DARLINGTON - New Glarus found its footing Tuesday after a solid week of practice, upsetting Darlington, ranked fourth in the state in two prep polls, 72-57.
"We've struggled coming back from the New Year, so this is obviously a big win for us tonight," Knights head coach Travis Sysko said. "Hopefully this gets us ready for a tournament run."
Both teams have struggled at times in 2010. New Glarus had dropped three games in a row before a win against Cambridge a Jan. 25. Darlington's only other loss was to the state's top-ranked team, Cuba City, but the Redbirds have struggled defensively the past few weeks.
"We played some bad defense," said Darlington's resident sharpshooter Alex Erickson, who scored a game-high 30 points. "They are a heck of a team and played well. We didn't play that bad, but they just took it to us tonight."
Four Knights reached double figures in the non-conference game, something Sysko was pleased to see.
"It was a great all-around effort by our guys. I thought everybody shined tonight and really played well for us," Sysko said.
One of the Knights' top players, senior Cameron Jeglum, has struggled shooting this year. Sysko said he was pleased with how well Jeglum distributed the ball and kept the offense flowing, despite not having his shot (five points).
"Cameron really helped us on the offense in the second half with his passing, dishing the ball to Nick Stuessy and Tyler Dorn," Sysko said.
Darlington (15-2, 9-1 SWAL), ranked No. 4 in Division 3 in the Associated Press and WisSports.net Coaches Polls, hadn't given up over 50 points prior to the 57-53 loss to Cuba City Jan. 15. Since then, the Redbirds haven't allowed less than 50. New Glarus (10-5, 3-4 Capitol South), a team the Redbirds may meet again in the regionals, put up an unprecedented number.
"This is the first team that has not only scored 60 points on us, but 70. We had some breakdowns," Darlington head coach Mike Hopkins said. "It's really disappointing to have those breakdowns this time of the year, but those are correctable errors."
The Redbirds started hot, jumping out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter off of eight points from Erickson, who started 4-for-4. In the final two minutes of the opening period, the Knights found their groove, going on a 6-0 run to close out the frame.
"We wanted to compete with Darlington. We wanted the challenge," Bright said. "We got off to a rocky start but as a team we stayed humble and kept getting after it."
Sophomore guard Tyler Kreklow (13 points) made it nine-straight points, hitting a 3-pointer 22 seconds into the second quarter to give New Glarus its first lead of the game.
"We stopped playing team basketball, to be honest. We started putting the ball on the floor and looking for our own shot and that's not what we're all about," Hopkins said.
Nearly a minute later, a 3 by Darlington's Jason Boll, who scored all seven of his points in the second, gave the Redbirds the lead back at 18-15. Ryan Bright, who scored 25 points to lead the Knights, drilled a 3 with 3:23 left in the half to give New Glarus the lead for good at 26-24.
"We knew that if we kept working hard, things would turn around for us," Bright said. "It feels cool to beat Darlington. It probably won't help us much in the seeding meetings, but it's a pretty nice feather in our caps."
Bright, a senior, had 11 points in the first half. However, it was a 10-point outburst in the third quarter that helped keep the Knights on top.
The Knights stretched their lead to as much as seven in the third, but a 22-point fourth quarter shut the door and brought New Glarus a thrilling victory.
"Coach has been preaching to us specifically lately," Bright said of closing out the game. "We needed to finish every quarter strong and we did that tonight."
Nick Stuessy scored 15 points for New Glarus and Tyler Dorn had 14.
The Redbirds must now find a way to re-direct their flight plan and get back to its winning ways. Darlington heads to Iowa-Grant (4-12, 2-8 SWAL) Thursday and hosts Mineral Point (3-12, 3-7 SWAL) Feb. 12.
New Glarus is at Watertown Luther Prep (12-2, 6-1 Capitol North) Thursday in another non-conference game, but faces Capitol South leader Wisconsin Heights (11-2, 7-0) on the road Feb. 9.
