Norse fall to ECI, Arcadia
Whitehall’s Cayden Johnston saved the ball from going out of bounds during their game against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Thursday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
The Whitehall boys basketball team was competitive in the first half of both of its games last week, but couldn’t keep up in the second half.
The team stayed close with Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Thursday, but the Lancers finished with a five-point edge. On Friday, Whitehall trailed by eight at halftime before Arcadia broke the game open for a 71-42 win (see story elsewhere in Sports).
The losses put Whitehall’s record at 9-13 overall and 8-10 in Dairyland Conference play, That is still good enough for second place in the DC-Large, but Whitehall is well behind first-place Osseo-Fairchild at 16-2. The Norse hosted Augusta on Monday and will play at Independence/Gilmanton in Independence on Thursday.
Whitehall earned the eighth seed in its Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association bracket and will host (9) Bangor this coming Tuesday with the winner playing at (1) La Crosse Aquinas.
ECI 54 Whitehall 49
The Norse struggled to score early and then couldn’t keep up with the Lancers in the second half.
Both teams had a difficult time finding the basket in the first half as they went into halftime tied at 18. The second half was better for both, but ECI was able to work the ball inside and come away with a close win.
The Lancers got a combined 24 points — 12 apiece — from Dalton Eberhardt and Logan Thompson in the second half. Thompson scored three baskets inside and was six-for-six from the free-throw line. Eberhardt scored four baskets inside, knocked down a three, and made a free throw. Thompson finished with 20 points.
The Norse got a strong effort from Will Youngbauer, who scored 10 in the second frame. The team also got eight points from Mason Pientok, but couldn’t quite keep up. Youngbauer led Whitehall with 15, and Pientok scored 10.
The Lancers limited Whitehall’s leading scorer, Cayden Johnson, to eight points — about nine fewer than his average. Bo Killian scored five points, both Cayden Platteter and Ayden Semb finished with four and Riley Herman scored three.
