Hansens lead Falcons to first win of the year

By NATE BEIER | For the County Line

It was a slow, methodical sort of separation that the Brookwood boys basketball team performed against Royall on Thursday, Feb. 5, and it led to the team’s first win of the year and first win against the Panthers since the 2008–09 season.

Brookwood finished the first quarter with a narrow 3-point advantage. However, the Falcons didn’t give up ground, going into halftime with a 23–19 lead. The offense continued to click in the second half by gradually increasing production, ending with a 19-point fourth-quarter effort that sealed the 57–46 win.

“I was very happy for these kids to finally see some success,” said Brookwood head coach Travis Anderson. “They have worked hard this year, and finally everything came together for a win.”

Anderson thought well of his team’s performance on both ends of the court, but was exceptionally proud of the Falcons’ “intensity, effort and willingness to compete.”

“We executed our game plan very well on both ends of the court, and I think a key factor was that our kids attacked the basket and finished plays.”

Brookwood’s assault on the basket resulted in key shots at the free-throw line. As a team, Brookwood was 11–19 from the line. Also, the team committed just 10 turnovers in the game.

Royall head coach Scott Uppena said, “We did not shoot the ball very well against Brookwood last week. I do not think we were ready to play, but I also want to give Brookwood a lot of credit for how hard they played.”

“They played well defensively, forcing us to play from behind, and we had to work for every shot attempt.”

The defensive work showed up in the box score, as Royall was limited to just six scoring players. Dorian Keenan landed 17 points — five field goals, two 3-pointers and five free throws — to lead the Panthers. Seth Brown added 15; and Jayden Enzenbacher, 6.

Shooting 45 percent from the floor, Brookwood was led by Matt Hansen with 21, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter after he went 8–11 from the free-throw line. Jack Hansen added 13 points and had seven rebounds. Dylan Smith dropped in 10 points; and Billy Nusse, 6.

Royall boys taking it ‘one game at a time’ as season winds down

A six-game losing streak in a season marred with strings of losses isn’t what the Royall boys basketball team had in mind when the year started. However, coach Scott Uppena and company are committed to finishing the season strong and preparing the young team for the future.

“We try to have a one-game-at-a-time mentality,” said Uppena. “We try to look at each game individually by learning what we can from each win or loss and apply what we have learned and move on to the next game. The most important game is always the next game.”

Case in point: last week’s 53–50 overtime win against Kickapoo on Tuesday. Royall was coming off a six-game losing streak that included a 57–46 loss at Brookwood and a 72–31 to Blair-Taylor at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. Kickapoo entered as a second-place team in the Ridge and Valley Conference, but didn’t deter the host Panthers from scrapping together for a win.

Royall took a 2-point deficit after the first quarter and turned it around for a 23–22 halftime lead. Both teams scored 14 in the third before Kickapoo’s 9–8 run in the fourth forced overtime. To set up the win, Royall responded with an 8–5 run in the extra period.

Josh Murray led Royall with 16, and Seth Brown added 10. Chandler Townsend’s and Jayden Enzenbacher’s 9-point efforts helped shore up the offense.

Royall 52, New Lisbon 48

Dorian Keenan came through for 18 points in Royall’s 52–48 win at New Lisbon on Feb. 13.

Leading 22–20 at half time, Royall outscored the Rockets 16–14 in the third quarter before playing even over the last eight minutes.

Keenan was 6–11 from the field and 6–8 in free throws.

Uppena said, “We try to exploit mismatches when we have them. Dorian does a nice job handling the ball, but is also one of our better post players. We try to isolate him as much as possible in the post.”

Murray added 10 in the win, and Enzenbacher and Townsend each chimed in for 9 again. Jarret Smith paced New Lisbon with 13.

Westby 66, Royall 23

Royall was held to no more than 6 points in any of the first three quarters of play Monday night at Westby. And as they surged ahead for the win, the host Norsemen averaged no fewer than 11 points a quarter and managed to outscore Royall 25–4 in the third.

Murray paced Royall with 10, and Westby’s Tanner Schmitt led all scorers with 15.

Royall is 6–13 on the season and will finish the year by hosting Wonewoc-Center (10–8), traveling to Cashton (8–11) and playing Hillsboro (14–5) in Elroy in the season finale.

Bangor 77, Brookwood 22

The Brookwood boys basketball team was outscored 50–9 in the first half of last week’s conference contest at Bangor, which led to a 77–22 loss.

Leading Brookwood, Matt Hansen scored 9. The Bangor defense limited all other scorers to just 3 points or fewer.

Canon O’Heron led all scorers with 26 in the win. Bangor is 11–0 in league play and has a two-game lead over Hillsboro for first place in the title chase.

Brookwood falls to 1–16 on the year and will host Hillsboro (14–5) and Necedah (14–4) before traveling to New Lisbon (4–15) for the final game of the regular season.

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