Elk Mound boys hold off Colfax in basketball showdown

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — It always seems to be a more exciting game when two rival schools play each other. Just ask anyone from Colfax and Elk Mound.

The latest installment of the decades-long rivalry between the Mounders and Vikings played out on the basketball court at Elk Mound High School January 6 and ended in a 50-43 victory for the Mounders.

“Any time there’s a rivalry game, no matter the records, no matter what players are on each team, I think the games are going to pretty close,” first-year Mounders’ coach Mike Kessler said. “It’s just something everyone gets excited for.”

Colfax coach Garrett Maas echoed Kessler, saying “It’s kind of like the Packers playing the Vikings, you kind of throw out the record books and just play the game.”

As rivalry games go, the one Colfax and Elk Mound played last Friday was a good one. The Mounders seemed sluggish in the opening nine minutes of the game, which the Vikings capitalized on to take an early lead. By the time Elk Mound reached the final minutes of the first half, they started pulling down more rebounds and Dane Lew gave them the lead back with a three-pointer to make the score 16-15.

The Vikings were able to pull to within two points of the Mounders at halftime after a last-second, three-point shot from Colfax’ Ben Thompson dropped through the hoop to make it 20-18 at the break. 

Elk Mound slowly lengthened its lead in the early minutes of the second half. But Colfax came roaring back in the final nine minutes of the game. With the Mounders holding a 40-36 advantage, Colfax’ George Scharlau nailed a three-point shot on the baseline to make the score 40-39.

Elk Mound picked up a pair of field goals to widen the gap to 44-39 with 3:34 left to go, but senior Aliymu Davis drew a foul and sank both charity shots to narrow the Vikings’ deficit to 44-41. Then, with only :42.1 left, Viking Treyton Teige committed a foul against Mounder Chandler Schreiber and the Elk Mound senior put in one of his two free throws. 

Dane Lew was next to the line for two free throws, sinking both to make the score 48-43 with :21.4 to go. Schreiber then capped the win on a run-and-gun drive down the court with :04.1 left and bounced one off the glass and in for a final score of 50-43.

Scharlau, Colfax’s leading scorer in the game, rained down 15 points worth of shots on the Mounders, a feat made all the more poignant since he is open-enrolled in Colfax schools, but lives in Elk Mound. Maas again expressed pleasure with how the Colfax student is playing as a sophomore.

“He had a few too many breakdowns on straight-line drives, but he’s a great kid and works hard,” Maas said of the sophomore. “The future is very bright for him.”

Kessler also commented on Scharlau’s abilities on the court.

“In the first part of that second half, we made that little run and started to play a little bit more like we like,” Kessler said, “And then that Scharlau kid put on a bit of a show and got them right back in the game.”

While Scharlau led the Viking offense with his 15 points, Davis picked up 13 against Elk Mound, Jacob Larson put together eight points, Teige logged three and Matthew Reisdorf added a field goal for two. 

Lew led all scorers and Elk Mound with 24 points. Junior Ben Lambele picked up nine points with three field goals and a three-point shot, Chandler Schreiber added seven points, Noah Zurbuchen tacked up six with a pair of three-point shots, and Carter Pritchard had a pair of field goals to chalk up four points.

Both coaches agreed after the game that it was a fun night to be a part of. 

“The atmosphere was great,” Kessler said.

Maas expressed a similar sentiment, saying any time the two schools meet, the games are good. He also encouraged his team to keep playing hard.

“They have nothing to hang their heads about,” Maas said. “It just goes to show you, when you play a very well coached team, and as talented a team as Elk Mound, one or two possessions can make the difference.”

The loss to the rival Mounders dropped the Colfax squad to 3-7 on the season and 1-3 in the Dunn St. Croix. The Vikings, who play a pair of road games this week, will be in Glenwood City Thursday and in Turtle Lake on Saturday, January 14. Colfax will host to the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves next Tuesday, January 17.

Elk Mound (6-3 overall), meanwhile, kept pace with Elmwood/Plum City and Durand for second place in the DSC. All three boast 3-1 conference records, just a game back of leader Spring Valley at 4-0. The Mounders, who play seven of their next eight games in opponents’ gyms, embarked on a four-game road swing Monday night (January 9) in Prescott before traveling to Plum City Thursday for a meeting with the Elmwood/Plum City co-op team and to face Rob Bosshart’s Cardinals team in Spring Valley next Tuesday, January 17.

COLFAX 43, ELK MOUND 50
Colfax……………………………..18  25 — 43
Elk Mound……………………….20  30 — 50

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (9-7-14-43) B. Thompson 0-0-1-3, A. Davis 4-2-4-13, J. Larson 3-2-1-8, T. Teige 0-0-2-3, G. Scharlau 1-4-2-15, M. Reisdorf 1-0-4-2.

Elk Mound (14-7-13-50) D. Lew 1-4-0-24, C. Pritchard 2-0-1-4, B. Lambele 3-0-5-9, D. Black 0-0-2-0, N. Zurbuchen 0-0-2-6, C. Schreiber 2-3-3-6.

THREE-POINTERS C — B. Thompson 1, A. Davis 1, T. Teige 1, G. Scharlau 3; EM — D. Lew 2, B. Lambele 1, N. Zurbuchen 2.