SPASH trio keys win over East in WVC clash

WAUSAU - Joey Hauser was in uniform for the Stevens Point Area Senior High boys basketball team Friday and went through pre-game warm-ups for the first time this season.

But the Panthers standout junior, who injured his ankle during the football season, never left the bench during a Wisconsin Valley Conference matchup with Wausau East and sat out once again.

The Panthers continued to show they are more than a one-player team, however.

Drew Blair and Beau Rosenthal had 24 and 19 points, respectively, and Drew Cullen added a career-high 22 points off the bench as the Panthers held off the Lumerjacks 72-63 to improve to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the WVC.

Blair, Rosenthal and Cullen combined to score the first 46 points of the game for the Panthers, before Keon’te Williams laid in a shot just over three minutes into the second half.

Williams added six points a team-high 11 rebounds as SPASH, ranked No. 3 in Division 1 in The Associated Press state basketball poll, won its 42 nd straight game in conference play.

“It says a lot,” SPASH coach Scott Anderson said. “We lost eight players (from last year) and then to be missing a pretty key component (Hauser), who you were expecting to maybe lean on during the early part of the season. I am proud of what this group has done.”

Hauser, a second team all-state selection by The Associated Press last season, is close to a return to the court. Anderson said they did not plan on playing him against East but will ramp up activities for the 6-foot-8 junior in practice with a chance of him making his season debut in a game next week.

“We are going to see how (the week) goes,” Anderson said.

Sawyer Schlindwein had 25 points to lead the Lumberjacks, who trailed by 18 points early in the second half and got as close to five points late in regulation. Thomas Dunbar, who returned to the lineup after sitting out a game last week with an ankle injury, added 10 points for the Lumberjacks (8-2, 2-1 WVC).

Michael LaPree was the third player in double figures for the Lumberjacks with 12 points.

“I’m proud of the way we battled back (in the second half),” East coach Paul Dimka said. “We got it down to five points (late) and felt we had a chance. Credit them, they made more plays in the end.”

The Panthers scored the first five points of the game and never trailed. The Panthers led by as much as 13 points in the half before East made a late run to get it to within eight.

Cullen, who said he likes his role of coming off the bench, had 17 points in the first half and five of SPASH’s seven 3-pointers. His fifth and final came just before time ran out in the half and gave the Panthers a 39-28 break at the half.

“I was feeling pretty good in the warm-ups,” said Cullen, who added a 3-pointer with just under eight minutes left in regulation to give SPASH a 57-49 lead.

The Panthers scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 46-28 lead and caused Dimka to call an early timeout in which he challenged his team’s effort on the glass.

“I had to,” Dimka said of the timeout. “We were getting killed on the boards.”

The Lumberjacks responded as Schlindwein scored 15 of his points in the second half. The Lumberjacks closed to within five points twice in the final 10 minutes, the last coming after Michael LaPree’s basket made it 59-54 with 5:47 left.

“I wasn’t happy with some of the things we were doing in that stretch (of the second half),” Anderson said. “We lost some of their shooters and our offense didn’t help our defense with some turnovers. But give (East) credit. They’re tough with good players in Dunbar, Schlindwein and LaPree.”

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11

SPASH (72): Drew Blair 24, Beau Rosenthal 19, Andrew Erdman 1, Keon'te Williams 6, Drew Cullen 22

WAUSAU EAST (63): Thomas Dunbar 10, Chris Nash 5, Forest Kronberger 4, Alex Becker 1, Michael La Pree 12, Sawyer Schlindwein 25, Matt Tuman 6

3-pointers: SP 9 (Collen 6, Blair 2, Rosenthal); WE 8 (LaPree 3, Schlindwein 2, Dunbar, Nash, Tuman)