LA CROSSE — Central High School boys basketball team was able to play with Caledonia for one half Monday night at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium.
But once the Warriors found their pace, there wasn’t much the RiverHawks could do.
Senior Reid Klug scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and classmate Garrett Konz 18 of his 22 in the second half as Caledonia rolled to a 61-42 nonconference win over Central.
The Warriors (17-2) won their sixth game in a row and started a busy week for the RiverHawks (7-4) off with a loss. Central also hosts Sparta on Tuesday, Tomah on Friday and Onalaska on Saturday this week.
“We have to learn from it,” Central coach Todd Fergot said. “You have to move on, and we’ll move in.
“But whatever the score is, we have to execute at a higher level. I was disappointed with some of our more experienced players for not doing that tonight.”
Caledonia trailed 25-24 after one half but quickly pulled away by opening the second half with an 18-4 run. After Reid scored on putbacks and from the 3-point line in the first 18 minutes, Konz began to do the same.
Joey Pretasky scored off a pass from Gabe Servais to get Central within 31-29, but Konz made a 3-pointer and assisted on a 3-pointer made by Grant King. He followed than by hitting a turnaround jumper off an inbounds pass and knocking down a 3-pointer off a pass from Mason King.
That 11-0 run gave the Warriors a 42-29 advantage with 13 minutes, 52 seconds left, and the RiverHawks could only get closer than that once the rest of the game.
Reid and Konz combined to make 20 of 35 shots and pull down 13 rebounds — Konz had nine of them — as Caledonia beat Central for the second year in a row.
The RiverHawks were led by sophomore Will Schilling’s 12 points and 11 from Anthony Jones.
Schilling scored nine and assisted on the other hoop in an 11-4 first-half run that put Central up 15-10, and senior Jaylon Calvert beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer from the left corner to provide the one-point halftime lead.
“We hit some shots in the first half, and I think Caledonia missed some shots they normally make,” Fergot said. “I don’t think we played great n the first half, but we hit some shots in key moments.
“Against them, you have to take advantage when you do that. We probably should have been up six or eight, but we had some breakdowns. Then, in the second half, they just turned it on, which is what they do.”
