By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Already equipped with strong ball-handling skills, quickness and court vision, Burlington sophomore Nick Klug is adding another dimension to his game – the long ball.
The 5-foot-10, 155-pound guard knocked down five triples Monday night to help lead the Demons to a 72-63 victory at Elkhorn, a team still searching for its first Southern Lakes Conference win.
It was the second consecutive win for Burlington (3-1, 2-1 SLC), which jumped out fast to a 43-32 lead at halftime.
“I like the way we competed Monday night,” said head coach Steve Berezowitz. “For a Monday game on the road, it can be a bit tough but we found a way to grind one out. We made positive strides again tonight.”
Klug led the Demons in scoring for the second straight game, as he scored 18 in Burlington’s 72-69 home victory over Delavan-Darien Friday night.
Berezowitz said all of his players that saw time on the court last year, like Ty Wiemer, Mitch Klug, Bryan Sturdevant, Aaron Mutter and Cal Tully, are playing with a lot more confidence in the early stages.
Klug, who shined as a freshman at the point guard position last season, is becoming more of an overall scoring threat and leader on the floor.
“With Nick, it is easy to see that he also has put in numerous court hours in the offseason,” Berezowitz said.
After roughly a month of the season, the Demons find themselves 2-1 in the SLC, only a loss behind undefeated Waterford and Wilmot.
Berezowitz said there is still a lot to figure out with this bunch, which features Klug (17.8 ppg) as the leading scorer and one other player in double figures, Cal Tully (11.7 ppg).
On Monday, 6-foot-6 newcomer Brock Halbach had his best game, with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Wiemer added 10 points.
Burlington shot 75 percent from the foul line (15-20), one game after shooting 81 percent (22-27).
“We are still trying to find out identity and improve each day we are together,” Berezowitz said. “As we move through the first quarter of the season, that is really our main focus.”
“We are really focusing on staying the course. As a program, we feel there are a few things we need to do to remain successful. We will focus on those aspects of the game and see where this team takes it.”
Burlington hosts Racine County rival Union Grove (2-2, 0-1) Friday night at 7 p.m.
Burlington 72, Delavan-Darien 69
The Demons grabbed a late lead and hit their free throws down the stretch Dec. 11 in Burlington.
Burlington was a stunning 22-for-27 for the game from the charity stripe, led by six free shots each by Nick Klug and Liam Safar.
“Delavan is a difficult matchup,” Berezowitz said. “They are athletic, and they all can shoot and move well off the ball. I thought we did a better job in the second half at forcing them to take shots out of their comfort zone.”
Nick Klug had 18 points and five rebounds, and his brother Mitch added 13 points.
Mutter tallied nine points and nine rebounds.
Lady Demons split at holiday tourney
Burlington picked up its second win of the season last weekend at the 11th annual Racine Lakeshore Officials Association Holiday Basketball Classic.
On Saturday, the Lady Demons bounced back from a tournament-opening loss with a 55-29 pounding of Racine Park.
Sophomore Jessa Burling led the way with 22 points, five rebounds and three steals, while junior Megan Wallace added 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.
“This was a complete team effort,” said Burlington coach Mary Parker. “We were able to control the tempo of the game with our defense and press, which lead to us getting some easy baskets in transition. We had a good flow for our offense all night, and were able to get the looks we wanted. The girls played with a lot of intensity and effort from the start.”
Burlington improved to 2-5 overall.
Ashlyn Barry contributed nine points, five steals and four assists.
Mackenzie Zwiebel led the team with five assists.
Mackenzie Cole had five rebounds.
As a team, Burlington shot an impressive 68 percent from the line (15-22).
On Dec. 11, Burlington opened the tourney, which was played at the Prairie School in Racine, with a 49-44 loss to Racine Case.
Case led 29-20 at the half, and Burlington outscored the Eagles 24-20 in the second half.
Burling had 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals.
Wallace had 10 points and eight rebounds.
“I was very proud of the girls’ fight in the second half,” Parker said. “The game came down to turnovers and free throws. We played them pretty even except when they were able to capitalize off of our turnovers in transition.”
Zwiebel added nine points, all coming on three-pointers.
Toppers fall in Kenosha
Traveling to the hostile environment known as Kenosha St. Joe’s is never easy, but the Catholic Central boys basketball team was up to the challenge Dec. 11 in its conference opener.
Catholic Central lost, 64-56, in a game that went down to the wire.
Ben Heiligenthal’s left-handed layup gave the Toppers a 52-51 lead with 3:30 left, but St. Joe’s scored the next two buckets to take a 55-52 lead with 2:46 remaining.
St. Joe’s increased the lead to 58-52 with a minute left and held on for the win.
Catholic Central coach Kyle Scott has been impressed with his team’s play.
“St. Joe’s has two great guards and is well-coached,” he said. “Down four with two minutes left, I couldn’t be more pleased with our effort. Our effort was tremendous.”
Scott said the Toppers, who are 1-3 overall, are deeper than he expected.
“They never give up and come ready to play every night,” he said. “The last two years we have been in so many close games, if we keep working hard, we’ll be OK.”
Heiligenthal, who leads the team with 22 points per game, had 20 points and nine rebounds.
Cole Pankau added 10 points, and Frank Koehnke had nine points and seven rebounds.
Junior point guard Aaron Rueber was a floor general for the Toppers, totaling five rebounds and five assists and running the offense to get his teammates open looks all night long.
“Aaron has improved every year,” Scott said. “This year, he is pushing the ball up the floor quicker, limiting his turnovers and his leadership is really helping our team.”
Scott also commended the scoring of Heiligenthal, saying Ben is very savvy and finds a way to get to the rim and finish.
Catholic Central travels to conference rival Shoreland Lutheran (2-2, 0-2) Friday night.
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