Men's Basketball
Brian Gibbon
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Sports
The Cougars go into this season with high expectations after a state title game appearance last year. In their first game they showed they are ready for the challenge with a statement win over UW - Rock County, 91 - 65. Coach Nelson was very proud of his team after the game. "It was nice to win the opener, I thought we played well, we had a slow start but we overcame it." Even with the slow start the Cougars still managed to outscore Rock County 45 - 28 in the first half and 46 - 37 in the second half. Leading the team to a big win was returning Guard and leading scorer from last year, Wes Brown. Brown showed that he is starting right where he left off last year with a team high of 33 points in their first game. "I felt real good, my legs felt very fresh, it's the first game and I was just really excited for it." The Cougars also got a big game out of first year player Jon Osgood who started off his career at UW - Waukesha with 25 points. Osgood also led the team in rebounds with 10. "The first game for me was a little college jitters; I felt I did pretty good for a first game." When asking Osgood about if he felt a difference between college basketball and high school, he still feels he won't know till he gets a few more games under his belt. Some other key performances came from Co-Captain Paul Nemeth who had eight points and eight rebounds, and Co-Captain Tony DeBrozzo contributed with six points and three steals.
Even though Coach Nelson and his team won the first game in a big way, he still has some concerns about how this season will go. As far as size goes the Cougars are not as big as some of the other teams in the conference. Osgood is the only player on the roster above 6 feet 5 inches, but Coach Nelson does feel his guys are physical enough to handle playing the post.
The Cougars are 1 - 0 with a couple big games yet to play this month including a big test at home on Nov. 14, 2009, against UW - Marinette who always play tough games against UW - Waukesha. Marinette will be a tough challenge in the huge goal Co-Captain Kyle Fuller and his teammates have set for themselves. When asked, Fuller, the goal for this team, he did not hesitate with his answer. "Undefeated, State Champions.".
Even though Coach Nelson and his team won the first game in a big way, he still has some concerns about how this season will go. As far as size goes the Cougars are not as big as some of the other teams in the conference. Osgood is the only player on the roster above 6 feet 5 inches, but Coach Nelson does feel his guys are physical enough to handle playing the post.
The Cougars are 1 - 0 with a couple big games yet to play this month including a big test at home on Nov. 14, 2009, against UW - Marinette who always play tough games against UW - Waukesha. Marinette will be a tough challenge in the huge goal Co-Captain Kyle Fuller and his teammates have set for themselves. When asked, Fuller, the goal for this team, he did not hesitate with his answer. "Undefeated, State Champions.".
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