KEWASKUM – Kewaskum was without its starting goalkeeper in the first half on Tuesday night, and West Bend West’s boys soccer team took full advantage.

The Spartans got two goals and three total points from senior captain midfielder Henry Danaher as the Indians were playing without junior netminder Carter Curtin in the opening 40 minutes. Kewaskum created a few scoring chances throughout, but West kept play in the attacking zone for the majority of their 4-0 non-conference road victory, outshooting the Indians 11-3.

“I thought it was a great game,” Spartans’ coach James Danaher, Henry’s father said. “It was an all-around effort. I thought Henry really stepped up offensively in the first half and took the opportunities.”

“We have a lot of respect for West and their program,” Kewaskum coach John Kenworthy said. “He’s (James Danaher) got a good team and they’re playing well. We like to play them to give us a benchmark against a quality team. We had a situation where we were playing a freshman keeper, and it’s a challenge for a young man to take. He did pretty well. I’m proud of how we did.”

West established control offensively in the first ten minutes. The Spartans had a close header attempt miss in the 3rdminute before taking the lead early. Sophomore midfielder/forward Beckham Heller was in the right place at the right time, as he recovered a kick in the air from Henry Danaher and scored in front of the net on the left side after Kewaskum freshman goalkeeper Riley Kuehl jumped to try and deflect the air ball from Danaher.

“I think it was a team effort,” Henry Danaher said. “We possessed it really good. We’ve been working on that the last two games, so we were just able to play our game and score goals today.”

Henry Danaher doubled the lead five minutes later when he took a pass from freshman midfielder Cal Baker on the right side and drilled a shot in the left side of the net.

“We’ve been waiting for that for a couple years from him,” James Danaher said of Henry. “He’s a possession-oriented player who wins a lot of tackles and distributes the ball. He’s now starting to take the next step in scoring goals and making assists.”

The senior captain continued his offensive dominance in the 35th minute when he fired in a free kick from the middle to produce a 3-0 halftime lead for West.

“Henry Danaher is a beast,” Kenworthy said.

Kewaskum had two scoring chances in the last four minutes of the first half, but Spartans’ sophomore goalkeeper Jimmy O’Connell turned them away.

Junior forward Tyler Roney added to the Spartans’ lead three minutes into the second half when he took a pass close to the net in the middle from senior captain forward Bryce Rupnow and booted one past Kuehl. It was Roney’s first ever varsity goal.

“He (Rupnow) did a great job of turning the player, got around the back, perfect ball and Tyler was right there,” said James Danaher of the final goal. “I’m super excited for him (Roney).”

Curtin, who came in at halftime, kept West from converting multiple scoring opportunities down the stretch. He had four saves during a 10-minute stretch midway through the second half.

The Indians had two shots in the second half, but neither of them was on goal.

“In the back, we were super controlled and composed,” said James Danaher of his defense. “We’ve developed a new style of play and our backs our playing wide. They had some really fast, quick players and we were able to isolate them, possess the ball around them and move forward.”

KEWASKUM – Kewaskum had to scrap and claw to stay undefeated and Damareyon Taylor made the difference on both sides of the ball.

The senior wide receiver/defensive back caught a 15-yard touchdown pass on the first possession of overtime to help secure a 21-14 East Central Conference victory over Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Friday night. Taylor also had two interceptions and two catches of more than 20 yards in the fourth quarter.

“I had a bad first half with a dropped pass, but it’s all about looking to the future, trying to make another play and keeping your head in the game,” Taylor said. “I saw they had two high so my quarterback gave me the bender route over the middle between the safeties. He threw me a perfect ball.”

“Absolutely incredible,” said Indians’ coach Steve Tennies of Taylor. “You look at those catches that he made. What a phenomenal athlete. He is a great football player. I can’t imagine anyone in the state had a better game than Damareyon Taylor.”

A highlight-reel one-handed 38-yard catch by senior wide receiver/defensive back Benjamin Butler converted a 3rd and 20 and got Kewaskum into the red zone. However, senior kicker Andrew Bolek’s potential game-winning 30-yard field goal hit the left upright. Taylor got his second pick in the final seconds of regulation.

The Indians’ defense held the Chargers on their overtime chance to move Kewaskum to 3-0.

