By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
With two of the best players in Wisconsin, Whitefish Bay Dominican proved to be too much for the Catholic Central High School boys basketball team Friday.
The Metro Classic Conference leaders improved to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play with a 53-36 victory.
The Knights have topped the state rankings in Division 5 in the wissports.net poll.
CCHS coach Eric Henderson thought his team actually played pretty well, but was just overmatched.
“Dominican is just a more athletic team and overall much bigger and stronger than we are,” said Henderson. “Our kids gave a great effort and played with a lot of heart, but it was just a tough matchup.
“I was very proud of their effort.”
Led by 6-3 Marquette recruit Duane Wilson, the Knights jumped out to a 12-6 first-quarter lead. They extended their lead to 12 at the half and then blew the game open by outscoring the Hilltoppers 17-8 in the third quarter.
Catholic Central cut into the lead by four in the fourth to make the final 53-36.
Wilson finished with 21 points, while his running mate, 6-9 center Diamond Stone (a top sophomore in the state) added 10 points – well below his season average of 17 points per game.
Spencer Wilker paced Catholic Central with 12 points. For the season, Wilker is leading CCHS with a 14 point-per-game average.
Mark Bittmann was also in double figures for the Hilltoppers with 10 points. Freshman Ben Heilgenthal added eight points for Catholic Central.
The Hilltoppers will use the holidays to work on their game before returning to action with a pair of back-to-back home games.
Catholic Central will welcome Racine Lutheran Jan. 4 for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff, and then Faith Christian at 7:30 p.m. the next day.
“These games will certainly be a challenge for us, but they are ones that we can meet if we continue to play with the effort we have over this last stretch,” said Henderson.
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