BEN PRIESGEN
JOURNALIST
On December 27, Campbellsport boys basketball lost 57-56 to Cuba City in their non-conference matchup, during the holiday break.
Campbellsport’s (2-5) leading scorer Noah Bobb made two three-pointers to take a 6-0 lead right out of the gate over Cuba City (4-3).
The Cubans got the score to 12-9 in favor of the Cougars at the ten-minute mark of the first half before Cullen Reis made a nice cut to the hoop where he was found with a pass from Owen Bong to increase the Campbellsport lead back to five points.
Cuba City closed the gap back to two points when Emmett Gonnering scored and Bobb hit two more three-pointers in the first half to give the Cougars a 23-15 lead sparked by the Campbellsport active half-court defense.
“The players have bought into an identity where we have to be gritty in the first half and we did exactly that with our defense,” said Head Coach Ethan Elliott.
Campbellsport’s lead was 26-22 with less than two minutes left on the first half clock when Carter Gellings made a corner three-pointer which was followed by Bobb’s fifth three-pointer of the half right before the halftime buzzer to put the Cougars’ halftime lead at 32-22 over the Cubans.
The Cougars came out still shooting hot from long distance when Jace Goebel made a threepointer from the top of the key to extend their lead to 35-22.
Cuba City was able to make the score 37-31 before Owen Bong made a three-pointer which was set up by a nice pass from Gonnering. Bong was fouled on the shot to get a free throw giving him a rare four-point play to push the Cougars lead back to 10 points.
The Cubans continued to attack the Cougars’ defense with their drives to get the game within five points when Braden Bothe made a corner three-pointer to make the score 47-39 in favor of the Cougars with ten minutes left in the game.
Bobb made a good cut to the hoop to score two points after good ball movement from the Campbellsport offense to give the Cougars a fourpoint lead at 49-45.
Campbellsport got their twelfth three-pointer of the game when Bothe made a three-pointer with over seven minutes on the second-half clock, which was followed by a Bobb free throw to put the score at 53-47 with the Cougars in the lead.
“Players are starting to get comfortable in their roles which has helped with their shooting confidence and rhythm,” said Elliott.
Cuba City was behind 53-52 when the Cougars broke the Cubans’ press by finding a wide-open Gonnering under the hoop for a two-point basket to give Campbellsport a 55-52 lead with five minutes left in the game.
The Cubans scored the next five points for a 57-55 lead before Trent Schladweiler made a free throw with 1:34 left in the game to make the score 57-56 in favor of Cuba City.
Campbellsport’s defense was able to cause two turnovers in the final minute to give the Cougars one final opportunity for the win.
The Cougars got a three-pointer attempt from Goebel at the top of the key which hit the back of the rim and rolled off stopping Campbellsport’s winning streak at two games at the buzzer.
“We are definitely trending towards who we want to be as a team,” said Elliott. “I’m proud of the guys for their hard work and commitment after playing some tough teams to begin the season.”
Noah Bobb led the Cougars with 18 points in the non-conference matchup.
Campbellsport boys basketball travels to Sheboygan Falls on December 30 at 5 p.m. after print time and to Xavier in Appleton on January 4 at 1 p.m.
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