“There was a whole lot of emotion,” Tennies said. “Emotions were good, they were bad. We were low, but we’re a tight-knit group and we found a way to get back on the high and that went through overtime.”

“I was really proud of our guys,” Kettle Moraine Lutheran coach David Kren said. “We had a great week of practice and we said that we’ve just got to play a complete game. It’s the first time all year that we have. These guys are football players and they know what it takes. They kept grinding in this game and gave us a chance to win.”

Kewaskum took advantage of an interception in Chargers’ territory by senior defensive back/running back Gavin Schwantz on its second possession. Senior quarterback/defensive back Matthew Buechel bought time in the pocket and hit junior running back/linebacker Hunter Loser on a 27-yard pass over the middle. Buechel then had a 16-yard read option run before fellow senior running back/linebacker Max Melzer scored from six yards out.

“We’ve seen it now and the two games prior to this,” said Tennies of Melzer. “Max is a heck of an athlete and he doesn’t go down easily. He’s got a great sense of balance.”

Melzer struck again two possessions later. He had two runs for 17 yards before busting off a big play to double the lead. He took a toss to the left then broke to the right and evaded a tackle down the right sideline for a 53-yard scoring scamper.

“It all goes to the team,” Melzer said. “The team blocked perfectly and were there for every play that I made. At the end, I just had to execute to make it happen.”

Kettle Moraine Lutheran established its big play running attack after that. Senior running back/linebacker Brandon Kabelowsky had a 28-yard run into Indians’ territory before fellow senior running back/defensive back Benjamin Zylka had a 34-yard run to the Kewaskum 2. Kabelowsky finished the drive with a dive up the middle.

The Chargers hit on a big pass and big run play to tie the score. Junior quarterback/defensive back Matthew Thistle hit senior receiver/defensive back Mason Knueppel over the middle for 26 yards. On the next play, Zylka bolted left for a 21-yard scoring run.

“We run the offense in a way where we grind it out and all of a sudden, we’ll pop a big one,” Kren said. “Those were big for us. Those guys ran hard tonight. I give them a lot of credit for how hard they ran and we took advantage of something we saw a little bit.”

Neither team generated any momentum for most of the third quarter. Kettle Moraine Lutheran ended the quarter with a big play when Thistle hit junior wide receiver/defensive back Jack Netzel for 29 yards and a Kewaskum personal foul added 15 yards to it. However, the drive stalled and Thistle missed a 25-yard field goal.

The Indians then had their own promising drive go for naught. Two passes from Buechel to Taylor and Butler combined for 53 yards. However, an interception at the Chargers 2 by senior defensive back/receiver Spencer Stern kept the score tied.

Two runs for 40 yards by Kabelowsky got Kettle Moraine Lutheran out of the shadow of its goal posts, but Taylor picked off a pass a few plays later to set the home squad up for the winning drive.

KEWASKUM – In a battle of explosive offenses, Kewaskum had a couple more strikes.

The Indians had a big kick return and two receptions for scores by senior receiver/defensive back Benjamin Butler and two rushing touchdowns of 25-plus yards to outlast a 40-30 big play battle with Campbellsport on Friday night. Kewaskum senior quarterback/defensive back Matthew Buechel accounted for four touchdowns with two runs and the two passes to Butler to help the home squad capture the Kettle Moraine Trophy.

“Heck of a game on both teams part,” Indians’ coach Steve Tennies said. “I’m just so happy for my guys. We’re still trying to find out what kind of team we are and we’ve won two different ways. I feel real good about what these guys are doing and who they’re becoming.”

Kewaskum exploded to start the game. Buechel fired a 27-yard dart over the middle to fellow senior receiver/defensive back Damareyon Taylor on the first play of the drive. Two plays later, Buechel rolled left on a quarterback keeper run and scampered 41 yards to paydirt.

“Matt is one of our captains,” said Tennies of Buechel. “He’s a senior quarterback who is doing a phenomenal job. It’s not easy to do what he did tonight.”

Campbellsport responded with their flex bone offense rushing attack. Gardner ran for 50 yards on the Cougars’ first drive, including a 30-yard run down the left sideline before scoring from five yards out. Senior tight end Cullen Beisbier caught a two-point conversion pass.

Senior running back/linebacker Max Melzer gained 18 yards on a shovel pass from Buechel after Buechel escaped a sack. Buechel later dropped a perfect back-shoulder pass on the left side to Butler for a 14-8 advantage.

