Baraboo Upsets Waunakee

In an extremely intense game Baraboo defeated Waunakee 62-61 on a shot that was made with about six seconds remaining in the game. These two teams are considered the top two teams in the Badger North but, Waunakee was considered to be the better team without question as they lost only one starter from last years one lose team. Baraboo won the game and their fans stormed the court and Waunakee has already matched their lose total from a year ago in the first game of the year.

Out of the gates Baraboo was turning the ball over which led to some easy transition baskets for Waunakee and an early lead as Waunakee led throughout much of the first half. Late in the first half some big three pointers by 5'9 senior Jon Schlender and then some good free throw shooting by Baraboo tied the game at half as Schlender hit his second three at the buzzer. The second half opened up the opposite of the first half as Baraboo was able to force the turnovers and jump out to a big lead as 6'2 senior guard Chris Siebert was able to get himself going as he got some easy layups and was highlighted by a nice little two handed dunk. Baraboo was able to extend their lead to double digits before Waunakee was able to charge back behind a couple of their senior leaders and take a one point lead. 6'3 Ryan Gilles stepped up big and scored the majority on his 19 points in the second half. The other senior that stepped up was 6'4 Jason Paulson who was able to score in the post or get fouled and score from the free throw line, unfortunately he struggled from the line and may of cost Waunakee the game. In the end the game came down right to the end. With Baraboo clinging to a one point lead Waunakee looked to go back inside but, were unable and another senior stepped up as 6'3 Eric Helt knocked down the jumper. Baraboo then inbounded the ball and Schlender went the length of the court before he found 6'3 senior Jake Overlien cutting to the hoop and Overlien hit the game winning layup. Waunakee came back down but, their last second shot wouldn't fall.

Baraboo looked much better in this game then they did in their first game against Wisconsin Dells. Schlender was knocked down the outside shots and they were able to force turnovers that led to easy baskets which they didn't do against the Dells. Siebert still appears to be struggling with his shot right now but, was able to get some things going by driving to the hoop and getting some easy transition layups. The player of the game though was Overlien. Not only did he hit the game winning shot but, was able to cut to the hoop, get easy layups all night long, knocked down the open three point shot, and of course hit the majority of his free throws. These things all led to Overlien tying Schlender as the leading scorer.

Despite only losing one starter from last year Waunakee did not look anywhere near as good as they did last year when I saw them. This may be because I saw them at the end of last year while this was their first game of the year. It was fairly obvious in watching the game that this was Waunakee's first game of the year and Baraboo's third game. Waunakee is a senior dominated team and will only get better as the year goes on and will probably find themselves at the top of the conference by the end of the year. 6'7 senior Zach Ripley is the player getting the division one recruits but, he really didn't seem like a division one player tonight. Ripley strikes me as a second option player and not someone that can carry a team. Ripley appeared to force too many shots and this just isn't his game. He works off other players but, isn't the player that everyone else is working off. Waunakee plays some very good defense and don't have any selfish players on there team and share the ball very well. This unselfishness may come to hurt Waunakee as they don't seem to have that go to player when the games on the line, like they had Ryan Staege last year who has now moved on to college.

Baraboo 62
Waunakee 61

Box Score
Baraboo- Overlien 16 Schlender 16 Siebert 11 Ethan Dosier 6 Micah Kutcha 4 Jake Banks 3 Mark Kowalke 3 Taylor Jahn 3 Tony Brandt 0 Pat O'Conner 0
Waunakee- Gilles 19 Ripley 12 Paulson 11 Helt 8 Mitch Roelke 7 Austin Goetsch 2 Beau Murray 2 Jared Staege 0 Cole Cefalu 0

Top Players
Jake Overlien 6'3 senior Baraboo- I basically mentioned everything earlier in the post. Overlien just does all the little things for this Baraboo team and tonight scoring was the thing they needed him to do.
Jon Schlender 5'9 senior Baraboo- Sharpshooter from three point range and is able to penetrate when the opening is there.
Ryan Gilles 6'3 senior Waunakee- Big time scorer that can knock down the three point shot and get inside and score in a variety of ways.
Jason Paulson 6'4 senior Waunakee- Can score with ease in the post with his back to the basket.
Mitch Roelke 6'0 senior Waunakee- Very intense player that is an extremely tenacious defensive player and feeds the post extremely well setting up his teammates to score.

I've now had three out of four games that have been extremely exciting games to witness. Hopefully the rest of the season will be just as exciting.