Vikings Fall to De Pere

The Viking basketball team suffered its first setback of the season, dropping a 69-58 contest to De Pere at the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Shootout at Concordia University in Mequon. The Redbirds, ranked #1 in the state in Division 1, shot 58% and made 19 of 24 free throws in the victory.

The game was marked by a slow, physical pace early on. The Vikings led 17-16 after Josh Knueppel’s three pointer off a pass from Landon Key. But De Pere closed the half on a 14-6 run to take a 31-22 advantage into the locker room.

The Redbirds extended their lead all the way to 16 points with 12:31 to play. But the Wisco defense forced turnovers and missed shots, and the offense started to find its way out of its rut. Kon Knueppel scored eight points in the next three minutes to cut into the lead, and shortly after that, five straight points from Key helped narrow the gap to seven. Josh Knueppel’s three from the corner cut the deficit to 53-50 with 5:09 to play. The Vikings got a stop and had a look from behind the arc to tie the game, but couldn’t convert. The Redbirds connected on a step-back three two possessions later to give them a six-point advantage, and Wisco could get no closer.

Kon Knueppel scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to pace the Vikings. Josh Knueppel and Jamiir Allen added 10 points apiece. Wisco forced 13 turnovers while committing just seven themselves, but shot only 3-18 from three-point range. More stats are available here.

The Vikings play Kettle Moraine at 8:30 PM on December 30 in the final game of the 2021 WBY Shootout.