EM boys’ basketball tramples Boyceville 73-31

By Cara L. Dempski

BOYCEVILLE — The Mounder boys were probably still riding the high from their 52-23 rout of Durand the week before when they went to Boyceville last Thursday.

The Elk Mound squad walked into the home of the Bulldogs on December 15 and controlled every aspect of the conference match-up on its way to a 73-31 victory. The Mounders find themselves in a four-way tie for second place in the Dunn-St. Croix following the clock-running win, sharing a 2-1 record with Durand, Mondovi and Elmwood/Plum City.

Mounders’ head coach Mike Kessler said the team was ready to play when they stepped out of the locker room, and he was happy with how the boys played their game against Boyceville.

“I was really happy with the energy they brought on both ends,” Kessler said. “They (Boyceville) threw a lot of different defenses at us tonight, and I was really happy with the way our guys were able to adapt on the fly.”

Elk Mound has been working in practice on the boys taking more control on the floor, running plays without coaches calling out what they are seeing and needing to direct the team at all times. Kessler said he is proud of the seniors, who have taken on a leadership role with this, for stepping up and helping out younger players on the court.

Senior Dane Lew, who picked up 13 points in the contest, usually garners a lot of attention from opposing teams because of his size and scoring ability. Lew stepped out of the spotlight a little bit against Boyceville to let some of his teammates show off their shooting skills.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of guys who shared the ball nicely and found the guy with the best shot,” Kessler said. “We’re not looking for a guy with a good shot, we’re looking for the guy with the best shot.”

The Mounders ran the board up to 11-0 in the first five minutes before Logan Knudtson put the Bulldogs on the board with two at 13:03 in the first half. Another four minutes passed before Boyceville tacked up another two to make the score 20-4. 

Elk Mound continued to churn out bucket after bucket while keeping the Bulldogs away from the glass for the remainder of the first half to take a 42-12 lead into halftime.

Things did not improve for Boyceville in the second half. Despite scoring 19 more points, the Mounders continued to pull away, tacking another 31 onto their own score on the way to a total of 72.

Junior Ben Lambele led Elk Mound’s offensive effort with 18 points. Jameson Rubenzer picked up nine points, and Chandler Schreiber and Conner Mavis each recorded eight points. 

Carter Pritchard and Ryan Mohr picked up five points apiece, Dylan Black made his one basket count by logging three, and Noah Zurbuchen and Marcus Kinblom each recorded two points.

Boyceville’s Luke Knudtson led the Bulldogs with 11 points.

The Mounders are now in the midst of a nearly two-week break before heading to UW – Stevens Point to take on Pacelli on December 28 and Amherst on December 29 as part of the 2016 Sentry Classic.

ELK MOUND 73, BOYCEVILLE 31

Elk Mound…………………….42  31 — 72
Boyceville……………….……12  19 — 31

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Elk Mound (22-2-11-73) D. Lew 2-0-1-13, C. Pritchard 1-0-0-5, J. Rubenzer 0-0-0-9, R. Mohr 1-0-2-5, B. Lambele 9-0-1-18, D. Black 0-0-0-3, N. Zurbuchen 1-0-1-2, C. Schreiber 3-2-1-8, M. Kinblom 1-0-4-2, C. Mavis 4-0-1-8.

Boyceville (9-4-11-31) J. Reisimer 0-0-1-0, C. Boesl 2-1-2-5, Lo. Knudtson 1-0-0-8, J. Gonzalez 2-0-2-4, B. Larson 0-0-2-3, H. Spenle 0-0-1-0, Lu. Knudtson 4-3-3-11.

THREE-POINTERS EM — D. Lew 3, C. .Pritchard 1, J. Rubenzer 3, R. Mohr 1, D. Black 1; B — Lo. Knudtson 2, B. Larson 1.