CLINTON—The Williams Bay boys basketball team had just erased its second double-digit deficit of the day when Clinton finally decided enough was enough.
The Cougars were tired of the taste of defeat, and they certainly weren’t interested in upping their eight-game losing streak one setback closer to double digits.
Clinton erupted for a 22-2 run and snapped its skid with a 71-52 non-conference win over the Bulldogs on Monday night.
“A lot of those games were winnable,” junior forward Isaac Krummel said. “But today, we came in with a lot of hype and had huge energy. We played together which was the biggest thing. We've lost a lot of our games because we were trying to play as a solo guy. We played really well assist-wise (today).”
The Cougars (5-14) hadn’t won since a 78-68 victory over Whitewater on Dec. 29. First-year head coach James Spry said it was a heart-to-heart session with the team that helped it not let the streak get into its heads.
“We had a practice where we put away the basketballs and had a real conversation with everybody,” he said. “We set some new milestones for us the rest of the way. It doesn't matter what's happening right now, we know with the work that we put in that our best basketball is ahead of us. And the kids have bought into that.”
Clinton had a fiery start to the game as Krummel scored five points and senior Gio Perez added six to help it take a quick 20-4 lead.
“We wanted to speed them up from the get go,” Spry said.
But Williams Bay (3-16) gave the Cougars issues with its stout zone defense, which forced turnovers and poor shots. While Clinton went cold offensively, the Bulldogs fought back into it to cut it to 23-15 as Parker Wojcik scored four points and Diego Valadez hit two free throws and a three-pointer.
“We got a little tired after that first pressure,” Spry said. “Kudos to their coach, he came up with a better alternative to find ways around the press and around what we were trying to do.”
Junior Reagan Flickinger scored four points and freshman Mason Floberg hit a pair of treys to help the Cougars take a 37-24 lead into halftime.
Clinton was disorganized out of the locker room as it couldn’t buy a shot and the Bulldogs took full advantage of the lull as Quinn Peyer hit two threes and a bucket while Valadez and Wojick each scored four points to make it 43-40.
“On our end offensively, quick shots led to us sprinting back on defense and getting disorganized,” Spry said. “It's (about) getting matched up and knowing where we are. It was simple things, all fixable stuff.”
That’s when the Cougars surged ahead for good. Junior Ty Feibel sank a three-pointer and, after the Bulldogs hit a layup, Krummel hit a shot at the rim to start the big run.
Flickinger and Krummel each scored six points in the spurt while Nathan Shallenberger, Jacob Schoonover and Landon Gracyalny all added threes to help take a 68-44 lead late in the second half.
“We finally got our energy back,” Spry said. “We just needed to get some stops. That turned into our offense and we got going from there.”
Clinton was balanced offensively with 10 different scores contributing to 16 buckets in the paint and nine treys.
Krummel finished with 16 points and went 7-for-13 on free throws.
“Isaac had a huge impact in the way he was handling that zone,” Spry said. “It's about not backing down, and Isaac didn't back down. He went hard and he got to the rim numerous times there.”
Flickinger, the Rock Valley Rock Division scoring leader, contributed 19 points and dished out numerous assists while Perez and Floberg ended with eight apiece.
“It’s great playing with Reagan,” Krummel said. “He’s a very good team player and averages like 25 points a game. He also shares the ball really well with us.”
The Cougars next travel to play Big Foot on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We are going to be ready for any game that's coming at us,” Spry said. “It's all conference the rest of the way now. This is the second time around, and we really get to prove how far we've come this year. We believe we're ready.”
CLINTON 71, WILLIAMS BAY 52
Williams Bay 24 28— 52
Clinton 37 34 — 71
WILLIAMS BAY (fg ft-fta pts) — Wojcik 5 4-4 14, Wehrwein 2 2-2 6, Welsh 0 1-2 1, Valadez 4 2-2 12, Peyer 5 0-0 12, Pils 1 5-6 7. Totals: 17 14-16 52.
CLINTON (fg ft-fta pts) — Schoonover 1 0-0 3, Shallenberger 1 0-0 3, Feibel 1 0-0 3, Atkinson 2 2-4 6, Gracyalny 1 0-0 3, Haag 1 0-0 3, Perez 4 0-4 8, Floberg 3 0-1 8, Krummel 4 7-13 15, Flickinger 7 3-3 19. Totals: 25 12-25 71.
3-pt. Goals: WB 4 (Valadez 2, Peyer 2), Clinton 9 (Flickinger 2, Floberg 2, Schoonover, Shallenberger, Atkinson, Haag, Gracyalny). Fouled out: Wojcik, Valadez. Total fouls: WB 22, Clinton 21.
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