Greenfield — New Berlin Eisenhower senior Zach Tranchita came into Friday's showdown with Whitnall determined to shut Falcons' star William Pelkofer down.
He did just that, but he might have had a little unexpected help.
Tranchita hounded Pelkofer all night long and limited the NOW area's leading scorer to just 14 points, more than 10 below his average coming into the game, as the Lions (13-0, 10-0) remained undefeated with a 51-41 home victory.
More than rattled?
Pelkofer made just five of 17 shots from the floor and three of eight free throws in front of a near-capacity crowd.
"I've been playing against Will for a long time, and I know he's a great player," Tranchita said. "I came in respecting his game but not being afraid of him. I came in with the mind-set that I'm going to do my best not to let him score. When he scores, that team is at its best."
Whitnall coach Kent Kroupa said Pelkofer might have been playing with a concussion suffered during the first half.
"The way he played, I don't know if that had any affect on him or not," Kroupa said. "To be hit in the head, and he's had concussions before, it makes you react a little bit different. … I spoke to him a couple times and usually he's really attentive and looks me in the eyes when we communicate. (Friday) he was a little bit glassy-eyed. I didn't know if he was just really intense or what was going on."
Pelkofer did surpass a career milestone in the loss. He begins this week with 913 career points, according to the JS Online Preps Plus database. A pull-up jumper in the second quarter put him over 900.
A thin-margin better
The loss dropped the Falcons to 8-3 overall, 7-3 conference, three games behind the Lions in the Woodland Black Division standings.
"When you get two good teams together, the margin of error is very slim," Kroupa said. "They made more good decisions that we did. We were inches off on certain shots and that's what turns things around.
"To come in here to a somewhat hostile environment in front of a big crowd, some of our younger kids haven't played in these types of environments yet. Decision making can always be better and it's magnified in games like this when you lose."
Tranchita also picked up the slack on offense for the Lions with seven baskets, mostly in the paint, to match Pelkofer's game-high 14 points.
Whitnall cut Eisenhower's lead to two at 32-30 midway through the third quarter, but the Falcons missed nine straight shots and key fastbreak baskets by the Lions' Keith Kahlfeldt and Tranchita in the fourth sealed the win.
Mitch Sperka's offensive putback at the first-quarter buzzer gave Eisenhower a lead it would never relinquish.
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