The road squad then brought in its passing game. Junior quarterback Mitchell McCarty tossed a short pass left to fellow junior running back Cole Kaehne, who turned it into a 28-yard gain. Gardner had a 20-yard run and a touchdown called back on holding before McCarty later hit Kaehne again for a 9-yard touchdown on the right side. Gardner ran in a two-point conversion.

The Indians then got a stop after a turnover on downs inside the Cougars’ 5 and capitalized. Buechel, after two runs for 31 yards, hit a wide-open Taylor with a 24-yard strike on the right side to the Cougars’ 10. Buechel then scored on a 5-yard read option and Melzer added a two-point conversion run for a 22-16 Kewaskum lead at halftime.

“I think our coach put in a very good game plan today,” Buechel said. “Our head coach made sure we were all on the same page before the game and we all practiced really hard this week. We went full pads on Thursday, which we usually don’t do. We knew that we had to put in a lot of work and I had a lot of good blocks by the offensive line today and a lot of good blocks by the wide receivers. Runs like that can’t happen without them.”

Both teams combined for three touchdowns on three plays in a 30-second stretch near the middle of the third quarter.

Buechel and Butler hooked up again to extend the Indians’ advantage four minutes into the second half when Butler caught a 3rd and long pass on the left side and made two tacklers miss on his way to the end zone.

“Damareyon Taylor made a great block that allowed me to get through,” said Butler of the big pass. “When I got through, I broke those two tackles but without Damareyon Taylor, I probably would have been down.”

Gardner picked up where he left off in the first half when he took the first play on the ensuing drive 80 yards. Butler then returned the following kickoff 85 yards up the middle.

“The kickoff return team made that gap for me and I just took off,” said Butler of his runback.

All three scores featured missed two-point tries.

“Ben Butler is a heck of a player,” said Tennies of Butler. “He does a lot of little things that aren’t as explosive, but we watched him on film last week and thought, ‘What a phenomenal game he had,’ even though he didn’t score the touchdowns. Tonight, he did that and had the explosive plays.”

Gardner later capped off a run-only drive at the end of the third quarter with a 16-yard burst down the left side. He then punched in a two-point try.

Melzer scored the knockout punch on a 27-yard burst up the middle with four and a half minutes to play.

KEWASKUM – Plymouth may have had a big fifth inning, but Kewaskum had an even bigger sixth.

The second-seeded Indians scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 6-5 comeback victory over the third-seeded Panthers in their WIAA Division 2 Baseball Tournament regional final on Tuesday evening. Plymouth scored three runs in the top of the fifth to break a 2-2 tie.

“Both teams made some mistakes early and we persevered through it,” Kewaskum coach Mike Heisdorf said. “We were doing our jobs and sticking with it. (Senior pitcher) Cale (Fransen) struggled through pitching today a little bit, especially towards the end. (Junior first baseman/closing pitcher) Jacob (Brzozowski) did a great job closing out the game for us.”

“It was one of those games where whoever was going to make the most plays at the right time was going to win the game,” Panthers’ coach Butch Cain said. “There were a lot of plays left on the field for both teams. I think, if you look at the 11 runs, I think they were all unearned. It’s just a matter of who is going to hold on, battle through adversity, who’s going to get the clutch hit, who’s going to make the play at the right time and who’s going to make the right pitch.”

The first five Kewaskum hitters reached on an error and four hits in the Indians’ big sixth. Brzozowski hit an RBI double to right to cut the lead to two before Fransen barreled another two-bagger to deep left to tie the game. After getting one more hit and losing a runner in a rundown, the Indians took the lead for good on another RBI double from senior designated hitter Nathan Heberer.

“I was like ‘I’ve got to find the gap somewhere to score the winning run,’ and then I hit it in the left center gap,” Heberer said.

“We’re a decent hitting team,” Heisdorf said. “A lot of teams that we played this year said, ‘What we fear about you guys is getting on a roll hitting’. We can hit pretty much up and down the lineup. It’s a matter of if we get good pitching and play decent defense, I think we can beat almost anybody.”

