West boys make Pirates walk the plank

It took the young Wauwatosa West boys basketball team a while, but coach Chad Stelse's squad finished the regular season on a positive note.

The Trojans defeated second-place Pewaukee, 66-59, Feb. 14 on the road in their final Woodland-West Division game of the season. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak going back to Jan. 11.

The win improved their record to 6-16 overall, fifth place with a 6-11 record. The Pirates finished 12-5 with a 15-7 overall record.

"Guys have battled all year, and their hard work finally paid off with a big win on the road against a good team," Stelse said.

Tosa West jumped off to a huge 20-5 first-quarter advantage and still held the lead, 28-21, at intermission despite a big second quarter (16-8) by the Pirates.

The Trojans then came out after intermission and went on a 21-15 third-quarter run to take a 49-36 lead into the final period. The Pirates made a run (23-17) but couldn't catch up.

"We executed down the stretch," Stelse said. "We played to win the game and we didn't play not to lose it."

The closest Pewaukee got was three points, and that's when the Trojans responded.

Reggie Cason hit a huge 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left, Steffen Brown finished a spectacular layup in traffic and Nakeem Evans went 7-for-7 from the free throw line when it mattered most.

"And Andre Carroll was outstanding all night," Stelse said of his sophomore wing, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 9-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Cason finished with 14 points with three 3s, while Evans and Brown had 9 each. Eric Lutzen led Pewaukee with 17 points, and Austin Cairo had 12.