OTIS — The Otis-Bison High School boys’ basketball team was in the driver’s seat during Friday night’s game.
That was until La Crosse’s Kip Keeley had something to say about it.
Keeley scored 34 points to lead the Leopards to a 59-44 victory over the Cougars.
“The first half went our way,” Otis-Bison head coach Bryant Briggs said. “They missed some shots and we got the rebounds.
“In the second half, they came out mostly in the third quarter and made shots that they weren’t making before.”
The Leopards’ missed shots early, gave Otis-Bison a chance to put up an eight-point lead at halftime.
Dylan Wissman scored 16 of his team-leading 24 points in the first half, putting the Cougars ahead 28-20 at intermission.
“He does everything for us,” Briggs said of Wissman. “He’s a leader on and off the court. He leads us in scoring. He’s our leading rebounder. He’s just an athlete, and he gives us everything every night.”
That’s when Keeley started scoring in transition.
Keeley scored 14 points in the third quarter, and La Crosse outscored the Cougars 27-9 in that eight-minute stretch.
“He’s an athlete,” Briggs said of Keeley. “He does stuff to better his team, and put himself in a position to score. He just started to hit shots that he wasn’t hitting in the first half.”
Once the Leopards had the lead, they didn’t let go, sinking free throws down the stretch to stay ahead.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
BOYS
At Otis
Friday
La Crosse 59, Otis-Bison 44
LA CROSSE
Derrick Depperschmidt 2 0-0 6, Lucas Moeder 0 1-2 1, Marshall Jay 3 0-0 6, Taylor Yohe 4 2-3 10, Kip Keeley 12 9-12 34, Will Storie 1 0-2 2. Totals 21 12-19 59.
OTIS-BISON (2-4)
Kole Urban 3 0-0 6, Hayden Maier 2 2-4 5, Dylan Wissman 10 3-5 24, Colin Regan 0 2-2 2, Jordan Hoffman 2 0-0 4, Kade Hagans 1 0-0 2, Sam Higgason 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-11 44.
Otis-Bison 11 17 9 7 — 44
La Crosse 8 12 27 12 — 59
Three-point goals — La Crosse 3 (Depperschmidt 2, Keeley); Otis-Bison 1 (Wissman). Total fouls — Otis-Bison 16, La Crosse 9. Fouled out — none.
