Boys basketball: Tosa West splits two games

Wauwatosa West coach Mike Landisch saw his Trojans split two Woodland Conference games last week, improving their record to 2-2.

The Trojans clobbered Cudahy, 76-59, at Cudahy on Friday to even their conference record at 1-1. Tosa West opened the conference season at Pewaukee on Dec. 1, losing a 58-56 thriller to the Pirates.

Landisch had the Trojans ready to play on Friday, as West jumped to a 38-23 lead at intermission and never looked back.

"We have struggled shooting this year," Landisch said. "We shot 29 percent against Cudahy, which has been par for the course this year."

But Landisch was pleased with his team's defense, as they forced the Packers into 39 turnovers.

Ray Sterling led the Trojans with 23 points, while freshman Anthony Carroll added 11 points, A.J. Krause added nine points and Sam Krenzien added eight.

The Trojans battled the Pirates right down to the wire, only to fall a basket short in the Woodland Conference opener at Pewaukee on Dec. 1.

Pewaukee built a nine-point first-half lead before the Trojans went on a 15-9 third-quarter run to cut the lead to 41-38 going into the final period. West won the final period, 18-17, but the Trojans just fell short.

Tosa West won the second half, 33-26, as the Trojans were effective from the free throw line, going 16-for-20 to keep them in the game.

Krenzien had a huge game to open the season, scoring 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Carroll had 12 points and Sterling had 11.

"Sam really stepped it up in that game," Landisch said. "We need to improve our defense, our rebounding - we're small again - and our shooting."

Tosa West opened the year in the Manitowoc Lincoln Tournament on Nov. 27-28. The Trojans beat the host team Ships, 75-56, on the first night, but lost to Antigo, 73-56, in their second game.