Central HS falls short in state boys basketball tournament

/Earlene Frederick photo

The Central High School boys basketball team lost to Kaukauna High School in the team’s first ever appearance in the Division 2 state tournament Friday afternoon in Madison.

The final score was 75 Kaukauna to 63 for the Falcons.

The Falcons played a scrappy first half — with rebounding and steals from aggressive defense — keeping the game within striking distance for most of the period. Central lead a couple of times and the game was tied at 32 with about 2 minutes to go before Kaukauna was able to score eight unanswered points to close out the half.

Central continued to keep it close at first in the second half, but was never able to again take the lead.

Central was the fourth or lowest seed; Kaukauna was the one seed.

At the post game press conference, Coach James Hyllberg praised his team’s effort.

“I thought the guys came out and played confident,” Hyllberg said.

The impact of playing in the state tournament was not lost on the players either.

“Nobody knew us, we’re just from Paddock Lake,” said Jaeden Zackery. “We just came out and played like we know how to.”