Falls Knocks Wauwatosa East Out of First Place

As far as Menomonee Falls is concerned, Friday night was the beginning of the tournament season.

Playing with an energy from start to finish that has been lacking at times this season, the Indians knocked off Wauwatosa East, 52-47, in a Greater Metro Conference game.

 “We’re starting our march right now,” Falls coach Ben Siebert said. “To come into this gym, which is always a great place to play, and come out with a victory, it was our best game of the year. “

The Indians improved their record to 10-10 overall and 7-5 in the Greater Metro Conference. The Red Raiders dropped to 14-7 and 11-2.

With the Falls win at Wauwatosa, Marquette University High School took over sole possession of first place in the Greater Metro Conference, with a 63-34 victory over Brookfield East Friday.

Victory for Falls wasn’t assured until the final seconds, when junior guard CJ Malone hit a pair of free throws with seven-tenths of a second left to give the Indians the five-point victory.

 “We had a whole week to prepare for this game, we were ready for this game,” said senior guard Jalen Ramey, who led Falls with 16 points. “I feel really, really good right now.”

The Indians got a standout performance from junior forward JP Tokoto, who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Malone finished with 10 points. Falls got a solid effort from starting forward Bryan Oleszak, who had eight points and nine rebounds.

“We spent a lot of time talking about playing as a team and working together,” Siebert said. “We had a spectacular practice Thursday, probably our best of the year.”

Although the victory was sweet, Falls didn’t finish the game as strong as they would have liked. Several missed free throws and turnovers kept the Red Raiders in the game until the end.

“Our kids showed some toughness and didn’t get down on themselves,” Siebert said. “They made the plays on defense to pick us up.”

Falls held a 49-43 lead after Oleszak hit the second of two free throws with 1 minute 2 seconds left. But the final minute proved to be hectic for both teams.

After each team committed a turnover, Tosa East junior forward Darrell Bowie scored to cut the lead to four.  Wauwatosa sophomore guard Anthony Carroll got a steal and was fouled by Tokoto. Oleszak grabbed the rebound after Carroll’s missed free throw and was immediately fouled.

Oleszak made the second free throw to give Falls a five-point lead with 29.4 seconds left.  Bowie cut the lead to three with a pair of free throws.

The Red Raiders forced a turnover, and had a chance to tie the game. Falls, however, held firm on defense and came away with the victory.

Falls has two games left in the regular season. The Indians play a makeup game at Sussex Hamilton Monday, and will finish the regular season at home Friday  against Brookfield Central.

“We’re fully aware that the conference is out of our reach, but there’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” Siebert said. “We can cause a lot of problems in the tournament.”

Box score

Menomonee Falls: Tokoto 5 3-9 15, Malone 3 2-2 10, Ramey 4 7-8 16, Oleszak 3 2-4 8, Ross 0 3-3 3. Totals 15 17-26 52.

Wauwatosa East: Cupertino 1 1-2 3, McKinley 1 2-2 4, Carter 1 0-2 2, Bowie 4 4-7 12, Carroll 6 0-2 13, Uden 2 0-0 5, Clark 3 0-0 6, Vnuk 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 7-14 47.

Menomonee Falls: 15-6-20-11—52

Wauwatosa East:   10-11-16-10—47

Three-point baskets: Menomonee Falls: Tokoto 2, Malone 2, Ramey. Wauwatosa East: Carroll, Uden.

Total fouls: Menomonee Falls 16, Wauwatosa East 22.

Fouled out: none.