Wrightstown's first half enough to hold off Freedom

FREEDOM (WLUK) -- One half into Friday night's game and Wrightstown looked dominant, at least on the defensive side.

The Tigers were leading rival Freedom 21-7, a score more reflective of a football game, not basketball. But this was boys basketball.

It was a good thing Wrightstown built up a big lead, because Freedom rebounded from a tough first half and rallied, but in the end the Tigers held on to beat their rival 42-34 in a North Eastern Conference game.

"Typical coach (John) Miron team, he's in the hall of fame, he's a fantastic coach and they lost five starters due to graduation," Wrightstown coach Cory Haese said. "They just battled. They're physical and played really hard.

"We knew that coming in. It was going to be a very difficult game against them."

Haese knew Freedom (1-1) would mount a rally and the Irish trimmed the deficit to 25-24 before Marshall Edinger converted an old-fashioned three-point play, which led Wrightstown on a seven-point run. From there, the Tigers maintained a comfortable enough lead.

"We knew they were going to come back," senior Jack Hermann said. "That first-half lead really helped us. We really had to stick together.

"We have good depth on our team, we have new legs, always have new bodies coming in and I knew that would pull us together."

"That 14-point halftime lead dwindled pretty quick, so it was pretty big we had it," Haese said. "I don't think there were any adjustments other than us letting up a little bit. You preach it's 0-0 but the kids see the scoreboard."

After scoring 80 points in its previous game against Denmark, the Tigers had to grind out a win Friday, and that was good to see.

"What stood out to me is I thought we matched their intensity," Haese said. "We played really good 'D' in the first half, for sure. Offensively, we were able to make a few more shots that they did."

"We learned a lot this game," Hermann said. "We learned we can win without scoring a lot of points and playing great defense."

Wrightstown (3-0) is off to a strong start, and with some turnover in rosters among the top two teams from last season -- Fox Valley Lutheran and Denmark -- the Tigers believe they can compete for the conference title.

"We have as good a chance as any to compete at a high level and compete with the top teams like Fox Valley Lutheran, Little Chute, Freedom and Denmark," Haese said. "I think we have a chance to compete and do some really good things."

3-POINTERS

• Hermann led Wrightstown with 10 points.

• Wrightstown has scored 80, 67, and 42 points, respectively, in three games this season.

• Wrightstown has held two opponents to fewer than 42 points.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay