FOX 11 Top 11: De Pere eyes FRCC perfection

DE PERE - The De Pere boys basketball team could do something this season that would rank pretty high on the impressive meter.

After two wins last week, including a big win over Sheboygan North, De Pere is four games away from going 16-0 in the FRCC, and the schedule is favorable, mostly.

Among its last four games, three are against teams at .500 or below. However, three games are on the road, but the lone home game is against second-place Bay Port, which figures to be the biggest hurdle.

The Redbirds went 16-0 two seasons ago in the FRCC and were 14-2 last year, so aiming for perfection isn’t foreign land to De Pere. Nonetheless, the players aren’t thinking too far ahead.

“We can’t over look any teams in this conference because everybody wants a piece of us,” senior Brett Vanden Bergh said. “Everybody steps up when they play us. We just have to come ready to play every night.”

While De Pere (17-1 overall) is playing great basketball, it remains No. 2 in this week’s FOX 11 Top 11 boys basketball poll. Little Chute won twice last week, running its record to 17-0 on the season, keeping the Mustangs at No. 1.

Following the top two teams are No. 3 Bay Port, No. 4 Pulaski and No. 5 Sheboygan North. So the top five teams remain the same from a week ago, just mixed up a little.

Bay Port went from No. 5 to No. 3 after beating Pulaski, which fell from No. 3 to No. 4. Meanwhile, North fell from No. 4 to No. 5.

Also, no teams left the poll.

In the girls poll, New London, like Little Chute, continues to pursue a perfect regular season as it was 2-0 last week and is now 16-0 this season. The Bulldogs once again are No. 1 in the FOX 11 Top 11 girls basketball poll.

The top five, however, has changed from a week ago. Appleton East remains at No. 2, but Sheboygan North fell from its No. 3 spot and out of the top five after losing at home to De Pere. Replacing the Golden Raiders at No. 3 is Bay Port, while No. 4 is Oshkosh Lourdes and No. 5 is Algoma.

Notre Dame dropped out of the poll after an overtime loss at Bay Port and was replaced by De Pere, which is perfect in 2012.

Here are this week’s polls:

Boys
1. Little Chute (17-0): Won last seven games by at least 11 points each. Last week: No. 1.
2. De Pere (17-1): Redbirds eyeing perfect finish in FRCC after win over Sheboygan North. Last week: No. 2.
3. Bay Port (15-2): Pirates get big win over Pulaski, stay one game behind De Pere. Last week: No. 5.
4. Pulaski (15-2): Red Raiders eke out tough win over Green Bay Southwest. Last week: No. 3.
5. Sheboygan North (15-3): Golden Raiders 15-1 versus teams not named De Pere. Last week: No. 4.
6. Omro (16-1): Foxes 26-1 in conference play since joining Flyway last year. Last week: No. 6.
7. Kaukauna (15-2): Only FVA loss was to Kimberly, a place the Ghosts visit on Thursday. Last week: No. 7.
8. Wrightstown (15-2): Six players averaging at least 6 ppg. Last week: No. 9.
9. Brillion (15-2): Four players averaging at least 10 ppg. for Lions. Last week: No. 10.
10. Kimberly (15-3): Papermakers riding a 9-game winning streak. Last week: No. 11.
11. Bonduel (15-1): Peshtigo hands Bears’ their first loss. Last week: No. 8.

-Dropped out: None.

3-pointers

• 1. This week’s game of the week is a big one in the Fox Valley Association as Kimberly hosts Kaukauna in a battle of one-loss FVA teams.
• 2. De Pere freshman Brevin Pritzl has added scoring punch off the bench.
• 3. Little Chute’s Turner Botz scores career-high 31 points against Ripon.

Girls
1. New London (16-0): Allowed a total of 54 points in two games last week. Last week: No. 1.
2. Appleton East (13-1): Patriots’ FVA lead two games, but they still have work to do. Last week: No. 2.
3. Bay Port (15-1): Pirates win second overtime game against Notre Dame last week. Last week: No. 4.
4. Oshkosh Lourdes (16-1): Knights score season-high 91 points last week. Last week: No. 5.
5. Algoma (16-1): Wolves score season-high 92 points last week. Last week: No. 6
6. Kewaunee (13-2): Storm holds two teams to a combined 30 points last week. Last week: No. 7.
7. Sheboygan North (14-2): Golden Raiders 14-0 versus teams not named De Pere. No. 3.
8. Brillion (15-0): Lions 45-3 in last three seasons in Olympian play. Last week: No. 10.
9. Coleman (15-0): Four of last five opponents have failed to reach 30 points. Last week: No. 9.
10. Appleton North (12-3): Soccer star Meg Riebau averaging 15.5 ppg. over last two games. Last week: No. 11.
11. De Pere (12-4): Redbirds have won last eight games. Last week: unranked.

Dropped out: No. 8 Notre Dame (12-4); 1-1 last week.

3-pointers

• 1. New London fifth in the state, allowing 25.8 points per game.
• 2. Coleman No. 4 in the state, allowing 23.7 ppg.
• 3. Bay Port’s Chelsea Nooker is arguably the best all-around player in the area, averaging, 12 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 4.9 assists per game, 3.4 steals per game and 1.6 blocks per game.

doug.ritchay@wluk.com