Big second half vaults Panthers past Falcons

The Plymouth Panthers outscored the Sheboygan Falls Falcons 33-20 in the second half en route to a 62- 49 victory in an Eastern Wisconsin Conference boys basketball contest Thursday, Feb. 11, in Sheboygan Falls.

Greg Rhude of Plymouth poured in 21 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead all scorers. Rhude hit his fourth trey in the second quarter to tie the game at 28-28. Plymouth never looked back the lead the rest of the way.

The Panthers improved to 9-2 in the EWC (14-4 overall) with their fifth win in a row, while Falls dropped to 4-7 in the EWC (10-8 overall).

“The 3-point shooting by the Panthers took away our momentum,” said Falcons coach Eric Spielman. “We had good intensity in the first half, but then our game got away. We lost our focus.”

“Rhude’s threes took the momentum out of the Falcons,” said Panthers coach Scott Richards. “Defensively we turned it up in the second half and took Falls out of their game.”

The rivalry factor was intense, as Falls felt it had something to prove in its second matchup of the season against Plymouth.

Rhude’s hot hand gave Plymouth an early 12-8 lead, as he connected for eight points, with two 3- pointers.

Falls came back strong on the boards to tie the score at 12-12, with two offensive rebounds by Alex Grabowski.

Zach Berg banked in a 3-point shot to give the Falcons an 18-15 Falcons lead, with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Falcons were able to keep the lead with excellent shooting from the outside. Two more 3-pointers from Berg and Nick Roelse pushed the Falls lead to 27-22.

Rhude then hit back-to-back treys and helped the Panthers tie the game, by spearheading a 9-1 run to end the first half. A steal and a lay-up by Mitch Unger, along with two free throws and two throws from Brent Krueger gave Plymouth a 34-29 lead at halftime.

The Panthers pulled away in a physical third quarter, after Rhude hit another 3-pointer to extend the lead to 39-31.

Falls embarked on a 7-2 run, as Roelse turned in several big plays in the paint to cut the lead to 41-38.

Plymouth scored the last six points of the third quarter to push its lead back to 47-38. Unger hit an inside shot and used a steal to convert two free throws.

The Panthers’ defense turned it up in the fourth quarter, holding the Falcons without a basket until 3:42 mark.

Ian Murray was tough inside, with four points, Murray scored off an inbounds pass from Krueger to give Plymouth a 17-point lead (55-38).

Spencer Hurlburt stopped the Falls’ cold spell temporarily, with a 3-point goal. However, Plymouth finished off the game with seven straight points.

Falls failed to score, until Mitch Thimmig came off the bench to score five quick points near the end of the quarter.

“We need to keep plugging away and build some momentum for the post season,” stated Spielman. “We made some good adjustments in the beginning of the game.”

Unger had a strong game for Plymouth, with 16 points. Murray added 13 points and Krueger totaled 10.

Roelse led Falls with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Hurlburt finished with eight points.

Aaron Krueger downed a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to give the Falls junior varsity squad a 47- 45 win over the Panthers. Two steals from Bobby Musil in the last minute preserved the victory for the Falcons.

Krueger had 14 points for Falls and Musil connected for 10, as the Falcons improved to 5-6 in the EWC (10-7 overall).

“Our zone worked well and we were able to post up their big players,” said Jeff Duda. The Falls freshman team gained revenge on an earlier loss to Plymouth, with a 51-39 victory. Both teams are now tied atop the EWC, with 10-1 records.

Jacob Tenpas scored 17 points to lead the Falcons and Sean McKinster added 10.

“We did a great job handling the Panthers’ pressure defense,” said coach Paul Houwers. “The team kept its composure and made its free throws.”

Evan Guell led Plymouth with 11 points and Matt Augustine scored eight.

BOYS
BASKETBALL
PLYMOUTH
	62
SHEBOYGAN
FALLS 49

Score by Quarters
Plymouth……………15 19 18 15 - 62
Sheboygan Falls….18 11 9 11 - 49
Plymouth scorers: Greg Rhude 21, Mitch Unger 16, Brent Krueger 10, Jon Criter 2, Ian Murray 13.
Sheboygan Falls scorers: Alex Grabowski 6, Jason Fenner 2, Dan Duda 4, Mitch Thimmig 5, Lewis Halverson 5, Zach
Berg 6, Nick Roelse 13, Spencer Hurlburt 8.
Three-point goals: Plymouth - Rhude 5, Murray. Sheboygan Falls - Hurlburt 2, Berg 2, Roelse, Halverson, Thimmig.
Statistics: Plymouth - field goals 21-48 (44 percent), free throws 14-18 (78 percent), rebounds 30, turnovers 16.
Sheboygan Falls - field goals 19-54 (35 percent), free throws 6-13 (46 percent), rebounds _______________________ 27, turnovers 16.