Boys basketball: Pritzl leads De Pere over North

Sheboygan North made a thrilling end of a game that could have gotten way out of hand, but couldn’t cap what would have been a memorable comeback at home Tuesday against De Pere.

A flurry of free throws down the stretch helped De Pere clinch a 76-68 win and give North its second straight loss. The Redbirds had led by 17 points at halftime, but saw their lead nearly evaporate in the second half.

“I liked the way we competed, especially in the second half,” North coach Tom Desotell said.

“I thought we definitely had better movement, which we had been striving to get out of our kids,” he added. “They’re a good basketball team, and we have to play a little bit better. This whole thing is a preparation for March, and we certainly don’t like to learn from losing, that’s for sure.”

The two teams came into the Fox River Classic Conference matchup nearly tied in The Associated Press’ Division 1 state rankings. But if the ninth-polled Golden Raiders (7-2, 3-1 FRCC) were going to keep up with the No. 8 Redbirds (8-2, 5-0 FRCC), they’d need to do something to slow down Brevin Pritzl.

They didn’t, though it almost didn’t matter.

The De Pere senior and University of Wisconsin recruit scored 21 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 41 — including going 19-for-19 at the free throw line. His 10 free throws in the crucial fourth quarter helped keep De Pere ahead while North was revving for the comeback.

North got 25 points from season scoring leader Davis Larson, and picked up 16 more from Matt Gerber, who came up with a few key 3-pointers throughout the game. Eli Belmore dumped in 12 points, and three more players combined for 15.

“In the first half, we obviously came out slow. We fell behind pretty far and someone had to step up, and being a senior that’s got to be me, so I took a few shots and they fell,” said Gerber, who led North with 10 points in the first half.

“This is one that we really wanted,” Gerber added. “We ended up fighting pretty hard in the second half, and I’m proud of my team.”

Gerber hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help keep the game close early on, but a 14-4 run over a stretch later in the first quarter put De Pere way ahead and forced North to play catchup the rest of the way.

“We started out the game pretty strong as a team,” Pritzl said, noting solid shooting from players up and down De Pere’s lineup — Aaron Vopal finished with 11 points and Max Huddleston had 10 — helped the Redbirds build momentum. “… That kind of really opens up the floor for us as a team when everybody’s kind of getting that and scoring.”

North chipped away at the deficit through the second half, starting the third quarter on a 5-0 run and ending it with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Belmore to cut the gap to single digits. North kept grinding in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to as few as five points on a few occasions, but never got closer.

“I thought obviously Brevin, 19-for-19 from the line, that iced the game at the end, that was huge for us,” De Pere coach Brian Winchester said. “Sheboygan North is a very good team; I thought our first half defensively was very good.”

DE PERE — DeMille 2, Barthels 3, Rabas 9, Vopal 11, Huddleston 10, Pritzl 41. 3-pt: Rabas 1, Huddleston 1, Pritzl 2. FT: 24-26. F: 19.

SHEBOYGAN NORTH — Belmore 12, Gerber 16, Hasenstein 7, Platz 4, Larson 25, Suscha 4. 3-pt: Belmore 1, Gerber 3, Hasenstein 1. FT: 17-23. F: 21.

De Pere…23 19 12 22 — 76

S. North…15 10 21 24 — 68