Jan. 16, 2017 – West Bend, WI – The UW-Washington County mens basketball squad shared a tremendous team experience over the weekend traveling to UW-Marshfield and returning to West Bend as the champions of the 46th annual UW-Marshfield Classic Basketball Tournament.
Friday night the Wildcats led by one at halftime before securing an 86-66 victory over the host UW-Marshfield Marauders.
Saturday, the Wildcats came from behind at the half to post a huge 63-59 championship victory over defending tournament champion Gogebic Community College, a D-2 school that gives basketball scholarships to players.
UW-Washington’s intense hustling defense held a Gogebic team that was averaging 85 points per game to a season low 59 points in the championship. The Wildcats controlled the tempo, slowing things down by increasing their passes per possession on offensive to get the highest quality shot available, while in the process running the shot clock down to lower levels than in past games, effectively limiting possessions and scoring opportunities for the Gogebic Samsons.
Individually for the Wildcats, Evan Rathke was named the tournament MVP and Dre Johnson also received all-tournament honors.
Rathke’s incredible effort, sacrificing his body for the team and having to pick himself up off the floor numerous times, together with his all-around performance of tremendous defense, rebounding, scoring, passing, leadership, and composure earned him the MVP recognition.
Dre Johnson, who also received all tournament honors last season hit 14 of 17 shots and scored 31 in the championship game. Johnson was the target for the team on offense and scored mostly from the inside after well executed team plays by the Wildcats and dominating finishing moves by Johnson.
Stats will be available on Monday.