Fun times at Fiserv for Mount Horeb

MILWAUKEE — Rocco Richie didn’t take a two-hour bus ride so he could ride the pine.

But that’s just where Mount Horeb’s senior standout found himself at the start of the second half when the Vikings met Portage at the Fiserv Forum on Feb. 2.

“Coach was doing that on purpose because I was not playing the kind of veteran basketball I should have been playing,” Richie said. “And I wasn’t happy.”

Richie played angry once he got back on the floor, which eventually made all the Vikings ecstatic.

Richie scored 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and powered Mount Horeb to a 63-58 win over the Warriors in a critical Badger West Conference game. Freshman Josh Manchester continued his brilliant rookie campaign by knocking down four 3-pointers and scoring 16 points for the Vikings.

Portage junior guard Jonathan Stout made five 3-pointers and had 17 of his 19 points in the second half, while senior guard Brady Seiler knocked down six 3-pointers and had 18 points. But the Vikings held Portage leading scorer Kyan Reichoff to just six points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Mount Horeb won its third straight game and improved to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in the league, just one game behind Madison Edgewood and Oregon (7-3). Portage, which asked Mount Horeb to be its opponent as part of the Milwaukee Bucks prep series, fell to 9-8, 4-6.

This marked the second straight year the Vikings defeated the Warriors at the Fiserv Forum.

“We didn’t start Rocco there in the second half because he hasn’t played the best here,” Mount Horeb coach Todd Nesheim said. “And it’s February and he’s going to be a college player, so he came out and did what you’d hope he’d do after being benched. He took kind of the second half over.”

Boy, did he ever.

Richie made 6-of-9 field goal attempts in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers. He also went 7-of-9 from the free throw line, including four clutch free throws in the final minute of the game to hold off a late Portage rally.

“It felt good,” said Richie, who plans to play collegiately, but hasn’t settled on a school yet. “And it felt even way cooler to do it here. It was intense. They had all the Portage fans there and they were all against us. It was just fun to be with my boys and just play our game.”

Mount Horeb led by as many as 10 in the second half. But Portage refused to go away, closing within one point on three different occasions — the final one coming at 52-51 with 4 minutes left.

But the Vikings never relinquished their lead.

Richie started a 7-2 run with a lay-up and ended it with a pair of free throws that gave Mount Horeb a 59-53 advantage with 1:31 left. The Warriors ran off five unanswered points capped by a three-point heave from Stout with 17.9 ticks left that pulled Portage within 59-58.

But junior guard Nick Vorwald drilled a pair of huge free throws with 16.3 seconds left. Richie then had a steal and made a pair of free throws of his own to ice things.

“They made their runs, but we didn’t fold,” Nesheim said. “They got it to one a couple times, but we made some big shots.”

There weren’t many shots going in during a first half that saw Mount Horeb take a 24-16 lead at the break. Both teams took time adjusting to the NBA arena and 94-foot court — which is 10 feet bigger than a standard high school court.

“It was crazy,” Manchester said. “Like, when I stepped on the floor it was kind of a different feel. It was a lot quieter than most games, but just really fun to get out and play on that size of a floor.”

The Vikings made just 10-of-31 shots (32.3%) in the first half, but held the Warriors to 5-of-24 shooting (20.8%).

Vorwald led Mount Horeb with 10 first half points, while Manchester added eight.

The Vikings trailed, 14-12, with 5 minutes left in the half when they went on a 10-0 run and never trailed again.

Vorwald scored the first seven points in the burst and needed just 90 seconds to do so. First, Vorwald hit a 5-footer, then he stuck a 3-pointer from the top of the key. After a Portage miss, Zach Maguire fired an outlet pass ahead to Vorwald for a lay-up and 19-14 Vikings’ lead.

One possession later, Manchester came free at the top of the key, senior point guard Zach Peter found him and he drilled the triple to make it 22-14.

“We didn't play a great half by any means,” Nesheim said of the first half. “But our defense was solid, which is why we had the lead.”

That lead was challenged repeatedly in the second half. The Vikings responded each time, though, and usually Richie was at the heart of it.

The Warriors opened the second half on an 8-2 burst and pulled within 26-24. But Richie came off the bench and made a traditional three-point play that gave the Vikings a 29-24 edge.

Manchester, the sharp-shooting freshman who ranks second in the conference in scoring (16.9), was also integral in keeping Portage at bay.

The Warriors crept back within 32-31 midway through the second half. Manchester then stuck a 3-pointer and got loose for a fast break lay-up that helped Mount Horeb stretch its lead back to 37-31.

“That’s not a freshman right there,” Richie said while pointing at Manchester. “During the summer, I wasn’t sure. Josh was coming up from eighth grade and he didn’t have any varsity experience. But he jumped right into it and game after game he’s progressing and getting better and better.”

Manchester has thrived in his role as Mount Horeb’s sixth man. And while Nesheim knows Manchester is one of the elite players in the conference — and plays as many minutes as any other Viking — he’s not going to try fixing what isn’t broken.

“He doesn’t start, but he’s on the floor more than any of ‘em and it’s worked out for us,” Nesheim said of bringing Manchester off the bench. “Those conversations have been had and he understands it. He won’t come off the floor the next three years.”

Mount Horeb’s lead eventually grew to 44-34 following another triple from Manchester and a traditional three-point play by Richie. And a Richie 3-ball gave the Vikings a 52-43 edge with 5:25 left.

But the Warriors answered with a 10-3 surge and pulled within 55-53 with 2 1/2 minutes left. Down the stretch, though, Richie came up big and the Vikings got a critical win.

“He wanted me to step up and I did,” Richie said of Nesheim. “The first half was super slow, but the second was way better.”

Mount Horeb kept alive its hopes of a conference title. If the Vikings win out, they’ll capture the top spot in a conference that’s suddenly spandex-tight.

“We felt like because we’re one game out right now, we had to win,” Manchester said. “And now I think we’re ready to make a run.”

Nesheim agreed.

“It was a critical game for us because if you lose it, you’re out of any championship talk,” he said. “If we win out, the way we figure it, we’re conference champs or get to play in the championship game.

“If you’re good enough, you’re good enough. And if you’re not, you’re not. You just want to be able to get there. So, we’re into February, still playing for a championship and that certainly was a goal of ours at the start of the season.”

Feb. 2

MOUNT HOREB 63, PORTAGE 58

Portage ………. 16 42 — 58

Mount Horeb …..  24 39 — 63

PORTAGE (fg ft-fta pts) — Anton Kilde 6 0-0 12, Keagan Hooker 1 1-2 1, Johnathan Stout 5 4-6 19, Kyan Reichhoff 2 0-0 6, Brady Seiler 6 0-0 18. Totals 20 5-8 45.

MOUNT HOREB —  Josh Manchester 6 0-0 16, Nick Vorwald 4 3-5 12, Rocco Richie 7 7-9 23, Zach Maguire 2 1-2 5, Zach Peter 1 3-4 5, Austin Leibfried 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 14-20 63.

3-point goals:  P 13 (Seiler 6, Stout 5, Reichhoff 2), MH 7 (Manchester 4, Richie 2, Vorwald 1). Total fouls: D 11, MH 12.