorpahl in double figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Vandermoss was the only other Panther to score, finishing with six points.

Lux-Casco 36 41 — 77

Oconto Falls 23 41 — 64

Lux-Casco (77): Braeden Schley 1-2 3, Joshua Parins 0-0 8, Chase Bukouricz 5-6 18, Jack Rollin 3-6 17, Lance Cherovsky 0-1 8, Ethan Vandenhouten 1-2 7, Caleb Blohowiak 0-2 16.

Oconto Falls (64): Alex Haines 8-11 19, Braden Vandermoss 0-0 6, Kody Vorpahl 4-6 10, Caden Birr 3-4 14, Carter Hill 1-2 15.

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