NEW GLARUS - Jeremy Langfoss thinks that Barry Alvarez is a pretty smart guy.
Much like the mantra the former Badger football coach carried week after week during his final season, Langfoss considers his ballclub officially 1-0 after he dominated both ends of the floor in a 48-35 victory over Belleville on Thursday night.
"This is the halfway point and we might as well consider ourselves 0-0 and work from there," Langfoss said.
The junior post player led a balanced Glarner Knights attack with 12 points, pulled down a dozen boards to boot and swatted five Belleville shots.
His most decimating denial came when he punctuated an 11-2 surge that took New Glarus into the break with a 25-16 lead that would rarely be threatened in the second half. Wildcats sophomore and recent junior-varsity call-up Riley Kahl thought he had a layup along the baseline until the wingspan of Langfoss allowed him to pluck the pill from behind as the horn sounded.
"He came out with a lot of intensity, controlled the glass and cut down on the second-chance points for Belleville," Travis Sysko said.
Cassidy Flannery, one of New Glarus' usually-deadly shooters, scored five of the first nine points during the Knights' second-quarter run. He opened the fanfare by hitting a triple from the right corner in rhythm. Just under two minutees later, he cleaned up a miss for a bunny to stake his team to a 23-16 lead.
Flannery, a senior, and junior guard Jake Bast (10 points) are bona fide scorers, but struggled from the field late as the Wildcats hung around until the final minute of play.
Senior Griffin Rear got Belleville within 42-35 with 2:30 left in the game, but the Knights held off the Wildcats, thanks to a resilient effort from players up and down the roster.
"We'd really been struggling and we worked all week at coming together and working as a team," Langfoss said. "Like coach Sysko tells us, some nights it's the guards' night and other nights other guys have to step up."
Bast was New Glarus' second-leading scorer and built the team's biggest lead to 36-20 midway through the third quarter by hitting a 3-ball from the right wing.
The Knights got all four of Cory Finck's points in their breakout second quarter. His quick strike of offensive output, coupled with inspired play in the painted area on defense, constituted a precious commodity as the Knights needed all cogs turning.
"The shots weren't falling tonight, but defense will keep you in any ballgame and I couldn't be happier with our defensive effort tonight," Sysko said. "We got a big spark from Finck in that second quarter."
"We've said for a long time that we have a lot of depth and a lot of that depth came through tonight."
Losers of three of their last four, Sysko says his Knights needed a win "in the worst way." Then there's that whole neighborhood rivalry thing.
"It's a game you really don't have to get ready for," Langfoss said. "You're just ready for New Glarus and Belleville."
The Wildcats were led by Rear's 14 points and are learning to play without the services of Belleville sports staple and leading scorer Billy Stuessy, who tore his ACL against Cambridge on Dec. 20.
"We knew we were going to get their best effort no matter who they put on the floor," Sysko said. "Steussy's a heck of a ballplayer and that's a tough loss but they had a number of guys that stepped up and came after us."
Both clubs were undoubtedly inspired as Ashley Beutler and Cole Schmitt were honored for their fall sports acheivements before the starting lineups were announced.
Both scholarship athletes and New Glarus students, Schmitt was the Capitol South Defensive Player of the Year and earned a scholarship to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin.
Beuter added to her cluttered trophy cabinet as she was named the first-ever Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
The Knights hope to keep the second-half train rolling when it pulls up at Wisconsin Heights Tuesday night.
Much like the mantra the former Badger football coach carried week after week during his final season, Langfoss considers his ballclub officially 1-0 after he dominated both ends of the floor in a 48-35 victory over Belleville on Thursday night.
"This is the halfway point and we might as well consider ourselves 0-0 and work from there," Langfoss said.
The junior post player led a balanced Glarner Knights attack with 12 points, pulled down a dozen boards to boot and swatted five Belleville shots.
His most decimating denial came when he punctuated an 11-2 surge that took New Glarus into the break with a 25-16 lead that would rarely be threatened in the second half. Wildcats sophomore and recent junior-varsity call-up Riley Kahl thought he had a layup along the baseline until the wingspan of Langfoss allowed him to pluck the pill from behind as the horn sounded.
"He came out with a lot of intensity, controlled the glass and cut down on the second-chance points for Belleville," Travis Sysko said.
Cassidy Flannery, one of New Glarus' usually-deadly shooters, scored five of the first nine points during the Knights' second-quarter run. He opened the fanfare by hitting a triple from the right corner in rhythm. Just under two minutees later, he cleaned up a miss for a bunny to stake his team to a 23-16 lead.
Flannery, a senior, and junior guard Jake Bast (10 points) are bona fide scorers, but struggled from the field late as the Wildcats hung around until the final minute of play.
Senior Griffin Rear got Belleville within 42-35 with 2:30 left in the game, but the Knights held off the Wildcats, thanks to a resilient effort from players up and down the roster.
"We'd really been struggling and we worked all week at coming together and working as a team," Langfoss said. "Like coach Sysko tells us, some nights it's the guards' night and other nights other guys have to step up."
Bast was New Glarus' second-leading scorer and built the team's biggest lead to 36-20 midway through the third quarter by hitting a 3-ball from the right wing.
The Knights got all four of Cory Finck's points in their breakout second quarter. His quick strike of offensive output, coupled with inspired play in the painted area on defense, constituted a precious commodity as the Knights needed all cogs turning.
"The shots weren't falling tonight, but defense will keep you in any ballgame and I couldn't be happier with our defensive effort tonight," Sysko said. "We got a big spark from Finck in that second quarter."
"We've said for a long time that we have a lot of depth and a lot of that depth came through tonight."
Losers of three of their last four, Sysko says his Knights needed a win "in the worst way." Then there's that whole neighborhood rivalry thing.
"It's a game you really don't have to get ready for," Langfoss said. "You're just ready for New Glarus and Belleville."
The Wildcats were led by Rear's 14 points and are learning to play without the services of Belleville sports staple and leading scorer Billy Stuessy, who tore his ACL against Cambridge on Dec. 20.
"We knew we were going to get their best effort no matter who they put on the floor," Sysko said. "Steussy's a heck of a ballplayer and that's a tough loss but they had a number of guys that stepped up and came after us."
Both clubs were undoubtedly inspired as Ashley Beutler and Cole Schmitt were honored for their fall sports acheivements before the starting lineups were announced.
Both scholarship athletes and New Glarus students, Schmitt was the Capitol South Defensive Player of the Year and earned a scholarship to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin.
Beuter added to her cluttered trophy cabinet as she was named the first-ever Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
The Knights hope to keep the second-half train rolling when it pulls up at Wisconsin Heights Tuesday night.
