Nixon, Blohm step up for Indians hoops team

Posted: Jan. 24, 2012

When the chips are down, Mukwonago's varsity boys basketball team seems to reach back and find its best stride. That was the case two weeks ago at Arrowhead and again the case last Friday night at home.

Hosting Waukesha West last week, the Indians had to play most of the game without 6-foot-4 junior Nate Tanguay, its leading scorer and rebounder because of foul trouble.

But as things turned out, that was no problem at all. Sophomore guard Aaron Nixon and junior guard Nick Blohm picked up the slack with Tanguay out and both came up big in leading the Indians to a hard-fought 47-43 Classic 8 Conference victory over the Wolverines.

"Nate got two quick fouls and probably only played 6 of 7 minutes all night long," said Mukwonago coach Jim Haasser. "So it was nice to see both Aaron and Nick step up and turn in big games. A couple of other guys also played well. We knew this was going to be a tough game. It's a nice win to have behind us. It's never easy beating Waukesha West."

The week before, playing at Arrowhead, the Indians exploded for 26 points in the final quarter to score a come-from-behind victory over the Warhawks.

Friday's win over West was the fifth straight victory for Mukwonago (9-4 overall) and sixth win in their last seven starts. More important, the win kept the Indians hot on the heels of first-place Milwaukee Pius in the race for the conference championship.

Pius defeated Arrowhead (48-45) last Friday to improve to 7-1 in league play. Mukwonago is second at 6-2 and Arrowhead is third at 5-3. West, Catholic Memorial and Waukesha North are tied for fourth place with 4-4 records.

And guess who the Indians play Friday night? That's right, they play at Pius in what could turn out to be the game of the year in the Classic 8. Mukwonago defeated the Popes earlier this season.

Once again, defense was the name of the game for the Indians as they held West to 43 points. In the first meeting between the two teams, the Wolverines dominated Mukwonago, winning by a 59-36 score.

"We didn't play very well the first time at West," Haasser said. "We wanted to make sure that we played a lot better this time around."

In Mukwonago's five-game winning streak, the Indians have allowed just 44 points per game.

Nixon and Blohm turned in huge efforts against West. Both scored 14 points to lead the Indians. Nixon had 13 of his points in the first half and Blohm was consistent all night, scoring in every period.

"Both Aaron and Nick had very good games for us," Haasser added. "With Nate in foul trouble we needed some other guys to step up and help us. Those two guys made some big plays all night long."

Mukwonago's balance was solid. Sophomore forward Dominic Cizauskas finished with 7 points and sophomore Ryan Wagner had 6 points.

The Indians led most of the game. Both teams scored 12 points in the first period before MHS took a 30-20 lead at the intermission. Mukwonago still led 39-32 going into the final quarter.

West led just once in the game at 41-40 with 2:54 left to play. At that point, Tanguay, averaging 17 points per game, scored his only basket of the night and Blohm followed with a three-point play to put the Indians on top by four.

The Wolverines made it a two-point deficit with 41 seconds remaining but Wagner's layup with 28 seconds to play iced the victory for Mukwonago.

The Indians shot the ball very well from the field, shooting 58 percent on 18 of 31 shots. However, they struggled from the foul line, converting just 10 of 23 free throws.

Box Score

Mukwonago 47, Wauk. West 4 3

TP