Pacelli Upsets Bonduel
By Ken McKenzie
The Pacelli boys basketball team on Friday upset Central Wisconsin – Eight conference leader, Bonduel, getting 37 points from their scoring leader, James Gollon.
Importantly, they hit 12 of 13 free throws which yielded their win, with Gollon hitting on all seven of his attempts and Jake Elliott going four for four down the stretch with the game on the line. The Bears left Stevens Point with a 5-1 mark with the Cardinals scratching back into contention at 3-3 nearing the midway point of the conference season.
The two teams sparred in the opening frame with Bonduel taking a slim 20-18 into the first break for Coach Duke Copp. Gollon hit for nine points in the opening frame, duly supported by six points from Chris Shibilski and a trey for Troy Flugaur.
Gollon went off a bit in the second quarter, scoring 15 more before the half in an even mix of twos and threes, starting by following up on his own miss and taking the offensive rebound to the rim to tie things up at 20-all. At 6:37 Gollon drained a three-point shot from top of the key and then snared a defensive rebound and took it end to end and then added another three-pointer curl shot from the right arc inside six minutes to push the Cardinals in front, 28-20.
Shibilski split a pair of free throws and Gollon drove the left side for another score and drained a three as the Cardinals led by a dozen at 34-22. The Bears answered with a trey but then missed three consecutive free throws on multiple trips and got a scoop shot in the lane too close to seven before Troy Flugaur drained his second three-pointer on the night just before the halftime horn, leaving the Cardinals in front 37-27.
Bonduel opened the third quarter with twin hoops by Peyton Czarapata and a score by Hunter VanderLinden and a three-point play by Czarapata while the Cardinals only mustered a hoop by Shibilski as the Bears climbed back to within three at 39-36 with 4:28 to play in the third. Pacelli managed a jumper from the right baseline by Gollon to close out the quarter while Bonduel managed one more score to log an 11-4 third quarter advantage heading to the fourth, trailing by a slim 41-38 score.
Gollon hit a turn around shot in the lane to force a little more breathing room and added twin throws at 6:49 that sandwiched a Bonduel score as Pacelli clung to 45-40 lead. The Bears gained a steal and lay in to again shave the margin at 6:08 with Gollon fouled on a drive and delivering the mail on twin throws and repeating that role again shortly after a three point shot by Colton Dobratz who led the Bears on this night with 19 points.
Bonduel again insisted on interior passing for an easy score at the baseline by Trevor Pedersen to again climb to within three at 4:48 before Colin Jamison stepping into a three point shot from the right side midway up the arc to push the lead back to six at 53-47. VanderLinden answered at 3:27 and things got even tighter inside the 2:30 mark when Dobratz scored again to narrow to the again close to two.
Shibilski drove down the lane for a score at 1:47 to lift the Cardinals and Jake Elliott delivered a pair of tosses in the super-bonus at 1:11 to stretch the lead to six. The Bears continued their determined inside passing game to score and the swarming the ball put Elliott back at the line once again for another calm pair of free throws with 52.2 seconds left to again push to that half dozen margin at 59-53.
VanderLinden yet again drove for the score for Bonduel and Jake Elliott made the trip down the lane worth it all with another lay in but the Bears’ Dobratz answered with a trey from left corner at 19.1 seconds to again close to three before another pressure foul gave Gollon the final opportunity with twin free throws earning the final 63-58 margin of victory.
“We attacked the basket in most of the first half,” said Pacelli Coach Brad Rutta. “It got them (Bonduel) into some foul trouble and gave us easier looks with a wide open perimeter.” ‘
“In the third quarter we seemed to get a bit timid,” Rutta said. “We tried to hit threes and they doubled on ball screens. With a close ball game going into the fourth, we told the kids to attack the basket again.”
On the night, Bonduel shot 46 percent but made only four of ten free throws which proved critical in the eventual outcome. While shooting only 30 percent from beyond the arc, Pacelli pretty well matched Bonduel’s overall shooting, hitting 22 of 50 for 44 percent. Shibilski led the Cardinals on the boards with 11 rebounds while Gollon garnered nine.
The Pacelli win drops Bonduel back into a tie with Iola-Scandinavia who takes on Palmyra-Eagle in a non-conference game at the Just A Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells Saturday afternoon.
It also opens up the upper middle alone atop the Central Wisconsin – Eight conference nearing the halfway point of the 2014-15 campaign and Pacelli at 2-4 in the middle of the pack in conference standings.
Pacelli Scoring: Troy Flugaur 6, Jake Elliott 6, James Gollon 37 , Chris Shibilski 11 , Colin Jamison 3.
Bonduel Scoring: Trevor Pedersen 7, Preston Robaidek 2, Connor Rosin 3, Colton Dobratz 19, Hunter VanderLinden 14, Peyton Czarapata 13.
