01/09/2026
Braeden Leist scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help Algoma beat Crivitz 59-41 Thursday night. The Wolves trailed 10-2 early and 25-22 at the half before outscoring the Wolverines 37-16 in the final 18 minutes. Algoma held 6-foot-6 star forward Kade Thoma to just one basket after intermission. Thoma โ the only Crivitz player in double figures โ finished with 13, four below his season average.
"Atmosphere was good, energy was good, a good win," said Algoma coach Eric Schneider. "Our two bigs, AZ (Aiden Zeitler) and Lane (Cochart) both did a great job against the big kid, and our guard play was exceptional around the perimeter. Just the ball pressure we were able to put on, the chaos we created definitely made it hard for them to get those entry passes in, and we got some turnovers off of that."
Besides scoring, rebounding and pressuring on defense, "Boo" Leist created hoops for teammates with his passing, including a halfcourt alley-oop to Parker Lischka and dropping dimes to Cochart inside and Charlie Prokash for a deep three.
It was a very physical game with a tournament-like atmosphere. The home crowd erupted on numerous occasions, including Leist's go-ahead drive "and one," Prokash's 3 that followed, a Lischka dunk, a Griffin Robinson three (after three second-half misses) and two baskets off the bench late โ one of them a nothing-but-net 3 from the corner โ for fan-favorite Brogan Ray.
"He's been struggling," Schneider said of Robinson, a sophomore guard. "I had a great conversation with him today. I just said, 'Hey, keep shootin' it. Shooters gotta shoot.' I was extremely happy for him to see that ball go through the hoop. Hopefully that's a turnaround moment for him."
Lischka finished with 17 points, Cochart and Ray each 5, Prokash and Robinson each 4, and Zeitler 3 as the Wolves improved to 9-1. The Wolverines, 5-0 in the M&O Conference, fell to 7-3 overall.
In the JV game, Crivitz came out on top in overtime, 59-57. The winners were 12-of-19 from the line while Algoma went 10-of-22. Jonah Dahms had 15 points, Pete Ritchie Jr. 11, Ethan Melotte 9, Will Vera-Barron 8 and Rex Krause 7 to pace the Wolves.
Next up for Algoma, a Saturday game at unbeaten Reedsville (8-0). The Panthers are the state's top-ranked Div. 5 school by MaxPreps, and ranked 4th in D-5 in the Bound Wisconsin media poll.