Teams clash for first place in LG tonight
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Sure, there are about three weeks left in the high school basketball regular season.
But a first-place showdown with Lake Geneva Badger Thursday means it’s time to enter postseason mode for the Burlington boys basketball team.
The first-place Badgers (8-1 SLC) have won seven of eight games since a Dec. 19 loss at Burlington (12-4, 7-2 SLC). Lake Geneva employs a fast-paced style similar to Burlington, and Badger loves to shoot the 3-pointer, a staple of state Hall of Fame coach Forrest Larson.
But the Demons were able to shut Badger down in the first meeting. The 10-3 Badgers are 5-2 on their home court.
Since a bit of an upset loss at Waterford Jan. 23, Burlington has bounced back with conference wins over Union Grove and Elkhorn.
Burlington fell, 58-53, Saturday at Monona Grove.
“We will need to do much of the same that we did in game one,” said Burlington coach Steve Berezowitz about Thursday’s Badger game. “We need to make sure their scorers are not getting easy looks, we need to be aggressive on the offensive end, and we need to value the ball.”
“We play similar styles so it will really come down to execution. The guys are excited for this challenge.”
Berezowitz said the Demons have improved each week and have “come a long way since November.”
Wilmot and Waterford are nipping at the heels of Burlington with 6-3 conference records. However, Waterford’s title hopes took a big hit last week when the team’s third-leading scorer and top rebounder, Collin Chart, left the team.
Burlington is at Badger Thursday and must host both Wilmot (Feb. 10) and Waterford (Feb. 20).
As usually is the case in the SLC in all sports, this thing will come down to the last weekend.
“We are excited to battle the last third of our season to see where we fall,” Berezowitz said.
Monona Grove 58, Burlington 53
On Saturday, the Demons faced Grove, an 11-4 Division 2 squad that plays in the Badger South Conference.
The second night of a back-to-back, Burlington came out strong and trailed only 27-24 at the half.
However, the Grove outlasted the hometown boys in the final two quarters.
Down four at the start of the fourth quarter, Berezowitz employed a zone defense, but the plan backfired. The Grove responded with two triples the first two times down the court, and Burlington was in a hole.
“I made a decision to play zone the first few minutes to see if we could steal a few possessions since they had not shot well from the perimeter,” Berezowitz said. “That decision backfired, and from that point on we played catch-up. Looking back, that was obviously a bad decision on my part, but our team did a great job battling the rest of the way.”
Berezowitz added that Monona Grove was a “great test” for the Demons.
Well-balanced and physical, Monona Grove had four players score nine points or more, with Myles Thomas’ 19 leading the way.
Burlington got to the line well, knocking down 17-of-25 shots. Frankie Hozeska paced the Demons with 15 points but was in foul trouble with four.
Brad Burling added 13 points.
Nathaniel Sibley led the Demons with nine rebounds and added nine points.
Burling’s two triples were the team’s only 3-pointers of the game.
Burlington 43, Union Grove 34
Friday night’s tilt in Burlington wasn’t what you would expect from a game pitting an SLC contender against a bottom-dweller.
Union Grove (2-7 SLC, seventh place) came out hot and took a 20-19 lead on the Demons’ home court.
Utilizing a zone defense, the Broncos cooled down Burington’s sharpshooters and seemed poised for a major upset.
But Burlington adjusted in the second half and outscored the Broncos 24-14.
“We have been a little hot and cold this year against zone defenses,” Berezowitz said. “We finally hit some shots in the second half, which extended the zone a little bit and also gave us a chance to pressure them after baskets.”
“They have two of the better athletes in the league, so we are happy to come out with a victory.”
Berezowitz was referring to Grant Beck, who led the Broncos with 16 points, and Alex Van Dyke, who added 10.
Union Grove received another boost from Hansen McIlvaine, who is the son of former Marquette and NBA star Jim McIlvaine. The 6-foot-3 transfer student played in his first games for the Broncos last week.
Burlington had a balanced offensive attack, with nine players scoring. Hozeska and Sibley led the way with eight points each, and Eric Johnson added six.
Mitch Klug and Bryan Sturdevant both tallied five.
Hozeska cleaned up the glass with 11 rebounds, and Sibley added eight.
-
-
-
-
-