The top-ranked and defending WIAA Division 1 State
Champion Stevens Point Senior High School (SPASH) boys basketball jumped out to
an early lead and cruised past second-ranked Germantown (7-2) at the 11th
annual Rick Majerus Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook (WBY) Shootout at Concordia
University in Mequon Wednesday, Dec. 30.

The Panthers (9-0, 2-0) built a 24-4 lead midway through
the first half and rolled the rest of the way to a 77-64 victory.

Wednesday night was a rematch of the 2015 WIAA
Division 1 State Championship Game, when then-second-ranked SPASH knocked off
top-ranked and three-time defending State Champion Germantown 67-51 at the Kohl
Center in Madison March 21.

The Panthers entered the WBY Shootout following wins
over Sauk Prairie (61-52) Sunday, Dec. 27, and eighth-ranked Muskego (81-56)
Monday, Dec. 28, at the Sentry Classic, while Germantown was coming off an 87-79
loss at ninth-ranked Hartland Arrowhead Tuesday, Dec. 22.

SPASH took control early Wednesday, as it started the
game on a 6-0 run and used a three-point play from senior guard Ted Kearney to
build an 11-2 lead with 13:38 left in the first half.

Following a Germantown basket that made it 11-4,
senior guard Trev Anderson knocked down a pair of three-pointers, and sophomore
forward Joey Hauser had a three-point play to close out a 13-0 run that pushed
the Panthers’ lead to 24-4 with 10:01 remaining in the first half.

Germantown 6-0 senior point guard and NCAA Division 1
Northern Iowa recruit Juwan McCloud scored his first basket of the game later
in the half to make it 26-14, and following a 6-0 spurt from SPASH that
increased its lead to 32-14, McCloud hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull
Germantown within 32-20.

However, Anderson buried a three-pointer, knocked down
a pair of free throws and then hit another three-pointer with two seconds left
to give the Panthers a 40-22 lead at halftime, as he had 20 points in the first
half. Joey Hauser scored 11, and senior forward Sam Hauser added six.

After Germantown opened the second half with a layup
to make it 40-24, senior guard Jamison Kryshak, Anderson and Sam Hauser each hit
a three-pointer to power a 14-1 run that broke the game open for SPASH and gave
it a 29-point lead at 54-25 with under 14 minutes to play.

From then on the Panthers led by at least 24 until
late in the game when they began to pull starters with under four minutes left
and a 77-52 lead, as McCloud knocked down a trio of three-pointers the rest of
the way to help Germantown close the game on a 12-0 run that made the final
score appear closer than the game was, as SPASH went on to a 77-64 victory.

Joey Hauser had 20 points and seven assists, and Sam
Hauser totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds for SPASH. Anderson hit six
three-pointers and finished with 31 points and six assists and was presented
with the Majerus MVP game plaque, which was provided by the Rick Majerus Family
Foundation for each game at the WBY Shootout.

McCloud had five three-pointers and 26 points to lead
Germantown, which also got 12 points from 6-6 senior forward and NCAA Division
II Concordia-St. Paul recruit Max Keefe and 10 points from 6-5 senior forward
Conner Edmonds.

The Panthers will be back in action at Wisconsin
Rapids (2-9, 1-2) at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, and at Merrill (1-8, 0-3) at
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, before they face Champlin Park (Minn.) (10-1) as
part of the Midwest Players Challenge at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse at
6:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

Champlin Park is the fourth-ranked team in Class 4A in
Minnesota and is led by two of the state’s top Class of 2017 recruits in 6-1
junior point guard McKinley Wright (20.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists per
game), who has received NCAA Division 1 scholarship offers from Iowa State,
Creighton, Illinois, Kansas State and Texas Tech, and 6-9 junior forward Theo
John (14 points, 8.8 rebounds), who has received NCAA Division 1 scholarship
offers from Marquette, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Texas Tech.