Doyle, Brookfield East savor a very big night
BROOKFIELD – On a night when Hayden Doyle stood alone in school history, his teammates stepped up.
Doyle, a senior guard for Brookfield East, became the all-time leading scorer for the Spartans with a layup to surpass the previous mark of 1,274 (Eric Haertle, Class of 1986) on Friday night against Sussex Hamiton.
Doyle finished with 19 points, but his evening ended prematurely when he picked up his fifth foul with more than six minutes to play and East leading by eight.
Absent their leading scorer, best ball-handler and top perimeter defender, the Spartans put their depth on display by outscoring Hamilton the rest of the way for an 84-73 win.
Junior forward Dan Gherzgher, a revelation in his first season on varsity, scored 25 points to lead East. Gherzgher is up to an average of 14.2 points per game and has stepped up as the team's No. 2 scoring option since freshman Tayshawn Bridges left the team.
Senior wing Bryce Thomas hit big shots down the stretch to keep a charging Hamilton squad, led by Tanner Resch's 43 points, at bay.
The win moved the Spartans to 8-2 in Greater Metro play as they enter the toughest stretch of the regular season, facing Menomonee Falls twice, Wauwatosa East and Brookfield Central over their next five contests.
By defeating Hamilton, East won its 10th consecutive game, a stretch that has included defeats of Franklin, Nicolet and Pewaukee.
Here are four other takeaways from the week in boys high school hoops.
Pirates in command
A furious rally and a clutch shot from Ashton Janowski helped Pewaukee seize control of the Woodland West.
Facing Wisconsin Lutheran one week after defeating the Vikings to claim first place in the conference alone, the Pirates came out of the gates sluggishly Friday night. They trailed by 19 going into halftime as Janowski, the team's dynamic junior guard, hadn't scored.
That changed over the final period. Janowski scored 21 points in the second half as Pewaukee chipped away, ultimately forcing a turnover with just under 20 seconds to play trailing by one. Janowski hit a spinning, pull-up jumper with 10 seconds left to take the lead.
A defensive stop secured the win for the Pirates, who moved to 8-0 in the conference and two games clear of the Vikings.
Pewaukee has the look of one of the elite teams in Division 2. Few have played a tougher schedule.
Finishing with a flurry
St. John's Northwestern guard Brandin Podziemski had it all on display Thursday night against Oak Creek.
The quickly-ascending senior and Mr. Basketball contender scored 32 points and pulled down 16 rebounds as he almost single-handedly put the Knights away down the stretch for a 6770 non-conference victory.
For much of the game, Podziemski played the role of facilitator. That led to 14 points and four threes from sophomore Daltin Papandrea and 12 from senior Brennan Timm.
But when Oak Creek rattlegd off a run midway through the second half to cut the deficit from 14 to three, Podziemski simply took over. The lefty scored 19 of his team's final 23 points, including a steal and dunk in the final minute when the Knights had the ball with a chance to tie.
Homestead heating up
Don't look now, but one of the teams in the North Shore cellar just a few weeks ago now looks like an entirely different squad.
Homestead opened its season with a 1-7 record and six consecutive conference losses, but has since rattled off seven wins in a row to move over .500.
The Highlanders have downed Brown Deer, Muskego, Nicolet and Slinger over that stretch. While they aren't going to challenge for the North Shore crown, few teams can boast that kind of turnaround in the state this season.
It comes down to this
At the top of the North Shore are Cedarburg and Whitefish Bay, each 11-1 and running away from opponents in just about every conference game.
Unless someone else in the conference can pull off an upset, the outright title could come down to next Friday's showdown between the Bulldogs and Blue Dukes.