The Superior High School boys basketball team lost a battle of 17-2 squads Thursday night when the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks handed the Spartans a 77-68 overtime defeat in the SHS gym.
"Any time you have two teams both 17-2 you're going to have a good basketball game and that's exactly what this big crowd got to see," SHS coach Dave Kontny said. "Unfortunately for us, we came out on the short end but our kids battled right to the end."
Rob Kraft had 28 points and Joel Lindberg 27 for the Spartans. Josh Kimmes added nine points, Jake Lindberg had three, and Jake Turkowski and Zach Colvin had two apiece.
Austin Pohlen and Eric Stark led Grand Rapids with 29 and 26 points, respectively. Brian Arkre added 10 points, Mike Johnson seven and Kevin Rabbers five.
"The Pohlen kid had a big second half (26 points) but the free throws were the difference." Kontny said. "They shot all their free throws in the second half and any time a team shoots 23 free throws in a half you're in trouble.
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"Give our kids credit though, we were down by five with a minute left and Josh Kimmes' tip-in with 1.5 sent it to overtime. Things just went their way in OT."
Superior was outscored 13-4 in overtime and was just 16-of-26 from the free-throw line. Grand Rapids was 19-of-23 from the line.
"Grand Rapids is a good team, they earned the win," Kontny said. "They're ranked No. 3 in the state for a reason -- you don't win 18 games if you're not good. But that's why we play these teams, we want to get better and this game will make us better in the long run."
"Rob shot the lights out, and so did Joel, but what everyone doesn't see are all the other things the other seven guys are doing on the floor. We got a lot of second shots, a lot of steals and a ton of good play from all nine guys."
The Spartans host Chippewa Falls at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Chippewa Falls defeated Hudson 56-48 Thursday.
"We only have one day to get ready for a game that is very important for seeding, which takes place on Sunday," Kontny said. "We're also a bit dinged up with Joel reinjuring his ankle and then hurting his shoulder on a fall, so hopefully we can regroup and play well on Saturday."
Superior will also honor its seniors prior to Saturday's game. Seniors to be honored prior to the game will be Andy Heytens, Mike LaValley, Colvin, Turkowski and Jacob Lindberg.
SPARTAN SPIN: Both teams were hot on 3-pointers with Kraft making seven and Joel Lindberg three. Pohlen and Stark also nailed five 3-pointers apiece for the Thunderhawks.
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Superior 13 12 18 21 4 -- 68
Grand Rapids 3 19 25 17 13 -- 77
