Four minute drill helps Westosha leapfrog Burlington into first place

Westosha Central 59, Burlington 53

Falcons’ big second half bumps Burlington out of first place

By Jason Arndt

[email protected]

Entering a boys basketball Southern Lakes Conference clash for first place, both Westosha Central High School and host Burlington boasted win streaks of at least four games, but one team’s scorching run would come to a halt Tuesday.

Through the first 32 minutes, Burlington maintained a steady lead courtesy of six combined 3-pointers between Grant Tully and Nick Klug, until the Falcons applied a full court press to come away with the 59-53 victory.

The Falcons’ win puts them in sole possession of first place at 10-2 (14-5) and extends their win streak to five games.

Meanwhile, Burlington fell to 9-3 (12-8) following Tuesday’s loss, which snapped a four-game winning streak.

“They obviously, if you break things down, they outplayed us in the last four minutes,” said Demons’ coach Steve Berezowitz.

With the Demons ahead 48-38, Westosha Central switched to a full-court press, which forced Burlington into several turnovers.

“We just put some ball pressure on them, they made some great shots early in the game on us,” said Falcons’ coach James Hyllberg, whose team trailed 28-20 entering halftime.

The turnovers sparked a 12-0 run for the Falcons, who distributed the ball between Jaeden Zackery, Nic Frederick, Dylan Anderson and Tre Williams to pull ahead 50-48 with 3:55 left in regulation.

From there, the Falcons drew five consecutive fouls to help them widen the lead to 59-53.

“They kind of unraveled us a bit, we did it to them over at their court,” said Berezowitz, who noted his team defeated the Falcons earlier in the season.

The Falcons, however, edged Burlington in spite of a game-high 20 points from Burlington’s Geiger, a 6-2 senior.

Westosha Central, however, countered with 15 from Williams, another 14 from Zackery and Anderson, who knocked in 12.

The win, according to Hyllberg, avenges their loss to the Demons earlier in the season.

“It is nice, because they stole one from us at our place, and we took one back,” he said.

As the Falcons hold a one-game edge in the SLC, Berezowitz took accountability for the loss, noting time management.

“I could have taken a timeout or two late in the game,” he said.