Elk Mound boys finish tied for third in Dunn-St. Croix conference
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By Amber Hayden
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound boys’ basketball team had a strong showing in the final week of the regular season. The Mounders took wins over Bloomer and Boyceville to finish in a three-way tie for third place in the final Dunn-St. Croix standings.
Ryan Bohl had a career high 25 points against the Bloomer Blackhawks in the 58-52 non-conference victory at home last Monday, February 21. Bohl has started every game in the 2019-20 season and has helped the Mounders finish at 9-5 in the conference, a record they shared with Colfax and Mondovi, and 12-10 overall.
Elk Mound recognized its seniors before Thursday’s, February 27 regular and conference season finale at home against Boyceville. Blaze Todd, Cade Hanson, Kyle Deling, and Cole Steinhorst combined for 29 points in the Mounders 61-40 victory over the Bulldogs.
Elk Mound (#7) tipped off the 2020 WIAA Division 3 tournament at home against Adams-Friendship (#10) on Tuesday evening, March 3. A win would send the Mounders on to the regional semifinal game against the number two seed Altoona Railroaders in Altoona on Friday, March 6.
Bloomer
The Elk Mound boys’ basketball team took to the home floor on Monday evening, February 24, against the Bloomer Blackhawks to begin their final week of the regular season.
The Mounders outscored Bloomer in both halves to take a 58-52 victory.
“The boys played well last night,” said head coach Michael Kessler. “Obviously it was really nice to see Ryan Bohl get a career high, but we got lots of contributions from everyone.”
Bohl scored a high of 25 points, beating his previous record of 23 that came against Altoona in the early part of the 2019-20 season. Bohl had five three pointers, was eight-for-nine from the line, and one double.
Ben Heath and Nate Lew scored seven points a piece. Heath had two doubles and a triple, and Lew was five-for-eight from the line with one double.
“Some big free throws down the stretch from Lew and Bohl sealed it for us,” Kessler explained. “Looking forward to Thursday where we celebrate our tremendous seniors.”
Scoring in the second half for the Mounders was Michael Jenson with a pair of threes and a drive inside the lane for two.
“Heath and Jensen hit some big buckets in the second half that got them out of their box,” stated Kessler. “Blaze Todd and Cade Hanson were flying around on defense, Ethan Levra took a huge charge on a transition opportunity for Bloomer, and Kyle Deling did a nice job on the boards.”
Hanson and Todd had 11 points between the pair. Hanson scored three doubles and Todd had two doubles and was one-for-two from the free throw line.
Elk Mound (58)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 6-8-1-25, B. Heath 3-0-2-7, N. Lew 1-5-2-7, C. Hanson 3-0-0-6, B. Todd 2-1-3-5, M. Jenson 3-0-3-8. Totals 18-14-12-58.
Bloomer (52)
FG-FT-F-TP: D. Cook 3-0-3-9, A. Thur 3-0-0-9, C. Crane 1-0-2-3, C. Rubenzer 4-0-2-8, T. Tozer 2-0-3-4, C. Herrick 4-0-3-11, L. Iverson 2-3-4-8. Totals 19-3-18-52.
Elk Mound 24 34 – 58
Bloomer 22 30 – 52
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (5), B. Heath, M. Jensen (2); Bloomer: D. Cook (3), A. Thur (2), C. Crane, C. Herrick (3), L. Iverson.
Boyceville
Elk Mound ended their regular and conference seasons with a win over Boyceville at home last Friday to push them into a three-way tie for third place in the D-SC conference.
The 61-40 win gave Elk Mound a 9-5 record which tied them with Colfax and Mondovi.
“Boyceville came out and hit 3 shots right off the bat and we were down 9-0 before we knew it,” explained coach Kessler. “Our guys stayed the course and battled back by playing solid defense, generating turnovers, and getting transition buckets.”
The Mounders were led by Ben Heath with 14 total points, Heath had four doubles, a triple, and was three-for-three at the line.
Seniors Blaze Todd and Cade Hanson contributed 20 points combined to Elk Mound’s final score. Todd had three doubles, a lone trey, and was two-for-four from the free throw line, and Hanson had four doubles and a single foul shot.
“Really nice night celebrating our 4 seniors! Those guys mean a lot to me as well as the program and it was a great evening celebrating them,” Kessler stated. “Looking forward to next week and Adams-Friendship.”
Nate Lew took to the floor for Elk Mound to score eight points. Lew has had issues with his elbow off and on during the season, but has been able to play with the help of a brace. Lew scored a pair of threes and a double.
Also scoring for the Mounders were Kyle Deling with three doubles and a free throw, Ryan Bohl with a pair of three-pointers, Cole Steinhorst with a double, and Brex Todd went one-for-two at the line.
Elk Mound (61)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 2-0-2-6, B. Heath 5-3-1-14, N. Lew 3-0-1-8, C. Steinhorst 1-0-0-2, C. Hanson 4-1-1-9, B. Todd 0-1-0-1, B. Todd 4-2-4-11, M. Jenson 1-0-1-3, K. Deling 3-1-0-7. Totals 23-8-11-61.
Boyceville (40)
FG-FT-F-TP: W. Retz 5-0-1-11, B. Sempf 1-0-2-3, C. Sempf 0-2-2-2, L. Knudtson 7-2-2-21, J. Klefstad 1-0-3-2, C. Klefstad 0-1-3-1. Total 14-5-13-40.
Elk Mound 30 31 – 61
Boyceville 20 20 – 40
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (2), B. Heath, N. Lew (2), B. Todd, M. Jenson; Boyceville: W. Retz, B. Sempf, L. Knudtson (5).