Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

There is no substitute for experience. 

West DePere found that old adage to be true on Monday night during the Phantoms' 69-64 loss to host Beaver Dam in a non-conference boys' basketball contest. 

Despite falling behind 62-57 during the first minute of the extra session, Beaver Dam worked its offense to perfection the final three minutes of the contest and used the three-ball to rally for its sixth victory in seven outings. 

Back-to-back-to-back triples from Alex Soto, Tyler Bunkoske and Brady Helbing, all seniors with multiple years of varsity experience, gave Beaver Dam a 66-64 lead and the Beavers made enough plays down the stretch to notch the victory over a physical, talented but young West DePere squad. 

"We responded to being down and kept battling back," Beaver Dam coach Tim Ladron said. "Our ball movement was great. We share the ball very well. We have five seniors and four of them have been on varsity for four years. And Marshall (Kuhl) has been on varsity for three years. 

"We were super patient in moving the ball. One of our goals coming into tonight was to get a good shot each time down the floor and I think we did that." 

About the only time Beaver Dam didn't get off a good look at the basket was at the end of regulation.

After a timeout, the Beavers had the ball with about 12 seconds left in a tie game. However, all they could manage was an off-balance desperation three attempt by Helbing. 

And when they fell behind quickly in overtime after West DePere's Nathan Heikkila (6-2) scored five straight points, things didn't look all that promising.

Enter Soto, Bunkoske and Helbing. 

Soto buried a triple from the left baseline to pull Beaver Dam within 62-60. After massive sophomore Andrew Baumgart (6-3) scored on the other end, Bunkoske found the bottom of the net from outside the arc near the top of the key.

Beaver Dam got a stop on defense and then Helbing drilled a right baseline triple in front of the Beaver Dam student cheering section to give the Beavers the lead at 66-64.

"We didn't close out on the shooters well at the end ... those are correctable mistakes," West DePere coach Todd Deschane said. "Offensively, we made some plays, but we didn't cherish the ball like we needed to at the end."

Turnovers hindered West DePere down the stretch as they scrambled to get back even with the Beavers. 

The quickness of the Beaver Dam guards certainly played a role in the Phantoms' mistakes, but inexperience also hindered the Bay Conference squad, which fell to 4-2.

"They made the shots when they had to," Deschane said. "Give them credit. That's a good basketball team. 

"I thought Heikkila made some big shots for us. He's very crafty with the ball and finished well."

West DePere played without starting point guard Kaden Hannula (5-11), who had scored nine points and dished out eight assists in the Phantoms' 74-72 win over Xavier last Friday.

"That hurt us because he's our lead guard and he has some quickness," Deschane said. "Danny (Campbell) was forced to guard (Helbing) all night and that's a tough assignment."

Junior Ethan Heck (6-4) had a solid all-around game for West DePere as he finished with 16 points to go along with 17 from Heikkila, who had two coaches from Lakeland University in attendance to watch his performance. 

Helbing, a very quick point guard with excellent ball-handing skills, had 15 points.

Bunkoske, who was equally effective making three-point jumpers or taking the ball to the basket, led Beaver Dam with 24 points. 

Senior Marshall Kuhl (6-2) made an enormous contribution off the bench for the Beavers as he hit four timely three-point shots to finished with 12 points. Soto added 12 points as Beaver Dam had four players reach double figures. 

"We feel we have some players who can score," Ladron said. "Marshall, Brady, Ty and Alex all hit some big threes tonight. We beat a very athletic, big and strong team in West DePere so we are more than happy with that."

Beaver Dam travels to Sauk Prairie on Thursday while West DePere goes to Green Bay West. 

For the latest and most up to date boys' basketball news and recruiting information, follow Mark on Twitter @wisbbyearbook. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Mark by clicking here.