This will be a tough one to swallow.
The Wauwatosa West boys basketball team shot just 10-for-25 from the free-throw line in a 50-47 road loss to New Berlin Eisenhower on Tuesday.
Despite shooting poorly at the charity stripe, the Trojans came roaring back in the second half and pulled within a few possessions of upsetting the only undefeated team in the NOW coverage area.
"That's how we've been the whole second half of the season," West interim head coach Chad Stelse said. "We had a couple of tough losses where we could have pulled it out, but we've responded all year. We just told them that they were working hard on defense, but offensively, we missed our free throws and we took some poor shots. We weren't playing within our offense, so we told them to get back to that, and for the most part they did."
A tale of two halves
A back-door layup by West junior guard Jarvis Ashley started an 8-0 run in the final three minutes of the third quarter to bring the Trojans (13-5 overall, 11-4 conference) within two points at 36-34.
West finally took its first lead of the game with 5:40 to play in the fourth on a baseline drive from senior guard Sam Krenzien, who struggled throughout the game but lifted the Trojans in the final quarter with sensational play.
"Sam is heck of a player and we're going to keep going back to him," Stelse said. "We knew he would bounce back in the second half, and he made some big plays. He took the ball to hole and he got us back in it. That's what a senior who's been starting for three years should do, and that's what we expect."
Letting it slip away
Eisenhower (20-0, 15-0) responded with two big buckets, including Mitch Sperka's layup and a foul shot to regain the lead at 43-39.
That was all the Lions needed, as the Trojans turned the ball over two times in the final 3:26 and couldn't make a serious charge.
The Lions shot just 8-for-15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, but it was enough to get by the Trojans.
"It was a good experience for us," Eisenhower coach Dave Scheidegger said. "Wauwatosa West is very athletic, very quick, (and) they're right up next to you all the time. So, it was a very intense, physical game, and on those free throws, the chests were probably going in and out a little heavier than normal. … Our kids toughed it out against a very strong team."
West pressured Eisenhower into 21 turnovers and limited its balanced offense to 50 points, the Lions' third-lowest total in conference play this season.
"We took the No. 1 team in Division 2 down to the wire and we very easily could have beaten them," Stelse said. "We're going to keep letting them know that and let them know how well they've been playing over the last two months. We don't want this to slow us down. If anything, we want to build on it. Hopefully we bring it in practice the next couple of days and we get a big victory against Greendale for senior night on Friday."
Eisenhower claimed its fifth straight conference title with the win.
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