By NICK BRILOWSKI
Special to The Gazette
As sure as there is snow on the ground and presents under the tree, Stevens Point residents have come to expect the Sentry Classic basketball tournament at Christmas time. Last weekend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point played host to the 30th annual edition of the Classic with 10 different high schools, including five area teams, competing.
Although none of the quintet of Portage County schools went undefeated, Stevens Point Area Senior High's boy's and girl's teams each posted a 1-1 record.
After crusing through the competition in last year's tournament, the SPASH girls found the going much tougher in this year's invite.
The Panthers (4-6 overall) opened up play on Thursday afternoon against Hortonville and were able to hold on late for a hard-fought 38-37 victory.
SPASH had a chance to seal the game at the free throw line, but missed its final three attempts to give the Polar Bears an opportunity for the comeback win. Hortonville took a timeout with seven seconds remaining in the game, but failed to get a shot off as SPASH held on for the victory.
Kara Kujawa, who was named to the all-tournament team, led the victorious Panthers with 16 points and nine rebounds in the game.
However, the Panther girls' hopes of an undefeated tournament came up just short as Wausau Newman defeated SPASH, 36-34, on Saturday afternoon.
Dana Schultz hit a basket with 29 seconds remaining, rebounded a Panther miss with six seconds left and then hit one free throw on her way to earning MVP honors and helping the Newman finish the Classic with a 2-0 record.
Jenny Maultra, who also received all-tournament honors, paced the Panthers with 10 points while Nicole Gotta added eight.
Meanwhile, the SPASH boys (3-6) pulled off perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament by defeating Brown Deer handily, 64-46. Brown Deer had entered the game 6-1 and was ranked second amongst middle sized schools by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel behind Marquette University recruit Steve Novak.
The Panthers led the game 18-17 early in the second quarter but closed out the half with a 17-6 run and never looked back. Ryan Taggatz sealed his berth on the all-tournament team by leading SPASH with 22 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
Stevens Point had previously dropped its opening game of the tournament to Holmen, 48-41. The game was tied, 31-31, early in the fourth quarter before Holmen went on a decisive 15-0 run. Taggatz and Eric Hoffman led SPASH with nine points apiece.
The Stevens Point Pacelli boys and girls teams and the Amherst boys teams found the going rough in the tournament as each team finished winless in their two contests.
The Cardinal girls struggled with their offense in the Classic, dropping a 44-29 decision to Newman and falling, 44-31, to Hortonville.
Pacelli got off to a promising start against Newman leading 13-8 after the first quarter, but were outscored 20-2 over the next two quarters. Newman held Pacelli scoreless over a stretch of 14:41 and didn't allow a field goal over a span of 20:18.
Emily Radomski was a bright spot for the Cardinals against Hortonville, hitting seven of 11 shots from the field on her way to a team-high 15 points. Stephanie Fischer represented the Cardinals on the all-tournament team after hauling in 20 rebounds in the Classic, including 13 against Newman.
The Pacelli boys (2-7) were the victims of red-hot shooting by Pittsville in its opening game as the Panthers connected on 11 of 15 three-point attempts on their way to a 77-46 victory.
Jake Owens led three Cardinals in double-figures with 17 points while Ahern Cashin added 14 and Derrick Lepak had 13.
Pacelli was able to hang with undefeated Suring for three quarters, but faltered in the final quarter to fall 68-58. The Cards led 42-41 entering the final eight minutes of regulation, but Suring used a 15-0 run to pull away.
Owens scored a team-high 22 points in the contest to help him take home all-tournament honors.
The Amherst boys (4-5) also dropped both of their games, losing to Suring, 54-30, and Pittsville, 65-49.
The Falcons trailed Suring 25-18 at halftime in their first game, but were outscored, 21-4, in the third quarter to fall out of contention. Amherst shot just 27 percent from the field and committed 25 turnovers in the game. Travis Bassett led Amherst with 13 points.
Against Pittsville, the Falcons again were able to hang tough throughout the first half, but the third quarter was again their Achilles' heel. The Panthers scored the final 10 points of the third quarter and the first six of the fourth quarter to pull away.
Scott Nykl was named the Boys American Division Mr. Hustle after scoring 26 points and hauling in 16 rebounds for Amherst.