Stevens Point over De Pere

Saturday night took a drive up to Stevens Point to watch a pair of top 10 teams play that I normally wouldn't get the chance to see. Stevens Point appears to be the team to beat in division one while De Pere has one of the top scorers in the state in 6'4 senior Brevin Pritzl who was averaging nearly 30 points a game coming into this game.

This game basically went the way I thought it would. Stevens Point was just too deep for De Pere and wore down Pritzl and company as the game wore on. Like many teams I've seen in the past that have a big time scorer is that De Pere deferred to Pritzl way too much and the other players didn't look for their own shot. Pritzl is a great player but, when the opposing teams defense is geared to stop just you it can be very difficult for that player. Pritzl showed a really smooth jumper and came but, the SPASH defense was just all over him all night and didn't give him many open shots.

Stevens Point has a pretty solid starting five. A pair of juniors 6'2 Trevor Anderson and 6'6 Sam Hauser are the clear cut stars of the team and are regarded as the top two juniors in the state. When you start a team with the top two players in once class you are doing pretty good. Anderson is a tremendous point guard that seemed to be able to get to the rim any time he wants and has a tremendous crossover. Anderson started the game off hitting the outside shot and then late in the game blew by his defender and I don't think anyone of De Pere could star in front of him. Sam Hauser is a guard despite his height and prefers to play on the outside. Sam is a great outside shooter an also has the ability to get to the rim. Not the quickest player but, his height allows him to shoot over defenders. Andrew Ruzek is a 6'6 senior that already looks like the division one college football player he will be. From the chants it seems Ruzek is going to Wisconsin to play football, I believe as a tight end. Ruzek is built like a tight end, setting some mean screens on the court, crashing the glass, and also has a soft touch around the rim. 6'6 freshmen Joey Hauser is the fourth starter and has some great skill like is brother but, doesn't seem to have the shooting touch of his brother but, its coming. Joey is actually a little more thicker and might be better suited to play on the inside. 6'2 junior Evan Mallek is the fifth starter and he doesn't need to do a ton but, he starts on a very good team so that says enough about him.

Early on it appeared SPASH would run away with this one as the sharpshooting of Anderson and Sam Hauser just seemed to be too much but, De Pere played scrappy and with some foul from SPASH allowed them to hang around. Pritzl didn't have a great game but, he created contact which led to him spending a lot of time at the line where he went 9-10 or 9-11. De Pere kept in close but, could never really get over that 10 point hump and ended up losing the game 77-62. Sam Hauser guarded Pritzl late which pretty much too Pritzl out of the game.

Top Players
Brevin Pritzl 6'4 senior De Pere- A really smooth player with a pretty shot. Struggled tonight but, you could see when he is given the open shot it's going to fall.

Zack Rabas 6'5 junior De Pere- One De Pere player outside of Pritzl that was able to score. A lefty that really showed a nice game going to his left. Really is a guard and would prefer to play on the outside where he can drive to the hoop.

Trevor Anderson 6'2 junior SPASH- No one could stay in front of him as he turned the corner time and again and got to the rim. Was hitting the three point shot as well and was nearly unstoppable. Just a very strong kid would be tough for any high schooler to man up on.

Sam Hauser 6'6 junior SPASH- Moves really well for his size and should be able to play guard at the next level. Real smooth shooter from three point land and the mid range. Can also get to the hoop and score.

Box Score
De Pere 62- Pritzl 25 Rabas 15 Jordan Barthels 7 Jacob DeMille 7 Jordan Beyer 2 Isaac Hoffmann 2 Jordan Joseph 2 Max Huddleston 1 Tanner Herman 1 Aaron Vopal 0 Jacob Theado 0
SPASH 77- Anderson 32 S Hauser 19 J Hauser 8 Ted Kearney 5 Ruzek 4 Mack Journell 4 Mallek 3 Jamison Kryshak 2 TJ Shrank 0 Jake Erler 0 Jake Hofmeister 0 Keon'te Williams 0  

I think De Pere will go on to have a very solid year but, I just don't think that a team can go far when they rely on one player so much. Next year might be a better year for De Pere as they only play two seniors in their normal rotation. SPASH seems poised to make a run at Madison but, they still need to beat Neenah who was the only team to beat them a year ago but, Neenah beat them twice on their way to their runner up finish and 6'10 Matt Heldt is back for Neenah.