Freshman’s late basket leads to victory
By Mike Ramczyk
WATERFORD – The Union Grove-Waterford rivalry is alive and well.
With 28 seconds remaining in a Southern Lakes Conference showdown Friday night at Waterford Union High School, Waterford senior guard took a simple pass at the top of the key, drained his second straight triple and tied the game at 51-51.
Korman closed his eyes and shouted a primal scream as the Wolverine students erupted.
But it was a freshman who got the last laugh.
Sam Rampulla, a 6-foot-4 lefty center whose two clutch layups in the final two minutes helped the Grove to a late five-point lead, capped off his breakout performance with the game-winning layup with six seconds left to give the Broncos a 53-51 victory.
“I just saw Jack (Pettit) cut to the other side, and coaches always tell me to dive when I see him do that, my guy popped up and I was wide open,” said Rampulla, who scored off Pettit’s assist.
“We pulled things together as a team, and we fought until the end.”
Rampulla said he’s played basketball since first grade, and he’s learned a lot from teammates and higher-level coaches.
After Rampulla’s bucket, the Wolverines tried to set up a full-court play, but the Broncos had several fouls to give, forcing two Waterford timeouts.
The Wolverines finally inbounded the ball just outside of their three-point line with 2.3 seconds left. Will Busch was able to square up over a defender for a triple, but the desperation attempt was long. A rebound and put-back attempt caromed off, and the Grove completed the girls-boys doubleheader sweep.
Rampulla finished with a season-high of 17 points, along with five rebounds and three blocks. He was 8-for-13 from the floor.
Pettit, a junior point guard, tallied 15 points and four assists, while Jake Hansen added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Korman led Waterford with 20 points, and Busch added 15.
Union Grove improved to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the SLC, while Waterford is now 1-10 and 1-4.
Rampulla said this win will give the Broncos momentum moving forward.
“I think we can compete for a conference title,” he said.
Other area scores
Boys basketball
Burlington 76, Wilmot 69
Racine Lutheran 57, Catholic Central 47
Westosha Central 63, Delavan-Darien 49
Elkhorn 66, Lake Geneva Badger 34
Girls basketball
Union Grove 56, Waterford 38
Racine Lutheran 58, Catholic Central 44
Wilmot 53, Burlington 46
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