By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
The Catholic Central High School boys basketball team had been close to a victory in its last two games, but it took until Monday night before the Hilltoppers got a “W” on the board.
The young CCHS squad finally got over the hump with a 40-38 non-conference win at home Monday over Westosha Central.
“The first win is always the hardest for a young team,” said Catholic Central coach Eric Henderson. “We’ve lost some close ones, so it’s especially nice to win one.”
Catholic Central lost by four points to The Prairie School and by just two to Lake Country Lutheran, and was anxious to avoid the same against the Falcons.
The game was close throughout, but at each break, the Hilltoppers were on the short end of the score – 9-5 after the first quarter, 17-15 at halftime and 27-26 after three quarters.
In the final period, the Hilltoppers finally broke through, outscoring Westosha 14-11 to earn the victory.
Leading Catholic Central was the steady play of freshman Ben Heiligenthal, who finished with 11 points and was joined by teammate Spencer Wilker for game scoring honors.
Junior post player Tegan Miles had what Henderson called his “best game of the year,” recording a game-high six rebounds and 10 points as well, all while battling Falcon centers Ben Gravely and Glenn Karsten – 6-6 and 6-8, respectively.
Gravely led Westosha with 12 points.
Too many turnovers (17) and poor shooting (33 percent) spoiled the Hilltoppers’ trip to Lake Country Lutheran last week. As much as those factors contributed to the loss, a two-point third quarter put the squad in a hole that they couldn’t overcome.
Following a slow start in the first quarter, CCHS trailed by five at the break but rallied to led 17-15 at the half.
However, Lake Country outscored Catholic Central 10-2 in the third quarter and that was enough to hold off a rally by CCHS in the 41-39 CCHS loss.
Wilker was the lone Hilltopper in double figures with 14 points. Mark Bittmann added seven points, while Miles had a game-high nine points.
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