Posted: Jan. 25, 2010 |(0) Comments

Menomonee Falls boys basketball

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was in the stands, so was Roy Williams of North Carolina.

And, as per usual in the still young J.P. Tokoto era, they were turning away people at the door for the Indians smashing 85-53 win over Greater Metro rival Brookfield Central on Friday.

As usual, Tokoto didn't disappoint, even impressing his coach Ben Siebert, who sets a high standard for the 6-6 sophomore superstar.

"He doesn't talk about it (all the attention)," said Siebert, "but I'm sure he thinks about it, and it didn't hurt that I think that this was his best high school performance yet. He was everywhere."

Tokoto finished with 26 points (21 in the first half), eight rebounds and two blocked shots in just about 20 minutes worth of play as the Indians won their fourth game in a row, improving to 7-0 in GMC play and 10-3 overall.

They have a pivotal home game against Marquette (6-1, 8-5) on Tuesday (see MenomoneeFallsNOW.com for details) to start the second half of the league season, and after visiting winless West Allis Hale (0-7, 0-14) on Thursday (7:30 p.m.), they will host archrival Sussex Hamilton (5-2, 9-5) on Feb. 2. The Marquette and Hamilton games are expected to be overflow crowds again so people are advised to come early (see MenomoneeFallsNOW.com).

"Come on and join the zoo," laughed Athletic Director Dave Petroff.

An entertaining zoo at that. Siebert said that the Indians are currently at a peak, and last Friday's performance did little to dispel that theory. Falls exploded past the Lancers (3-4, 7-7) with a 29-12 first quarter and then quickly expanded that to 50-22 at the half.

No starters played in the fourth quarter as 11 Indians players scored.

"We're right where we want to be," said Siebert. "We're just playing very well right now. They had a lot of trouble with our press. We had them in double digits in terms of turnovers by early in the second quarter, and we shot a very high percentage tonight."

Conor Cassidy had 13 points and Jonathan Phillips nine for the Indians.

And as for Bo and Roy?

"They sat right next to each other for most of the game," Siebert said. "Dave (Petroff) tried to put them in a spot where the fans wouldn't bother them so much, but they still got a lot of attention.

Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton boys swim

Normally, when someone posts a diving score of more than 500 points, it can be safely assumed that that will be a school record.

In the instance of defending state Division I champ Nathan Cox of Menomonee Falls, he's still not even the best in his family, as Cox's winning personal-best effort of 503.2 points at the Indians' invitational Saturday still trails the school mark of his brother, 2005 state champ Danny, by about 10 points.

"It still is a pool record," said Indians coach Jim Weitzer of Nathan's effort, "and a really good one at that."

Cox's winning effort, along with other victories from Sean Kimmitt in the 100-yard butterfly and Nick Bietz in the 100 backstroke, led the Indians (362 points) to a runner-up finish behind powerful Bay Port (516.5) in the 10-school event.

"The meet went very smoothly," said Weitzer. "As usual, the younger kids looked really good. They're starting to come into their own. … We had a lot of fun out there today. Everyone got involved."

The local co-op will host Marquette Thursday in a 6 p.m. parents' night dual.

Cox's score won the diving competition by more than 100 points. Teammate Ryan Thomann was third (351.15). Kimmitt was clocked in 52.82 for his win in the butterfly, and Bietz claimed the backstroke by more than two seconds in 56.92.

Other top eight performances by event for the Indians included the following: 200 medley relay: Bietz, Kimmitt, Taylor Ladd and Ben Perry, second (1:42.64); 200 free: Michael Pellechia, sixth (1:57.26); 200 individual medley: Ladd, fourth (2:08.35); 50 free: Taylor Hernikl, fifth (23.72): 100 free: Bietz, fourth (51.57), Hernikl, seventh (52.22), Perry, eighth (52.55). 500 free: Pellechia, fifth (5:18.06); 200 free relay: Hernikl, Cole Becker, Michael Spankowski and Ladd, sixth (1:37.92). 100 backstroke-Kimmitt, sixth (1:00.67); Perry, seventh (1:00.84). 100 breaststroke-Ladd, fourth (1:04.99); 400 free relay: Bietz, Perry, Hernikl, and Kimmitt, second (3:23.41).

