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Aggressive defense propels Saint Mary's Springs past Central Wisconsin Christian

11/29/2022, 11:15am CST
By Mark Miller

When the outside shots that normally drop didn't go in Monday night, Saint Mary's Springs instead turned to its defense.

And that defense was nothing short of outstanding.

Using a physical and aggressive man-to-man defense, an experienced and tough-minded Saint Mary's Springs squad opened its season with a resounding 74-42 victory over a visiting Central Wisconsin Christian team expected to contend for the title in the Trailways East Conference. 

The length and mobility of the Ledgers, not to mention strong play off the bench, was simply too much for Central Wisconsin Christian to handle. 

"I scheduled this game because I wanted to give our guys an early season test," Central Wisconsin Christian coach Josh Gibbons said. "Springs plays intense and definitely took us out of what we want to do. Our guys played hard, but didn't execute what we wanted them to do. 

"We will break down this game and use it to teach our guys. This will make us better in the long run."

Springs takes charge early


Gavin Jahns

Normally a good three-point shooting team, Saint Mary's Springs made just three triples against the Crusaders Monday.

Instead of drilling shots from the outside, the Ledgers pushed the ball in transition, scored off drives to the basket and found cutters open for layups throughout the game. 

Junior John Coon (6-1) came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points as the Ledgers opened a commanding 39-20 lead by intermission. 

"We will score points, but our success will come down to defense and rebounding," Saint Mary's Springs coach Kyle Krueger said. "Our intensity on defense was very good tonight. Our ball pressure was excellent."

Leading the way on defense for the Ledgers were senior starters Josiah Maul (6-3), Lucas Rameker (6-4), Sam Coon (6-1) and Gavin Johns (6-2). Those four have multiple years of varsity experience and are hungry for success in 2022-23 after finishing 19-6 and capturing the Flyway Conference title a year ago. 

John Coon and sophomore Noah Maul (6-1) also turned in strong showings for the Ledgers, who played without injured senior Sam Baker (5-11), a starter a year ago.

"We will mix our defenses throughout the year ... playing man, a 2-3 zone and a 1-3-1 zone," Krueger said. "We want to sprinkle in some run-and-jump as well. They seemed to have some trouble with that tonight." 


Sam Coon

Saint Mary's Springs moved the ball well on offense and spread around shot opportunities between all the players. The unselfishness is a strength for the Ledgers, though Krueger sometimes wonders if his guys are too unselfish at times.

"We are almost unselfish to a fault," Krueger said. "At times, we do turn down some good shots."

In addition to John Coon's 20 points, cousin Sam Coon contributed 13 and Jahns added 16.

Syens leads Central WI Christian


Will Syens

Despite the lopsided score, Central Wisconsin Christian did have a few bright spots.

One was the play of senior guard Will Syens (6-0), a hard-working, aggressive backcourt standout who is closing in on 1,000 career points. 

Though he was pressured end-line to end-line by the Ledgers, Syens still managed to score 17 points to lead the Crusaders.

"Will is a competitor, he will definitely fight you tooth and nail for the entire game," Gibbons said. "We have to get a group of guys who play as hard as Will, and some of our guys are doing that. But we need it from a few more guys as well. If we can get that, we will be all right."

The Crusaders finished 13-13 a year ago and return four starters in Syens, junior Brock Hoekstra (6-2), senior Cade Vliestra (6-1) and senior Neil Venhuizen (5-11). But outside of Syens, the other returning regulars managed to score a combined 12 points against the Ledgers. 

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.

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