CMH's Taugher in midst of rivalry

Posted: Feb. 1, 2012

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Scott Ash

Catholic Memorial junior Ryan Taugher (22) looks for a shot with Pewaukee's John Czerwinski looming over his shoulder during the WIAA sub-regional game at Pewaukee on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

Scott Ash

Catholic Memorial junior Ryan Taugher (22) looks for a shot with Pewaukee's John Czerwinski looming over his shoulder during the WIAA sub-regional game at Pewaukee on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

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Ryan Taugher admits it. Living just west of Hartland, right in the middle of the Arrowhead School District, brings out the best in him whenever his Waukesha Catholic Memorial varsity boys basketball team plays the Warhawks.

"Before the season starts, we all mark our calendars for the nights we play against Arrowhead," Taugher said recently. "It's been that way ever since I arrived at Memorial. Arrowhead is the biggest school in the conference, and everybody wants to beat them. We respect them a lot for all of the success they've had, but there's no doubt we get up to play them. That's just the way it is between the two schools."

For Taugher, competing against the Warhawks is a little extra motivating. He went to seventh and eighth grade at St. Charles School in Hartland and lives about three miles from North Campus.

"I know some of the guys on their team from living in the school district and going to school at St. Charles," Taugher added. "They get a lot of publicity for all of their winning teams. So for me, living so close to Arrowhead, I always get fired up to play against them."

That was certainly the case last Friday night. Playing the Warhawks at Memorial, the 6-foot senior captain of the Crusaders turned in an outstanding performance, scoring a game-high 18 points in leading his team to a convincing 64-48 victory. The win avenged a painful loss Memorial suffered in the two team's first meeting in early December at Arrowhead, 86-84 in overtime.

It might have been Taugher's best game of the season.

With CMH holding on to a precarious 45-44 lead with under four minutes to play in the game, Taugher nailed a clutch 3-pointer that gave the Crusaders some breathing room at 48-44 with 3:29 remaining. But the talented guard was far from being finished. He added seven more points and a key steal in the final 2:25, sealing one of the biggest victories of the year for Memorial.

Taugher made 5 of 9 shots from the field, including 2 of 3 shooting from 3-point range. He made 6 of 10 free throws, had a game-high five steals and grabbed three rebounds.

"It was nice to have a big game against them," Taugher said. "After losing to them the first time, all the guys wanted to make sure we beat them this time. All of our guys played well. But considering I fouled out early in the fourth quarter the first time we played them, it felt good to have such a good night."

Friday's win vaulted the CMH record to 5-4 in league play, good for a third-place tie with Arrowhead, Waukesha West and Waukesha North. Milwaukee Pius and Mukwonago are tied for the league lead with 7-2 records. Memorial plays Mukwonago this week and Pius in two weeks.

"Our goal is to try and win all of our conference games the second half of the season," Taugher said. "Nothing is easy in our conference. There are a lot of good teams. We want to be one of those teams."

Taugher's game has moved forward dramatically the last three seasons. During his sophomore year, the same year the Crusaders captured the WIAA Division 2 state championship, he split time between the junior varsity and varsity and suited up for the two-day state tournament even though he never got on the court.

He returned the following year and earned a starting berth as a junior, and has started every game since. Taugher leads Memorial in scoring this season at 15.7 points per game.

"Ryan has really matured nicely as a basketball player," said CMH coach Dean Bellanti. "He really focuses on fundamentals and drills during practice. He takes it very seriously. He's one of those kids who leads by example. He's very professional how he goes about his business."

Taugher also was an outside hitter on Memorial's state championship boys volleyball team in 2010. He didn't play volleyball this past fall season so he could concentrate on basketball.

"I wanted to spend more time on the basketball court," Taugher said. "I got in the weight room to get stronger. I want to play basketball somewhere at college. I just want to go to a school where I fit in the best and can get a lot of playing time."

And with the way he's playing this year, that should be no problem.