Elk Mound boys can’t get it done against Mondovi and Durand
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SURROUNDED — Ethan Levra (#5) found himself swarmed by Panthers as he attempted a two point shot. —photo by Amber Hayden
By Amber Hayden
It was one of the toughest weeks the Mounder boys’ basketball faced this season as they dropped important conference games against Mondovi and Durand.
In the first game of the week, Elk Mound lost by ten points, 49-39, on the road to the Buffaloes as the Mounders’ offense struggled in the first half of the February 18 game, scoring 12 points. In a bit of consolation, the Mounders were able to keep Dunn-St. Croix’s leading scorer, Owen Schultz, to just 13 points.
It was a much closer contest when Elk Mound returned home last Friday, February 21 to host D-SC boys’ leader Durand, but as the final buzzer sounded the Mounders came up two points short in the 59-61 loss to the Panthers. Ben Heath and Blaze Todd fouled out in the second half and Durand’s Gunnar Hurlburt was sent to the free throw line in the final seconds to give Durand the win.
The two losses knocked the Mounders out of conference title contention as they slipped into a fourth-place tie with Mondovi. Elk Mound is 8-5, three games behind front-runner Durand, and 10-10 overall with just one conference and one non-conference contest left on the regular-season slate.
Elk Mound played a non-conference game against Bloomer on Monday, February 24, and will host the Boyceville Bulldogs on Thursday, February 27 in the D-SC and season finale.
The Mounders received the seventh seed in the 2020 WIAA Division 3 Altoona boys’ basketball sectional and will open tournament play at home against #10 Adams-Friendship next Tuesday, March 3 in a regional quarterfinal game. The winner will play #2 Altoona on Friday, March 6.
Mondovi
It’s been a rough stretch for Elk Mound as the team has dropped three of their last four conference contests in the last two weeks. D-SC conference opponent Mondovi Buffaloes bested the Mounders 49-39 on Tuesday, February 18.
“The boys played hard all night long,” said head coach Michael Kessler. “I thought we defended well, crashed the glass hard, and generated turnovers we needed.”
Ryan Bohl led the offense for the Mounders with 12 points, all stemming from shots beyond the arc for three.
Seniors Cade Hanson and Blaze Todd put up 19 points combined. Hanson had three doubles, a triple, and was two-for-three at the line for 11 points, while Todd had three doubles and was two-for-four from the free throw line.
“Unfortunately we could not get much going on the offensive end, especially in the first half,” Kessler explained. “I thought we got some good looks, but couldn’t knock anything down.”
Elk Mound struggled in the first half, scoring just 12 points to the Buffaloes 23, but during the second half the Mounders outscored Mondovi by one, 27-26, but fell short by 10 points in the final tally.
Michael Jenson, Cole Steinhorst, Ethan Levra, and Ben Heath each had two points for Elk Mound.
“We attacked the paint better in the second half which led to a couple of nice runs, but were never able to get all the way back in it,” Kessler stated.
Nate Lew did not score any points for Elk Mound but was able to lead with nine rebounds, and two steals against Mondovi.
At the time of the Mondovi loss, Elk Mound fell back into a tie for third in the D-SC with Colfax at 8-4.
Elk
Mound
(39)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 4-0-4-12, B. Heath 1-0-2-2, E. Levra 1-0-0-2, C. Steinhorst 1-0-1-2, C. Hanson 4-2-3-11, B. Todd 3-2-1-8, M. Jenson 1-0-4-2. Totals 14-4-18-39.
Mondovi
(49)
FG-FT-F-TP: J. Falkner 2-0-0-4, W. Falkner 2-2-1-7, D. Everson 3-3-1-12, O. Schultz 6-1-3-13, J. Schmidtknecht 3-0-1-8, D. Rud 1-2-1-5. Totals 17-8-9-49.
Elk Mound 12 27 – 39
Mondovi 23 26 – 49
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (4), C. Hanson; Mondovi: W. Falkner, D. Everson (3), J. Schmidtknecht (2), D. Rud.
Durand
It was a nail biter for Elk Mound fans as they watched the Mounder men take on the Durand Panthers at home on Friday evening, February 21. Unfortunately the Mounders could not come up with a win against the league leader, losing by a mere two points in the final seconds of the game, 59-61.
“We prepared for their full court pressure, they do a really nice job of it,” said coach Kessler. “They are scrappy, and they have five guys out there all the time that work as hard as they can and get loose balls, and dive on the floor.”
Durand found itself on the board first as Gunnar Hurlburt was sent to the line for the first of nine foul shots, but Cade Hanson would not let it go unanswered as he found himself outside the arc and shot for three.
Hanson wrapped up his evening with 18 points for Elk Mound with five doubles, a pair of threes and was two-for-five from the line. Hanson also showed leadership on the floor as he boosted the confidence of his teammates after every shot.
“All four of our seniors, I have said to the guys I would take this team and go 0-22 in a heartbeat,” Kessler explained. “Not that we want to do that, but I love the way they get along and interact with each other. The seniors set the tone and the tempo for the entire group.”
The Mounders were able to force several turnovers in the first half with each resulting in baskets that gave the hosts an early 12-3 lead.
But messy shots and poor offense allowed Durand to get back in the game and take the lead with 9:25 left in the half, 14-12.
Going into the locker room Elk Mound found themselves down by six. But fought back to reclaiming the lead in the second half on Hanson’s second double.
It was back-and-forth struggle over the remaining six minutes of the game as Ryan Bohl was sent to the line three separate times going six-for-six. Bohl also had three triples and two doubles.
With 5.6 left on the clock, Elk Mound was down by two, 57-59, but Gunnar Hurlburt was sent back to the line for his final two free throws to make it 57-61.
Bohl was able to get one last shot off as the buzzer sounded to make the final 59-61 in favor of the Panthers.
Elk
Mound
(59)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 5-6-3-19, B. Heath 4-0-5-10, C. Hanson 7-2-4-18, B. Todd 3-0-5-6, M. Jenson 1-0-1-2. Totals 22-8-25-59.
Durand
(61)
FG-FT-F-TP: FG-FT-F-TP: D. Kurth 3-4-1-13, S. Bauer 4-4-3-16, L. Easker 3-0-1-6, L. Pelke 1-1-1-4, J. Biesterveld 1-0-0-2, G. Hurlburt 6-8-2-20. Total 18-17-13-61.
Elk Mound 20 39 – 59
Durand 26 35 – 61
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (3), B. Heath (2), C. Hanson (2); Durand: D. Kurth (3), L. Easker (4), L. Pelke.