By Mike Ramczyk
Heading into a season opener on the road against a larger, successful athletic program like Lake Country Lutheran Saturday night in Hartland seemed like a daunting task for the Catholic Central boys basketball team.
After all, the Toppers have to find a way this season to replace the scoring of 2016 All-Area Player of the Year Ben Heiligenthal.
Well, not only did the Toppers almost pull out a victory, but a new star may have risen against the Lightning.
The Toppers missed a shot at the buzzer and were sent home with a tough 55-54 nonconference defeat.
Catholic Central couldn’t hold on to a one-point lead with 18 seconds left, as Lutheran knocked down the game-winning bucket with five ticks on the clock.
“I was as pleased as you can be in a loss,” Catholic Central head coach Kyle Scott said. “We showed some grit and moxie. We moved the ball well and cut down on straight-line drives in the second half.”
“We did some things well and got better. If we win the game, my attitude doesn’t change as to how we played.”
Lutheran utilized a 1-3-1 press defense most of the game, but Catholic Central was able to break it consistently.
Junior Frank Koehnke had a breakout game, scoring 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Koehnke added eight rebounds and made five of six free throws.
Scott said it wasn’t anything he didn’t expect from the 6-foot-1 inside-outside threat.
“He’s a tremendous athlete and player,” Scott said. “He worked hard on his game over the summer. Twenty-eight points a night? Maybe not, but I expect him to lead our offense most nights. He attacked the rim relentlessly, then when they took that away, he was able to get it going from the outside a bit as well.”
Cole Pankau added 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
Senior point guard Aaron Rueber dished five assists, scored six points and added two steals.
Junior guard John Pum had five rebounds.
Catholic Central trailed 26-20 at the half before outscoring Lutheran, 34-29, in the second half.
The Toppers knocked down eight triples and shot 61 percent (8-13) from the foul line.
Catholic Central plays its home opener Wednesday against Heritage Christian.
“It will be a tough game,” Scott said. “At the end of the day, a loss is a loss, but we did some things we can build on, which is all I can really ask for.”
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