After both teams got one runner in the fourth, Plymouth then took advantage of a crucial Kewaskum miscue in the fifth. Freshman third baseman Jordan Schmitt reached with one out on a dropped popup at shortstop. After a fielder’s choice groundout, the next three Panthers reached. After sophomore second baseman Alex Ames drew a walk, fellow sophomore shortstop Dylon Sass tripled down the right field line to score both runners and break the tie. Junior first baseman Mason Hendrickson then singled Sass in to conclude the three-run inning. Both hits dropped after diving catch attempts in right field.

“We said when they made the error that it’s a momentum switch,” Cain said. “Hopefully, you can grab that momentum and sustain it. We did for a little bit, but just not for enough time.”

Kewaskum struck first after retiring Plymouth in order in the top of the first by taking advantage of two Panthers’ errors. Heberer walked before advancing to third on a single by senior shortstop Ethan Williams two at-bats later. Both runners advanced on an errant pickoff attempt at first to score the Indians’ first run. Williams then stole third and got home on a wide throw to third.

“It’s high school baseball,” Heisdorf said. “It’s the errors. You play clean baseball and you’ll win most of the time.”

A double play off a lineout to second ended Plymouth’s half of the second. Kewaskum got two runners on in the bottom of the frame, but the last two hitters were set down.

The Panthers got even in the top of the third. After a strikeout, senior infielder Ayden Killam walked and fellow senior center fielder Adam Miller singled to put two runners on with one out. A groundout advanced both runners before Sass hit a line drive single to center to score them. Sass was caught stealing to end the frame.

“We were fortunate to get some guys on base and we had some clutch hits,” Cain said. “That’s been our M.O. all year.”

KEWASKUM – Kewaskum pulled a road upset against Kettle Moraine Lutheran earlier in 2021, and the Chargers had payback on their minds on the Indians’ home floor.

Kettle Moraine Lutheran utilized an inside-out attack offensively and forced many tough Kewaskum shots on Thursday night, which culminated in a 64-28 East Central Conference blowout victory. The Chargers kept the Indians’ defense guessing throughout the game with an extremely balanced offensive output. Junior star wing Austin Wagner led the team effort with 11 points.

“It was definitely a total team effort tonight,” Kettle Moraine Lutheran coach Josh Lindner said. “We came out much better defensively. I’m just proud of our effort all around, especially defensively, giving up just 28 points. That was pretty awesome.”

“Kettle just outplayed us in all facets of the game,” Kewaskum coach Don Gruber said. “They were quicker to the ball. We had a lot of turnovers. They closed on the drives. For us to win, we need to hit some shots.”

Defensively, Kettle Moraine Lutheran keyed on sophomore forward Antoine Coleman-Thull, who scored just seven points after dropping 21 points in the teams’ previous meeting.

“We really made it a focus that when the ball got in, we would bring our weak side guy over and double team,” said Lindner of the post defense. “It made it a lot tougher for him.”

“We had some good looks on the inside,” Gruber said. “They bodied us and didn’t give us as much inside game as they did last time.”

The Chargers asserted their dominance after neither team scored in the first two minutes. Kettle Moraine Lutheran had four players with one basket apiece, including a 3-pointer from freshman wing Garrett Murphy to open the scoring with a 9-0 run. Murphy finished second for the Chargers with 10 points.

Senior wing Michael Daniel, who was one of five senior starters for Kewaskum’s Senior Night, led the Indians back with two layups and a steal to help lead a 6-0 Indians’ charge. The Chargers then responded with a 10-0 flurry with another balanced effort, as five players each scored once. Murphy and junior guard Ian Schaser each canned triples during this stretch. Daniel led Kewaskum with eight points.

“They like to play a little bit slower tempo than we do,” Lindner said. “We put on our press, trapped a little bit more and tried to speed them up tonight. We forced a few turnovers, which helped us get out in transition and get some easy buckets.”

“We had some takeaways and we gave it right back to them,” Gruber said. “I think it was three times in the first half. Those are the turnovers you have to maximize. I think that would have gotten a little momentum on our side.”

Kewaskum sophomore forward Antoine Coleman-Thull scored the next six Indians’ points. Junior guard Logan Measner stole an errant pass and converted a fast-break layup to give Kettle Moraine Lutheran a 25-10 lead. The road squad led by 13 at the break.

The team effort continued into the second half for the Chargers. Kettle Moraine Lutheran doubled their halftime advantage to open the frame with a 14-1 run with threes from Measner and junior guard Jack Leffel. Wagner completed the flurry with a dribble pull up from the left side.

