WEST SALEM — West Salem High School boys basketball coach knew his team did a good job defensively, but he wasn’t aware of the specifics until after he talked to his players following an impressive 74-54 Coulee Conference victory over visiting G-E-T on Friday.
The Panthers beat the Red Hawks by 22 points during the first week of January, but G-E-T had won eight of nine games since as they arrived to West Salem for the rematch. In preparing his team for the game, Schmeling knew he didn’t want sophomore Talon Fabian to have another 22-point performance.
“(Fabian) and (senior Mason) Brone were our focus coming in,” Schmeling said. “We switched some things on defense to give them a different look than the first time we played them because we didn’t want him to have another game like that.”
That mission was accomplished.
Fabian, who averages 17.2 points per game, was only open enough to shoot the ball three times during a scoreless first half. He didn’t score a point until making two free throws with 10 minutes, 56 seconds left in the game and didn’t make a field goal until 5:19 remained on his way to nine points.
The first-place Panthers (16-2 overall, 9-0 Coulee) — ranked 10th in Division 2 for this week’s Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — also held senior Travis Theisen, who averages 17.3 points, to four. He scored just one the first time the teams played.
So by making the second-place Red Hawks (16-3, 6-2) — ranked eighth in Division 3 — one-dimensional with a 24-point performance from Brone, West Salem used its balance to maintain its stranglehold on the top of the conference standings.
Senior Tyson Labus had 23 points and eight rebounds, junior Drew McConkey had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Nate Dillaber scored 14 points with two killer 3-pointers in the second half to help the Panthers win their fifth game in a row. Senior Makebo Anderson, who scored 29 points in the first 17 games, also knocked down three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points.
“It’s an awesome feeling to come and not beat them once but twice,” Labus said. “At home and front of all these fans, it’s something special.
“I’m so proud of (Anderson). Coach always tells everyone to be ready when it’s their turn off the bench, and Makebo got called on tonight and stepped up in a big way.”
Anderson made two 3-pointers in the first half, and his second pushed West Salem’s lead into doubles figures at 25-13 for the first time. Brone, however, brought the Red Hawks back to within 28-23 before Anderson made a shot from the baseline in the final minute of the half for a 30-23 West Salem advantage.
The Panthers hadn’t made a shot since 4:07 remained in the half, so the basket was a big one.
“We wanted to keep the pace high and not let them get hot,” Anderson said. “But Mason’s a leader out there and kept that team together and kept them in it. We wanted to keep them in check and did a good enough job of it tonight.”
Anderson didn’t know the shots would come his way, but he was ready when they did.
“If you are open, you’ve got to shoot it,” he said. “We have confidence in each other when the shots are open.”
McConkey was whistled for his third foul on the first possession of the second half and his fourth at the 10:56 mark. The Panthers had led 40-26, but the advantage started to slip with the junior on the bench.
A drive to the basket by Theisen with 9:29 left had G-E-T within 46-41, and Brone scored to make it 50-45 with 6:32 left. But McConkey came back into the game with about 5 minutes left and immediately grabbed a defensive rebound that turned into a long Dillaber 3-pointer at the other end of the floor.
He drilled another the next time down the floor, and the Panthers had a 62-50 lead. Labus scored the next five West Salem points as the Red Hawks continued to miss 3-point attempts in an attempt to get back in the game.
G-E-T was 2 for 19 from the 3-point line and wasn’t able to get together a consistent attack other than Brone getting to the basket.
“I’ve watched them a lot, and I felt like Brone has been hurting people more with his passing than his scoring lately,” Schmeling said. “People have been collapsing on him, and then Fabian and Theisen are getting open on the perimeter. We wanted to stay home on the perimeter tonight, and if Brone was going to go out and get 30, we’d take our chances.”
Fabian missed all four of his attempted 3-pointers, and Theisen missed the only two he was able to get off.
West Salem now has a two-game lead in the loss column with three to play. It can clinch a share of its fifth straight conference title by beating Westby (Thursday), Arcadia (Feb. 19) or Viroqua (Feb. 20) and win outright by beating two of those teams.
