Westosha boys snap losing steak at Elkhorn

Westosha Central’s Tre Williams dashes to the hoop in a recent game. The Falcons snapped a six-game losing streak with a big win over Elkhorn. (Photo by Earlene Frederick)
Westosha Central’s Tre Williams dashes to the hoop in a recent game. The Falcons snapped a six-game losing streak with a big win over Elkhorn. (Photo by Earlene Frederick)

By Dan Truttschel

Sports Correspondent

The monkey is finally off the backs of the Westosha Central boys basketball team.

But it certainly wasn’t easy.

Central saw an eight-point halftime lead disappear in the third quarter, but overcame that in the fourth for a 55-52 Southern Lakes Conference win Jan. 30 at Elkhorn.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak and improved the Falcons to 3-6 in the SLC and 8-9 overall.

“We have been close (to snapping the streak) a couple of times,” Central coach Gordon Nikolic said. “It’s good to have that behind us.”

Central hit 10 3-pointers in the game to just one for Elkhorn, a 30-3 scoring advantage that played a big role in the win, Nikolic said.

“We had been struggling (shooting threes),” he said.

When Elkhorn got back in the game, it did at the free-throw line, Nikolic said. For the game, the Elks outscored the Falcons 13-9 from the charity stripe.

“They got to the line much more than us,” he said. “We were undisciplined for a stretch.”

But in the fourth quarter, when the Falcons needed it most, they did just enough to pull out the win. Central held Elkhorn to just two field goals in the period

“We had great (defensive) stops,” Nikolic said. “We willed ourselves to victory.”

Ben Graveley led the way with 12 points, followed by Kyle Foulke and Ron Hall with 11 and Jordan Easthon with 10. Foulke made three 3-pointers, while Graveley had two.

Central opened the week with a 65-49 loss Jan. 27 to visiting Badger.

The game was close early, as Badger led 18-16 after the first quarter before it slowly pulled away. Badger held a 32-28 halftime advantage, but outscored the Falcons 33-21 the last two quarters.

“We played well for three quarters, (but) had 20 turnovers,” Nikolic said. “That is never good. We made shots, but gave away too many possessions.”

Hall had a team-high 19 points for the Falcons, followed by Graveley with eight and Williams with seven. Central played the game without Foulke because of the flu.

Central was back in action Thursday night at rival Wilmot, followed by a home game next Tuesday, Feb. 10, against visiting Delavan-Darien.

The Falcons split their first meetings with both teams earlier this season. Central beat Wilmot 79-71 Dec. 19, but fell 89-86 in a shootout Jan. at Delavan.

Heading into action this week, Badger leads the SLC standings a 8-1, followed by Burlington at 7-2, Wilmot and Waterford at 6-3, Central at 3-6 and Union Grove, Elkhorn and Delavan at 2-7.


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