“I like to get a nice start, and I struggled a little bit at the beginning, missing a couple,” Wagner said. “I kept going and I like how my teammates found themselves open shots as well. I think we all scored tonight for the first time, and that was great to see.”

After Kewaskum went on a 9-3 spurt to cut the lead to 20, the Chargers went on one more run before putting their reserves in. Wagner had a layup and a free throw and Schaser hit another triple to key the 19-0 run that displayed Kettle Moraine Lutheran’s balance once again.

“It’s very nice to have balanced scoring like that,” Lindner said. “When it’s not just one or two guys, but everybody gets rolling. We’re trying to pick up a little momentum going into the playoffs and tonight was definitely one that we want to continue to build off of.”

“We started off pretty cold and we stayed cold,” Gruber said. “Kudos to Kettle. They did everything right and we struggled with it.”

The reserves played out the final two minutes, and the Indians’ seniors went out to a standing ovation.

KEWASKUM – Madilyn Dogs was one of a dynamic duo for Kewaskum on Wednesday night, and her heroics made sure the Indians finished a rough year the right way.

The sophomore Kewaskum wing got free on a cut to the basket in the final seconds and dropped in the game-winning layup of a 54-52 non-conference victory over Grafton. She scored 20 points, including six in the final four minutes, to finish off a second-half comeback after the Indians trailed by nine early in the frame.

“We were all a little nervous coming into it because it was a new play he (coach Russell Thull) just drew up,” said Dogs of the final sequence. “My teammates got the ball in. (Sophomore forward) Morgan (Adams) made a great pass to my left hand for the layup to win it. It was a really fun moment to have.”

“We kind of went three-out to see what they were in,” said Thull of the game-winner. “I wanted to see how they were going to line up. We knew we could make one pass, so we obviously had Morgan cutting to the ball and we had Maddie going to the back side. We just wanted a good look.”

Grafton tied the game following a driving layup by junior forward Ella Day and two free throws from junior guard Emily Grisar after Kewaskum took a 52-48 lead with just less than a minute and a half to play.

“We lost track of where we were on the court,” said Black Hawks’ coach Matt D’Amato of the last basket. “When we’re guarding a half-court out-of-bounds play, it’s one of our mantras to protect the hoop. The fact that we gave up a layup to lose is inexcusable. We had two people down there, but we just got back-doored.

The Indians got off to a fast start in the first five minutes. Senior guard Kennedy Adams Dogs were able to drive the lane and get inside position early and scored all ten points of a 10-4 run to open the scoring. Kewaskum’s full-court trapping defense also was pivotal in the early momentum. Kennedy Adams was the other half of the Indians’ prolific pair, as she led the home squad with 22 points.

“I felt in the first few minutes that we had some good looks in the half-court set,” Thull said. “Our full-court pressure is kind of our M.O. It’s what we do and I think it definitely helped wear them down a little bit.”

Grafton stepped up defensively and adjusted to the press over the next four minutes before finding its groove on offense. Two free throws and a 3-point play by freshman forward Sarah Aleknavicius started a 14-0 run that flipped seven-point leads. Aleknavicius also knocked down a 3-pointer during the stretch.

The Black Hawks maintained a lead of five or more points for the rest of the first half before getting its largest lead in the final 30 seconds when junior guard Emily Grisar canned a triple to give Grafton a 26-18 halftime lead. Aleknavicius and Grisar tied for first for Grafton in scoring with 12 points apiece.

The road squad’s momentum continued into the first three-plus minutes of the second half, as a 3-pointer from senior forward and team leading scorer Allison Garncarz and layup from Aleknavicius gave the Black Hawks their largest lead at nine on two occasions.

“Taking care of the basketball,” said D’Amato regarding the reason for his team’s mid-game momentum. “We settled down a little bit. We had a little bit lengthier possessions where we get the defense moving. When we move the ball and we get the defense having to rotate, we get good looks and that allows us to get those runs.”

The Indians took off on a 7-0 run after that to set the tone for a thrilling second half. Kennedy Adams scored two tough inside baskets during the flurry, the latter of which was a 3-point play.

Day knocked down a 3-pointer to quell the home squad’s momentum and two free throws from freshman guard Savannah James gave the Black Hawks a 38-31 lead with 11 minutes left.