BOYS BASKETBALL: Westosha boys still perfect in SLC

Jaeden Zackery, shown here against Lake Geneva Badger, scored 10 points for the Falcons against Waterford (Heather Ruenz/The Report).

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

Marked by a 16-0 first-half run, Westosha Central High School stayed unbeaten in Southern Lakes Conference play, following a 71-45 boys basketball defeat of visiting Waterford Jan. 6.

The Falcons’ victory keeps them atop the SLC standings at 4-0, and improves their overall record to 6-3. They’ve won three of their last four contests.

According to coach James Hyllberg, the first half run, which gave them a 40-20 lead entering halftime, was key to the Falcons’ decision.

“It was about coming out and playing with intensity, move the ball, take care of the ball and take some good shots and we did that,” said Hyllberg, who also credited Westosha Central’s ball control.

“We only had eight turnovers.”

Midway through the first half, with Westosha Central down 11-10, Falcons’ 5-foot-10 senior guard Tre Williams sparked the 16-0 run with a 3-pointer to give them a 13-10 edge.

Williams, who finished with a game-high 14 points, scored 12 in the first half.

Williams said the Falcons needed to make an immediate statement.

“A lot of games this season, we have come out slow, where we kind of started to pick it up in the second half,” said Williams. “It was about coming out with intensity in the first half as well as the second half.”

Following Williams’ shot from the perimeter, 6-3 sophomore Dylan Anderson added back-to-back buckets, before 6-4 junior forward Cooper Brinkman made one of two free throws.

From there, 6-0 sophomore guard Jaeden Zackery, who finished with 10 points, made back-to-back buckets before 6-4 junior forward Joey Gilliland added one of his own.

Gilliland finished with 11 points.

Adam Simmons, a 6-0 sophomore guard, capped off the rally with a basket to give the Falcons a 26-11 edge.

Waterford 6-4 junior forward Will Busch, who scored a team-leading 12 points, halted the 16-0 run with a basket before the Falcons produced a 14-7 rally to close out the first half.

Entering the second half, Westosha Central opened with a 12-0 run, starting with a Lucas Graveley basket and ending with a Zackery basket and free throw to pull the Falcons ahead 52-20.

With a 32-point lead, Hyllberg opted to remove all of his starters to give the Falcons’ bench minutes on the floor.

“We had a big lead, we didn’t want to risk injuries to our starters, and get our bench some minutes,” said Hyllberg.

Rounding out the starters were 5-10 junior Nic Frederick, who had nine points, and Graveley with four.

Bench scorers were Brinkman (3 points), Anderson (6), Simmons (8), 6-2 senior forward Bailey Menarek (6) and 6-0 senior guard Jack Schroeder (2).

Waterford dropped to 1-8 (1-3 SLC) after the loss to Westosha Central.


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