Menomonee Falls/Germantown girls gymnastics

The Indians turned in a solid effort in taking third in the Watertown Invitational on Saturday.

"We were a little shaky on beam and looked great on floor except for Shelby (Smykal) having an unusual fall," said Indians coach Tracy Howard. "… The bars went well."

Falls/Germantown will host its own invitational in the Falls gym at 11 a.m. Saturday. Howard is optimistic that the team can claim both the varsity and junior varsity level competitions. A home dual meet with Homestead has been rescheduled for Feb. 9.

At Watertown, the Indians turned in a 133.5 point score as the Franklin/Muskego co-op won with 142.575 and West Allis was second with 137.375.

Smykal took fourth in the all-around with a 34.0 score to lead the Indians while Abby Croft was sixth on floor exercise with an 8.875. Other good efforts included Aerial Holt with an 8.5 on bars, 8.575 on floor and 8.3 on vault. London Williams also remained consistent, said Howard, turning in an 8.3 on floor and an 8.4 on beam.

"I still see a lot of room to improve upon the team score," Howard said. "I think we should be competitive with West Allis next time we see them."

Menomonee Falls wrestling

Tyler Bross' championship at heavyweight was the bright spot in a difficult week for the Indians, as they took 11th in the 13-school Homestead Highlander Invitational on Friday.

Earlier in the week the Indians learned that 2009 215-pound state meet qualifier Tony Guagliardo will likely be lost for the rest of the season due to a case of mononucleosis. Earlier this season, Falls' other returning state qualifier, 189-pounder Tony Nelessen, was knocked out with a knee injury.

"There's an outside chance that he (Guagliardo) might be able to make it later in the year, but it's kind of doubtful," said Indians coach Jim McMahon. "It just came up on him with no warning."

Falls will be at the Sheboygan South Duals on Saturday (TBA).

Other injuries and issues limited the Indians to seven participants at the Highlander as they scored 104.5 points. Burlington won with 271 and Bradley Tech was second with 216.

Bross was impressive as he ran his record to 21-5 with a 5-0 record that included four pins. Wrestlers advanced from pools into bracketed competition. In his toughest match, Bross defeated Nick From of New Berlin, 5-0, in a pool match, and then came back to pin him in 2:19 in the finals. Other pins were over opponents from Tech, Oconomowoc and Burlington.

Korey Kleinhans (23-7) went 4-1 at 171 pounds, good for second. His only loss was a tough 5-4 decision to Nick Binder of New Berlin (32-4). He defeated foes from Roncalli, Burlington, Greenfield and Pius XI.

Dan Stark (20-9) was fourth at 103 (2-3 on the day) while Andrew Warden (18-8) was fifth at 160 (3-2). Marshall Lund at 125 (12-12) was 3-2 at 125 while Connor Klermund at 130 (5-9) lost his first three matches but bounced back to win his final two.

Menomonee Falls girls basketball

Two-time returning state qualifier Brookfield Central hit the Indians with a 21-3 blast to start the game and never looked back in beating Falls, 53-31, on Friday night.

The loss dropped the Indians to 2-4 in Greater Metro play and 4-9 overall while the league-leading Lancers improved to 6-0 and 7-4, respectively. Falls will host West Allis Hale (0-7, 0-12) on Friday and then will visit Sussex Hamilton (3-3, 7-5) on Feb. 2. All games are at 7:30 p.m.

Falls finally found its offensive footing in the second quarter with 14 points, but could draw no closer against Central. Rachel Defnet had six points for the Indians.

 

- Steven L. Tietz