"We can't worry about when the coaches get together (for the Regional Playoffs seeding meetings), we just have to take care of our business each day," Sysko said.
"We've struggled coming back from the New Year, so this is obviously a big win for us tonight," Knights head coach Travis Sysko said. "Hopefully this gets us ready for a tournament run."
Both teams have struggled at times in 2010. New Glarus had dropped three games in a row before a win against Cambridge a Jan. 25. Darlington's only other loss was to the state's top-ranked team, Cuba City, but the Redbirds have struggled defensively the past few weeks.
"We played some bad defense," said Darlington's resident sharpshooter Alex Erickson, who scored a game-high 30 points. "They are a heck of a team and played well. We didn't play that bad, but they just took it to us tonight."
Four Knights reached double figures in the non-conference game, something Sysko was pleased to see.
"It was a great all-around effort by our guys. I thought everybody shined tonight and really played well for us," Sysko said.
One of the Knights' top players, senior Cameron Jeglum, has struggled shooting this year. Sysko said he was pleased with how well Jeglum distributed the ball and kept the offense flowing, despite not having his shot (five points).
"Cameron really helped us on the offense in the second half with his passing, dishing the ball to Nick Stuessy and Tyler Dorn," Sysko said.
Darlington (15-2, 9-1 SWAL), ranked No. 4 in Division 3 in the Associated Press and WisSports.net Coaches Polls, hadn't given up over 50 points prior to the 57-53 loss to Cuba City Jan. 15. Since then, the Redbirds haven't allowed less than 50. New Glarus (10-5, 3-4 Capitol South), a team the Redbirds may meet again in the regionals, put up an unprecedented number.
"This is the first team that has not only scored 60 points on us, but 70. We had some breakdowns," Darlington head coach Mike Hopkins said. "It's really disappointing to have those breakdowns this time of the year, but those are correctable errors."
The Redbirds started hot, jumping out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter off of eight points from Erickson, who started 4-for-4. In the final two minutes of the opening period, the Knights found their groove, going on a 6-0 run to close out the frame.
"We wanted to compete with Darlington. We wanted the challenge," Bright said. "We got off to a rocky start but as a team we stayed humble and kept getting after it."
Sophomore guard Tyler Kreklow (13 points) made it nine-straight points, hitting a 3-pointer 22 seconds into the second quarter to give New Glarus its first lead of the game.
"We stopped playing team basketball, to be honest. We started putting the ball on the floor and looking for our own shot and that's not what we're all about," Hopkins said.
Nearly a minute later, a 3 by Darlington's Jason Boll, who scored all seven of his points in the second, gave the Redbirds the lead back at 18-15. Ryan Bright, who scored 25 points to lead the Knights, drilled a 3 with 3:23 left in the half to give New Glarus the lead for good at 26-24.
"We knew that if we kept working hard, things would turn around for us," Bright said. "It feels cool to beat Darlington. It probably won't help us much in the seeding meetings, but it's a pretty nice feather in our caps."
Bright, a senior, had 11 points in the first half. However, it was a 10-point outburst in the third quarter that helped keep the Knights on top.
The Knights stretched their lead to as much as seven in the third, but a 22-point fourth quarter shut the door and brought New Glarus a thrilling victory.
"Coach has been preaching to us specifically lately," Bright said of closing out the game. "We needed to finish every quarter strong and we did that tonight."
Nick Stuessy scored 15 points for New Glarus and Tyler Dorn had 14.
The Redbirds must now find a way to re-direct their flight plan and get back to its winning ways. Darlington heads to Iowa-Grant (4-12, 2-8 SWAL) Thursday and hosts Mineral Point (3-12, 3-7 SWAL) Feb. 12.
New Glarus is at Watertown Luther Prep (12-2, 6-1 Capitol North) Thursday in another non-conference game, but faces Capitol South leader Wisconsin Heights (11-2, 7-0) on the road Feb. 9.
"We can't worry about when the coaches get together (for the Regional Playoffs seeding meetings), we just have to take care of our business each day," Sysko said.
