Citizen Staff/James Wold
Waupun's Derrick Winterhack (15) goes for two of his 22 points against Beaver Dam's Tal Diekvoss (32) during Saturday's championship game of the BD Holiday Tournament.
Rivalry games naturally leave one expecting the unexpected but it bordered on absurd for Waupun Saturday night.
The Warriors scored eight points in a first quarter rife with bricks. Austin Armga missed all seven field goal attempts before halftime and backcourt partner Cory Nickel was held to nine points and one 3-pointer after sinking nine the previous night.
Waupun was bailed out by a pleasant surprise. Senior pivot Derrick Winterhack matched Armga’s 22 points as the Warriors rallied past host Beaver Dam for a tense 68-61 boys basketball win in the BD Holiday Tournament title bout.
“Probably the difference tonight was his offensive output,” Beaver Dam coach Tim Ladron said of Winterhack. “He’s a nice athlete and he can get up on people and finish. He did a great job.”
Winterhack was taken to the cleaners by BD senior Dan Docter to the tune of 27 points and 14 rebounds in last year’s meeting. An offseason in the weight room specifically geared toward nights like this enabled him to hit eight of 10 shots while slowing Docter to 17 points and six rebounds.
“I took it personally,” Winterhack said of the matchup. “It was my duty to stop him but it wasn’t just me. It was a group effort.”
It was exactly in these types of situations where the Warriors failed down the stretch last year. Armga struggled, frustrations boiled over and Waupun was unable to stand up to teams physically.
Armga adjusted his game as BD collapsed on his drives to the basket, settling for his pet pull-up jumper from the elbow to score 20 of his 22 after halftime. Trailing by five at the break, the Warriors toughed one out by delivering a 17-5 beating on the glass after halftime in a clash where rebounding wasn’t for the faint of heart.
“Everyone was rebounding and that takes the pressure off of me,” Winterhack said. “This set the pace for our season right here.
“It’s our biggest rival and it will help us through the season.”
If Waupun (2-0) was encouraged by surviving a brawl, then the Golden Beavers (2-1) can certainly build off pushing the highly-touted Warriors to the hilt. Armga had to work for his points and Nickel was kept in check, largely by freshman R.J. Shelton, in a dogged defensive effort.
“This is a tough one,” Ladron said. “We played two physical games back-to-back and to play a team of their caliber is a big compliment to our mental toughness.”
As well as the Golden Beavers stayed with Armga, he’s got savvy to go with his athletic ability. He combined drives to the hoop with his pull-up jumpers to get BD in foul trouble, with Waupun milking a 20-for-26 effort at the charity stripe while BD hit just five of nine tries.
“All three guys we put on him, Jake (Heuer), Trent (Diekvoss) and Micah (Greatens) did a wonderful job,” Ladron said. “We tried to give him different looks but Armga’s such a phenomenal athlete and a really smart player, too.”
Armga scored 11 points in less than five minutes to pull Waupun in front at the start of the third quarter. BD picked up its seventh team foul 12 seconds into the fourth quarter and Waupun kept its small cushion throughout the final quarter with foul shots.
With BD down two and just over three minutes left, Winterhack set up Armga for a 3-pointer from the left corner. Armga hit two more free throws and assisted on Adam Vande Zande’s midrange jumper for a 59-50 edge with two minutes to play.
“Adam had a tremendous second half,” Armga said. “I’ve been riding him for some time and he came of age.”
So did Heuer. He drilled three 3-pointers, the last two with the 6-foot-5 Vande Zande in his face, and led BD with 19 points before fouling out.
“Heuer had a great effort there,” Waupun interim coach Randy Armga said. “We decided to leave him and he knocked down three 3s.
“I hope it translates into confidence for them.”
BD wouldn’t go away but two three-point plays from Winterhack in the final 48.2 seconds helped seal the win. It would be remiss to not mention junior Connor Krohn, who added seven points, seven rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and an appetite for physical play once the game turned rugged.
“We talked about that and Connor has big, big nights ahead of him,” coach Armga said. “We didn’t change a lot at halftime. We called the kids out to win loose balls and get on the boards.
“It’s still a good rivalry. I’ve got nothing left. BD is so much improved but we were hoping for reasonable containment of Docter and we got more than that.”
Tal Diekvoss scored 13 points and Shelton had five assists for BD, which opens Little Ten play at West Bend West.
Waupun visits Kettle Moraine Lutheran Tuesday before hosting Sheboygan Falls Thursday in its Eastern Wisconsin opener.
WAUPUN 68, BEAVER DAM 61
WAUPUN (68) - Nickel 9, Krohn 7, Vande Zande 6, Winterhack 22, Armga 22, Totals 23 20-26 68.
BEAVER DAM (61) - N. Schmitt 6, Tr. Diekvoss 4, Shelton 2, Heuer 19, Docter 17, Ta. Diekvoss 13, Totals 25 5-9 61.
Waupun 8 16 21 23 - 68
Beaver Dam 17 12 16 16 - 61
3-Point Goals-Waupun 2 (Nickel 1, Armga 1), Beaver Dam 6 (N. Schmitt 1, Heuer 3, Ta. Diekvoss 2). Total fouls-Waupun 11, Beaver Dam 24.