By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
A huge win over Sheboygan Lutheran and a solid season overall has catapulted the Catholic Central boys basketball team up the state ranks in Division 5.
The boys, led by three players scoring in double figures, have won two straight after a tough loss to Whitefish Bay Dominican, the defending Division 3 state champion.
The Toppers return home for Metro Classic action tonight at 7 p.m. at Catholic Central High School to face the Prairie School out of Racine. Central (5-2, 2-1) sits only one loss behind first-place Dominican in the standings. Prairie (3-5, 1-3) also has won two straight games.
Bailey Wright (13.4 points per game), Ben Heiligenthal (13.0) and Spencer Wilker (11.6) lead the way offensively for the Toppers, and 6-foot-7 center Tegan Miles mans the middle with 8 points and nearly 8 rebounds per contest.
Toppers lash Lakeside
Catholic Central basketball opened the New Year with both the boys and girls teams in action at home against Lake Country Lutheran. In a rare doubleheader involving both teams, the girls kicked off the New Year with a 53-24 setback, while the boys continued their fine early-season play earning a 51-44 victory.
Coming off their impressive win over then-fourth-ranked Sheboygan Area Lutheran at the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Shootout during the holidays, the Toppers have shot up the Division 5 state rankings all the way to No. 4 in the Wissports.net Coaches Poll after previously being unranked.
“The ranking means nothing to us at this time of the year. If we’re one of the last four Division 5 teams at the end of the year, then it will mean something to our players,” said Topper Head Coach Eric Henderson.
The Toppers used the long ball to jump out early against the Lightning. A pair of threes from Ben Heiligenthal and one each from Bailey Wright and Spencer Wilker propelled Catholic Central to an 18-5 first-quarter advantage.
From there, the Toppers kept pace with Lake Country through the middle periods and then sealed the win from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, finishing 10 of 15 overall and six of eight in the final two minutes.
“I was very pleased with the start of the game,” Henderson said. “Our energy and
unselfishness were the keys to getting off to the great start. I think with such an early lead, we let off the gas pedal too much and got pretty stagnant in the second half. Give Lake Country credit though, they played extremely physical and have some very good athletes.”
Lake County converted a pair of free throws and connected from beyond the arc to cut the lead to 43-39 with 1:50 to play.
After Wright and Tegan Miles each sank two free throws, Heiligenthal broke open and scored with 30 seconds remaining to essentially seal the game.
Heiligenthal led three Toppers in double figures with a game-high 18 points. Wright and Miles added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Miles also had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Toppers. Henderson noted that Miles’ double-double was big for his squad and what they’ll need every night as they go through the season.
The Toppers return home to face The Prairie School Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Lady Toppers out-sized
The young Lady Toppers (0-7), still looking for their first win of the year, fell behind early to the Lightning (5-1) 18-6 after the first period and could never recover. The Lightning, with a distinct
height advantage, controlled the boards and used their reach advantage to disrupt the Lady Toppers.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half,” said Head Coach Suzy Bittmann, “We had a chance late in the half to cut the lead to seven but turned the ball over a couple of times and wound up down by 13 at halftime.”
Yet with the mounting number of losses, Bittmann sees signs of improvement.
“Our goal is to get better every game and I believe we took steps in that direction tonight. The ladies are working very hard and making progress. I think we’ll be in a better spot at the end of the year.”
The Lady Toppers were led in scoring by Erin Baumgart with 11 points, including a three-pointer.
Bridget Bittmann also connected from behind the arc for Catholic Central, as she added five points.
The Lady Toppers return to action on Thursday when they travel to Racine and take on The Prairie School (7-1). Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
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