By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
OCONOMOWOC – Free throws.
Basketball players shoot them at the end of practice, and a swish means practice is over. A miss means the entire team must run laps.
They can win games, but they can also end seasons. The latter was the painful reality for the Catholic Central boys basketball team Thursday night.
Though the Toppers’ opponent, Central Wisconsin Christian, shot only 12-for-47 from the field, a pedestrian 27 percent, it more than made up for it at the charity stripe.
The Crusaders made an astonishing 24 of their 26 free shots, including 13-for-14 in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 53-46 victory in a Division 5 sectional semifinal at Oconomowoc High School.
Catholic Central finished the season 21-5. CWC improved to 20-6 and will take on Sheboygan Lutheran Saturday in a sectional final. The winner will advance to state.
The Toppers only mustered 3-of-5 from the foul line, and the Crusaders utilized a 23-12 fourth quarter.
The Toppers led by four points through three quarters after trailing by two at the half. Catholic Central opened the second half on a 9-1 run and led by as many as six in the period.
Senior Bailey Wright’s 3-pointer with 41 seconds left closed the CWC lead to 47-46, but that was the last time the Toppers scored. The Crusaders hit two more free throws to go up 49-46 with 18 seconds to play. Then, Central coach Eric Henderson told Wright to take it to the hoop for a quick two, but Wright missed the layup.
A couple fouls later, the game was over.
“They literally could not miss a free throw,” Wright said. “I hit a couple threes at the end, but they answered with free throws or a 3-pointer. We were really flat in the first half, especially me. In the third quarter, we took the momentum but couldn’t pull away.”
Henderson said free throws were the difference in the game. CWC made six straight in the final 19 seconds to seal the deal.
“You’re not going to win many games when you give up that many free throws,” he said. “But I’m extremely proud of the boys and their effort the entire year. It was an extreme pleasure to coach this group of young men. Our balance and ability to play together took us a long way.”
Catholic Central shot a solid 43 percent from the floor but only connected on 5 of 19 from long range (26 percent).
Senior Gavin Foote, known mostly as a defensive stopper, came up big offensively, leading the Toppers with 13 points. However, he fouled out with 41 seconds remaining.
Wright added 12 points for the Toppers. Ben Heiligenthal, who leads the team with 12 points per game and had been averaging 19 in three playoff games, was held to nine.
For CWC, Tyler De Young led all scorers with 16 points, including 12 in the second half. Logan Ganz added 12 and canned two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. The duo combined to hit 9-for-9 from the foul line.
This was Catholic Central’s first winning season since 2008-09, and the Toppers finished the regular season ranked fourth in the state in Division 5. The defensive-oriented squad plays a murderer’s row of competition in the Metro Classic Conference, but it was able to finish second in conference and knock off ranked opponents Racine St. Cat’s and Kenosha St. Joe’s.
“We put CC back on the map for basketball,” Wright said. “We gave Hendo (Henderson) his first winning season. This team was different from your average team. These guys are still my best friends even though our season is over.”
Senior Dylan Piccolo seconded that sentiment.
“We came so far as a team, and I have eight best friends that I care about more than anything,” he said.
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