By Daniel Schoettler
Correspondent
The Whitewater Whippet boys basketball team, with a win over Marshall, secured the program’s first playoff victory in nine years.
The Whippets fell behind early at 10-4 in the March 3 contest, but climbed back into it thanks to a Connor Laue three-pointer. Laue hit the second of back-to-back three pointers to grab the lead before Bryce Parrish hit three baskets to make it 32-25 in Whitewater’s favor at the half.
In the second half, the Whippets went on a 6-2 run to grab a 11-point lead at 38-27 before Marshall went on its own run to move back in front. After a Marshall three-pointer to make it 54-45, turnovers by Marshall allowed Daniel Fuller to help bring the Whippets back seven of the nine-point deficit, including hitting a game tying three-pointer at 54.
“We needed to bring the intensity on defense,” junior Bryce Parrish said. “Got a couple turnovers that turned into buckets for us that brought the momentum for us and that is what got us back into the game.”
With the Whippets already in the bonus late in the game, a Marshall foul sent Parrish to the line with the chance to win the game. With under a second left, Parrish hit both free throws for the 56-54 win.
“I felt pretty good going into it,” Parrish said. “I’ve been shooting free throws decently, I’ve been making them in practice and in games, so I felt confident.”
Parrish led the way for Whitewater with 17 points, while fellow junior Fuller had 15. Senior Logan Rasmussen and junior Roberto Navejas had eight points each in the win.
Fortunes change at Lake Mills
The Whippets continued their stellar play early on in their next game at Lake Mills and jumped to a 9-2 lead before their opponent went on its own run for a seven-point lead. Rasmussen gave the Whippets the lead back on a dunk to make it 19-18 before Lake Mills ended the half on a 16-5 run to take a 34-24 lead into the locker room.
“We didn’t close out on the shooters like we should have,” head coach Dan Gnatzig said. “We had to change to man-to-man defense as the game went on the in second half, which made it more difficult.”
Lake Mills ran away in the second half, outscoring the Whippets 43-32.
Fuller led the way for the Whippets with 20 points, and Parrish had 12. Rasmussen had eight points, and Navejas had seven.
The Whippets ended the season with three players averaging more than 10 points per game.
Rasmussen ended the season as the team’s leading scorer with 242 points and averaged 12.7 points per game; Parrish with 225 points, an average of 12.5 per game; Fuller, 213 points an average of 11.2.
“It was a good group. Rasmussen was a key to our success and we didn’t know what we were going to get out of him,” Gnatzig said. “Losing two-year starting point guard Brodie Runez, there were a lot of questions marks and some kids that were in different roles last year played really well and gave us a chance to be competitive this year.”
The Whippets finished the season 10-14. The 10 wins were the most Whitewater had since the 2013-14 season. The Whippets 10-win season prior to that was the 2008-09 season.
