LA CROSSE — Defending the perimeter was of significant importance for the Central High School boys basketball team on Thursday.
With Holmen visiting the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium, the RiverHawks were likely focused on the fact that the Vikings had made 33 3-pointers in their previous three games. Those shots keyed four straight games of more than 80 points and propelled Holmen into sole possession of the MVC lead.
Holmen coach Ryan Meyer knew before the game tipped off that duplicating those numbers would be difficult, and Central showed him just how difficult while pulling out a 67-51 victory.
The RiverHawks (7-3, 3-1) followed up an impressive first half with an even better second half to win their fourth game in a row and hold Holmen to a season low in points.
“We had to stop their 3-point shots because they are a great 3-point shooting team,” Central sophomore Gabe Servais said. “We knew we had to take away the 3 and play our system.”
The Vikings (9-3, 3-1) did make eight shots from beyond the arc, but the RiverHawks made good looks tough to find and made Holmen pay when the shots didn’t fall. After carving out a seven-point lead after one half, Central extended possessions and made 13 of 17 shots from the floor and 11 of 13 free throws the rest of the way to sew up the victory.
Servais scored 14 points in the first half and 12 more in the second for a game-high 26. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as Central won that battle by a 40-17 margin.
“We play a lot of young guys … we played five sophomores tonight,” said Central coach Todd Fergot, who pointed out that the Vikings were playing their third game in four days. “Even our older guys didn’t play a lot last year.
“I think they are understanding more of what we want from them, and I think they did a good job of executing what we wanted to do defensively.”
The RiverHawks used a 13-2 run during the second half to break things open. Central unleashed that run after Jeren Rink converted an offensive rebound into a basket that had the Vikings within 37-30 with 13 minutes, 46 seconds remaining.
Senior Frankie Wilk scored seven of the 13 points and finished it when he drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner off a pass from Anthony Jones. That gave Central a 50-32 lead with 8:07 left.
Wilk made 7 of 8 shots and finished with 17 points to go with three rebounds and two steals. Derrick Pangier also made all six of his free throws and added 10 points for the RiverHawks.
The Vikings were limited to two second-half 3-pointers, so the deficit was tough to make up.
Sophomore Jayden Bartels scored a team-high 20 points and made 4 of 5 attempts from the 3-point line. Three of those 3s came in the first 11 minutes of the game, and his free throw with 6:27 on the first-half clock cut what was once a nine-point deficit to 16-15. But Holmen never led and was never again that close.
Junior Alex Berget added 12 points, but Central put the wraps on senior Kaiden Wilber, who had scored 64 points in Holmen past three games. Wilber finished with three on a three-point play with 2:15 left. He was only able to take five shots.
“This was a good step for us, but it doesn’t matter much because we have to get back to it tomorrow,” Fergot said. “We have another big game on Tuesday.”
The RiverHawks host first-place Onalaska (11-2, 4-1) for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff.
