Posted: March 5, 2010 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay — Brown Deer boys basketball coach Andy Bauschelt said he told his players before the game that Whitefish Bay's Jamie Schneck and John Johnston were the two to stop in order to advance.

That's easier said than done.

The potent post-guard duo combined to score 36 points (23 in the second half) as the Blue Dukes escaped another close call at home, winning 51-48 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal Thursday.

"Whitefish Bay is a great team," Bauschelt said. "They don't turn the ball over. They don't beat themselves.

"That was kind of our game plan all around. They're not going to beat themselves so we can't beat ourselves, and we have to take every possession for what it's worth. I thought we did that for about two and a half quarters, and then for a quarter and a half we were kind of loose cannons out there, throwing the ball away and having them get three, four cracks at a bucket and that was pretty much the game."

Despite Bay (17-7) being able to rest some bodies in their opening round game, Brown Deer (9-15) was the team that looked more rested in the game's early going.

Led by sophomore Jamon Jackson-Wilson, Brown Deer came out of the gates hot and led by as many as nine in the opening quarter. The Falcons were able to maintain that style of play and take a 28-24 lead into halftime.

That's when the Blue Dukes' one-two punch started to take over.

"They (Johnston and Schneck) both started off kind of cold," Whitefish Bay coach Kevin Lazovik said. "Thankfully they stayed positive and that certainly helped us out."

Using a 1-3-1 zone that pressured the shorter Brown Deer guards, Bay was able to force some turnovers and utilize its transition game more in the second half, sparking a 15-5 run that lasted nearly the entire third quarter.

"They play that 1-3-1 pretty well, and they're tall and they're big," Bauschelt said. "We had a little bit of trouble seeing over people. We made some adjustments but we either didn't execute or threw the ball away."

The Falcons kept it a one-possession game nearly the entire fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer as time expired was just a bit off.

Bauschelt said he's optimistic about a relatively young team that will be more experienced come next year.

"It was an up and down year," he said. "We lost a few guys with kids moving, so we were looking for other people to step up. We had a few issues but at the end, the last four weeks, we came together as a team.

"I thought we played our butts off. We worked hard and fought, we just were about that close. But little things turn into big things when you play good teams. You can't hurt yourselves."

Bay and Lazovik were already starting to prepare for a quick turnaround Saturday in a rematch against North Shore co-champion Port Washington (19-4).

"They're a very tough team. (They have) a lot of seniors and they play like it," Lazovik said. "They take care of the ball well, they're patient on offense, they execute very well on the offensive end, and defensively they're not going to give you an easy basket. We definitely have our hands full, that's for sure."

The key to Port's offense is Josh Gasser. The future University of Wisconsin guard scored 18 in a 14-point loss at Bay in mid-December, and netted 29 in a 19-point win at Port a month ago.

The two teams square off at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Cedarburg.