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Vern Hollister
Correspondent

In the opener for both teams, Goodman-Armstrong Creek and Wausaukee interrupted deer hunting and the Thanksgiving break long enough to play a Saturday evening basketball game that had the baskets been deer, they'd still be roaming free. However, the Falcons pressure defense and some key shots down the stretch broke a 35-35 tie, and Goodman-Armstrong Creek pulled ahead 45-40 with 28.4 seconds remaining and hung on to win 47-43.

The victory was especially gratifying for the Falcons, who, according to coach John Ostermann, have opened the season with a loss to the Rangers for about the last ten years.

"First of all," Ostermann said. "We've been waiting for 365 days for this." Avenging both a loss last season and over the years finally occurred. "We played well," Ostermann said, "but we shot poorly. I don't care how good you play, if you shoot poorly, you look bad."

The Falcons committed only five turnovers, and they forced Wausaukee into far more; but time after time with opportunities to stretch their lead, buck fever hit during shot attempts.

In the low-scoring 7-6 opening quarter, the Falcons forced at least five turnovers, and two times didn't score. In the second quarter, Goodman-Armstrong Creek opened up a 15-8 lead on a putback by Ryan Rocque and six points by Alex Taylor in rapid succession, all off turnovers. On one, Taylor swiped the ball. On another, guard partner Pawel Sciborowski picked off the basketball and flipped to Taylor near the hoop. Following that steal, the suddenly alive Falcons looked to roll. However, four consecutive shots and three aggressive rebounds resulted in no basket.

The half ended 21-17, one that could have been moved to 23-17, except a theft turned into a missed basket, the same way the third quarter began, a steal but no points. Ostermann said that he had to give the Falcons credit for weathering the third quarter. "They played through a four-point third," he said. At the third period's conclusion, the score stood 25-25.

A surprisingly large crowd supported the efforts of both teams. They played hard, and just as in football, the Rangers will miss Pat Caine, a guard who would have had less trouble with the Falcons press. Wausaukee held a height advantage with Jake Wszelaki and Will Vogt, both 6' 3". Vogt did the most scoring damage with 14 points to lead all scorers. Had the Rangers hit their free throws, 13 of 23 from the line, the story may have been different. As it was, Wausaukee did take a 27-25 lead, lost it, and regained it 37-35 on the strength of a pair of free throws.

"Our guards, Alex (Taylor), Pawel (Sciborowski) and Andrew (Janczy) came through in the fourth," Ostermann said. "The press was our only offense for three quarters. We should have been ahead. Alex hitting a three in the fourth was big and Andrew hitting a three. In the fourth period, Alex scored five, Andrew seven and Pawel seven."

When the Rangers took a 28-27 lead, Taylor dropped in a three-pointer that rippled the bottom of the net. Sciborowski hit for two that brought the Falcons a 32-31 edge. Janczy's three-pointer from the left corner put the score 35-31, but the Rangers kept fighting. Jordan Stumbris drove all the way to the hoop for two points, and free throws tied the game and put Wausaukee ahead. At the 2:01 mark, Rocque and Kevin Kowalkowski worked a nice give and go near the hoop to put the Falcons back on top. Sciborowski's flight to the basket gave Goodman-Armstrong Creek some breathing room, 42-39. Stumbris hit a three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left, but a long pass to Janczy over the Wausaukee press capped the scoring.

Ostermann said there wasn't a lot of jubilation in the locker room over the win because they knew they should have won by a greater margin and shot better. Sciborowski scored 13 points, Taylor 11 and Janczy nine to lead the Falcons. Janczy and Taylor Ziolkowski didn't start because of a practice infraction that came about when the two were, almost appropriately, tracking a deer. Ziolkowski, after he entered the game, picked up seven rebounds, the same number as Janczy. Ziolkowski also fouled out with 3:03 to play, and Janczy ended the game with four fouls. Kowalkowski helped out with five points, and Rocque in his debut at center played "a good first game," Ostermann said. Rocque picked up three points.

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