Kiel boys basketball knocks off Brillion in clash of undefeated, top-5 ranked teams

BRILLION — There weren’t actual lids on the baskets when the undefeated Kiel Raiders and undefeated Brillion Lions squared off on Friday but it felt like it to begin.

Neither team had Lady Luck in their corner early, as it took over three minutes for Kiel to score while Brillion had an eight-minute drought as the Raiders built an early advantage they wouldn’t lose.

Kiel led wire-to-wire in a 66-54 win which saw the No. 2 ranked team in Division 3 beat No. 5.

“We came out hot tonight, maybe not scoring wise, but it was good to see,” Kiel coach Marcus Rumpff said.

The Raiders took advantage of the Lions’ scoring drought to lead 12-0 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half and only briefly had that lead trimmed to under double digits.

It might not have been the microwave offense Rumpff hoped for, but Kiel did eventually start cooking as the Raiders made 13 3-pointers on the evening.

“It was a happy surprise,” Rumpff said of the perimeter shooting. “We’re a good shooting team but we had not shown that the first 10 games. We were at 27% from 3 on the season but tonight we were over 50%. We’ve been waiting to come out of that shell.”

Seniors Pierce Arenz and Jack Heckmann combined for 37 points and nine 3s to lead Kiel’s offense. Arenz scored a game-high 20 points while Heckmann added 17, including a career-high five shots from beyond the arc.

“I’ve put in the work to do that so I’m glad it paid off,” Heckmann said with a big grin. “My teammates kept feeding me the ball, telling me to shoot, and I did.”

The Raiders are very familiar with their Eastern Wisconsin Conference rival Brillion, the reigning D3 state champions and the team which handed Kiel three of its five losses last season.

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Despite the early lead, Heckmann says the players weren’t about to let their guards down.

“We played really well as a team,” Heckmann said. “We fought together the whole game and togetherness won us the game. We went with the flow, shots kept going in so we kept shooting them.”

Rumpff credited his players with being unselfish with the ball and hunting the best shot as a team instead of trying to force something.

“There were times guys could have taken a contested 3 and gotten a good shot but made that extra pass and got a great shot out of it,” Rumpff said. “We’re good at making that extra pass.”

He added the fact both teams were playing in front of a packed gym, top five state rankings and undefeated seasons likely contributed to the offensive struggles early.

“This is the first big game we’ve had this year with a full gym so I’m sure there’s some nerves both ways,” Rumpff said.

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Both Arenz and Heckmann downplayed Kiel’s lofty ranking.

“It’s just a number to us,” Heckmann said.

“Pressure is always a good thing,” Arenz said. “We worked for this spot, we know we deserve this spot.”

Arenz had similar thoughts about beating Brillion, finally getting over that hurdle after four-straight losses.

“It’s a great feeling but we have to keep looking game-by-game because they’ll be coming back for us,” Arenz said. “It’s a good monkey off our back but we have to keep getting better and better.”

His coach agrees as the two teams meet again in Kiel on Feb. 16.

“It’s still January so we’re not going to make a bigger deal out of it than it is,” Rumpff said. “It’s a good win, but it’s one win.”

The expectations are still a deep playoff run, if not a trip to Madison and potentially a big gold trophy.

It might be one game, but Friday’s win did prove to Kiel one thing.

“When we play together as a team, we can beat anyone,” Heckmann said.

Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Kiel boys basketball tops Brillion in state-ranked, undefeated matchup