Williams Bay boys basketball earns 3rd win in a row with victory over Albany

Williams Bay boys basketball coach Nate Borgen admitted it wasn’t his team’s best shooting night, but a much more efficient second half on the offensive and defensive ends of the court led to a comfortable 56-38 win. to Albany for his team. Third win in a row on Friday, January 13th.

Williams Bay now holds an 8-3 overall record and sits in second place in the Trailways-South Conference with a 4-1 record.

“It definitely wasn’t our best night,” Williams Bay head basketball coach Nate Borgen said. “Albany played hard and they ran their sets well, but we weren’t locked down defensively like we needed to be to be at our best. We didn’t shoot the ball well, which is a big part of our attacking identity, and we weren’t able to generate much from our defense. But we jumped; we clawed back and had a much better second half, which is a sign of a senior-led group.”

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Albany drained a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the non-conference game, but Williams Bay senior guard Elian Valadez answered with a 3-pointer of his own. That was followed by another 3-pointer by senior Kelton Randall. Those two buckets from Valadez and Randall started a 13-0 run until Albany finally got a pair of free throws to snap a scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes to make it 13-5 at 11:11 of the game. first. half.

Another basket by Albany cut the Bulldogs’ lead to six, which seemed to change the momentum a bit. But that was all too soon after one of the most impressive efforts in the game. The Bulldogs secured at least five offensive rebounds to eventually get it into the hands of Williams Bay senior Ian McClenathan for a short-range jumper.

The Comets stormed back to a six-point lead behind a bucket by Albany junior James Schwartz, who finished with eight points in the first half. But Williams Bay quickly bounced back as junior Parker Wojcik hit a deep two-pointer from the corner. With Wojcik just inside the arc for his score, senior Owen King pulled away on the next offensive possession and drained a 3-pointer to make it 23-12 with 3:25 left in the first half.

Williams Bay managed to hold an 11-point lead, which was capped by a conversion and one by King to go to the locker with a 30-19 lead.

Albany started the game with a 3-pointer and they opened the second half the same way, this time by junior Brayden Brakken, who was followed by another bucket by senior Gage Roth.

But King, who led his team with 19 points, decided to take it into his own hands by driving the length of the court for a layup and converted.

Over the next few minutes, Albany scored just five points as Williams Bay began to find their rhythm. Robbins hit a 3-pointer to start an 18-5 run and finished with a corner 3-pointer by Randall to give the Bulldogs a 51-29 lead with 7:15 left to play.

Williams Bay was outscored 9-5 in the final 7:15, though it made no difference in the final score. But it did for Borgen and players who may not see as much playing time.

“On a night where we weren’t at our best, we were able to win comfortably,” Borgen said. “We were able to get everybody in the game and everybody’s minutes. Those guys who don’t play a ton are in practice every day and kicking their ass every day. They deserve every minute of time we can get. Obviously, we’d like to give them more playing time, but those guys deserve it as much as anyone out there. It’s always nice to give them a few minutes and let them go out there and get some appreciation from the crowd.”

Randall was also in double figures with 10. Robbins had eight points and held Albany’s leading scorer (Schwartz) to just two points in the second half. Wojcik and McClenathan each had six points, senior Nick Schnobel had four and Valadez added three.

Williams Bay will return to their home court on Thursday, January 19 for another non-conference matchup with Dodgeland.

8 photos from the Williams Bay vs. Albany Ian McClenathan boys basketball game

Williams Bay senior Ian McClenathan dives downfield to keep the ball in the game against Albany on Friday, Jan. 13.

Tyler McKean

Williams Bay senior guard Tyler McKean dribbles around his defender in Albany during Friday’s Jan. 13 game.

Dominic Robbins

Williams Bay senior Dominic Robbins looks set to play in the game against Albany on Friday, January 13th.

Ethan West

Williams Bay senior Ethan West looks for a receiving pass in the game against Albany on Friday, January 13th.

Kelton Randall

Williams Bay senior Kelton Randall looks for a pass in the game against Albany on Friday, January 13th.

Elian Valadez

Williams Bay senior guard Elian Valadez drives into the lane on a swarm of Albany defenders in their non-conference game on Friday, January 13th.

Owen King

Williams Bay senior guard Owen King dribbles past his defender in the game against Albany on Friday, Jan. 13.

Elian Valadez

Williams Bay senior guard Elian Valadez dribbles into the lane from the guard position against Albany on Friday, Jan. 13.

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