Win or lose, the Waterloo boys basketball team plays an exciting brand of hoops. The Pirates often engage in high-scoring shootouts where there’s no shortage of fireworks. The only problem is, they’ve ended up on the losing side of these entertaining matchups more often than not.
Entering this week, the Pirates owned an overall record of 5-12 with a 1-4 mark in conference play. Monday, Feb. 5 seemed like a chance to get one in the win column with a trip to Poynette. While the Pumas were a non-conference opponent, they too entered at 5-12 and had lost 10 of their last 11 games.
It wasn’t meant to be. Poynette punished Waterloo in the paint in the absence of 6-foot-5 senior Theo Schofield, who has missed two of the last three games as he deals with a medical issue. The Pirates got a herculean effort from senior Benny Marshall with a game-high 31 points, but the host Pumas prevailed 73-68.
Marshall’s impact on the game was immediately evident as he scored Waterloo’s first 12 points. He punched in five straight buckets in the paint, two of which came through contact for and-one scores. This never once led to a Waterloo lead, though. Poynette senior Brett Hackbart came out similarly well, scoring nine points in a hurry to pace his Pumas to a 14-12 lead.
Then, the first of many Poynette runs took place. Again behind the scoring of Hackbart, the Pumas proceeded into a 14-4 run to go ahead 28-16. Every single one of the scores came in the paint, including six points from Hackbart. The run came as a result of a pair of fouls and subsequent sitting of senior Cam Tschanz, and the team overall had to be careful with its defense with five combined fouls.
Instead of backing down, the Pirates battled. Tschanz checked back into the game, ripped down an offensive rebound, and put it back in to kickstart an 11-0 Waterloo run. Fellow senior Jon Sampo was a big help in this run with a tough layup and a three pointer. Junior Bryce Aubart also nailed a triple as the Pirates gnawed Poynette’s lead all the way down to 28-27.
Poynette responded to the run with some quality shooting of its own. The Pumas nailed a pair of threes in the waning minutes of the first half to build their lead back up to 36-28 by the halftime break.
Early momentum for Waterloo in the second half was again negated by some quick foul trouble. Marshall nabbed a steal and proceeded to throw down a dunk on the other end. Sampo and Aubart also knocked down their second threes of the game. But, Marshall soon picked up his third foul, and the team had to slow down. Poynette showed its appreciation for this by launching into a 9-2 run to go back ahead 54-39.
Marshall continued to pour in buckets and, paired with some offensive life from sophomore Ryder Jaehnke with an putback bucket and a triple, got the game back down to 60-56. Again sensing the pressure, Poynette proceeded to score six straight to rebuild a 10-point lead.
Waterloo’s best chance at taking the lead for the first time came too little, too late. Fueled by another and-one bucket from Marshall and Sampo’s third three of the game, Waterloo had the Poynette lead down to 68-65. The only problem was there was a minute left on the clock. Forced to foul, the Pirates consistently sent Poynette sophomore Mason Freimuth to the free throw line. He was clutch, hitting five of his six attempts to put the game out of reach in a 73-68 victory.
Marshall’s scoring total of 31 narrowly outpaced Hackbart’s 28 for the game-high. Sampo was the only other Pirate to score in double digits with 11 points. Marshall was the only Pirate to hit more than one two-point field goal, of which he had 10.
This high-flying scoring effort wasn’t even Marshall’s best against a non-conference opponent recently. He poured in 33 points in a 74-69 win at Parkview on Tuesday, Jan. 30. Again without Schofield, Marshall shouldered the heaviest load as only Tschanz joined him in double digit scoring with 11 points. Schofield did participate in Waterloo’s Capitol — South conference trip to Cambridge, a 62-45 loss on Friday, Feb. 2.
Waterloo now stands with a 5-13 overall record, including 1-4 in conference play. The Pirates will continue their hiatus from Capitol — South play on Tuesday, Feb. 6 as they host Lodi of the Capitol — North. They’ll return to conference action on Thursday, Feb. 8 with a trip to Belleville.
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Capitol — South conference boys basketball standings
(overall records in parenthesis)
-as of Monday, Feb. 5
1. New Glarus, 5-0 (13-5)
2. Belleville, 4-1 (8-11)
3. Cambridge, 3-2 (7-10)
4. Marshall, 2-3 (10-9)
5. Waterloo, 1-4 (5-13)
6. Wisconsin Heights, 0-5 (7-11)
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