This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – The game didn’t start the way Spencer wanted, but it didn’t take long for the Rockets to recover.
Greenwood scored the first eight points of the game only to see Spencer tally the next nine, and a big run late in the first lifted the Rockets to a 67-37 victory in their Cloverbelt Conference East Division opener on Thursday night at Spencer High School.
Spencer (2-0, 1-0 Cloverbelt East) pushed a two-point lead to 31-17 with a 14-0 run over a 4½ minute span late in the first half and led by double figures the rest of the way.
The Rockets outscored Greenwood 18-3 early in the second half to put the game away.
“We were moving the ball, getting it in the high post, getting it weak-side,” Spencer coach Randy Reckner said. “We did a lot of good things against (Greenwood’s) zone tonight.
“I don’t have a lot of experience on the bench. I’m playing a bunch of sophomores. With the injuries we have right now, we’re forced to do that. They see the speed of the game and have caught up to it already. I’m very, very happy with them right now.”
Ryan Busse had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Bobby Pilz added 16 points for the Rockets.
Leading 17-15 with 5 minutes to go, Spencer got a 3-pointer from Jonny Tomke to spark the 14-0 run that changed the game.
Jack Bezlyk hit two baskets and Busse had a three-point play in the run to helped the Rockets build a 33-19 lead by halftime.
In the second half, the Rockets turned up the defensive pressure, forcing 11 turnovers.
Greenwood cut its deficit to 33-23, but Spencer used an 18-3 run during the next 7:30 to stretch its lead to 51-26. Pilz had seven points and Busse drilled a 3-pointer in the run as the Indians turned the ball over seven times and missed five of six shot attempts.
“We started out flat and we had to pick up the tempo somehow and get to play the way we want to play,” Reckner said. “We went full-court trap and we created a lot of turnovers and got a lot of easy shots and built the lead from there.”
Spencer returns to action Monday with a nonconference game at Marathon.
Rockets 67, Indians 37
Greenwood 19 18 – 37
Spencer 33 34 – 67
GREENWOOD (37): Cole Lindner 0-0 0-0 0, Decker Lindner 3-10 0-0 8, Walker Wuethrich 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Genteman 1-2 0-0 2, Trevor Serocki 3-8 1-2 7, Devin Toburen 3-11 1-2 8, Cole Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Zachary Zimbauer 2-3 1-3 5, Sam Revier 3-7 0-3 7, Aaron Lindner 0-1 0-0 0, Devin Rose 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 15-46. FT: 3-10. 3-pointers: 4-15 (D. Lindner 2-4, Toburen 1-5, Revier 1-3, Genteman 0-1, Serocki 0-1, Wuethrich 0-2). Rebounds: 21 (Zimbauer 5). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 0-4, 0-3 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
SPENCER (67): Jonny Tomke 4-9 0-0 10, Calvin Lenz 1-4 0-0 2, Bobby Pilz 7-12 0-0 16, Aaron Pankratz 0-7 1-2 1, Mateo King 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Bezlyk 5-7 2-2 12, Jacob Miller 4-6 0-0 8, Ryan Busse 6-9 3-5 16, Colin Nieman 1-3 0-0 2. FG: 28-57. FT: 6-9. 3-pointers: 5-14 (Pilz 2-5, Tomke 2-4, Busse 1-3, Pankratz 0-2). Rebounds: 44 (Busse 15). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-0, 1-0 Cloverbelt East.