Elk Mound boys splits pair of non-conference games
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By Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
The Elk Mound boys moved out of the conference for a couple of away basketball games last week, resulting in a 65-55 loss to the Regis Ramblers Tuesday, December 15, but they showed their resiliency with a 59-38 win at Augusta on Friday, December 18.
The Mounders, 2-4 overall, traveled to Elmwood on Monday, December 21, for a conference game with the Wolves of Elmwood/Plum City. They will then break for Christmas, but return to action next Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, December 29 and 30, for a pair of non-conference tilts at Stanley-Boyd and home against Fall Creek respectively.
Eau Claire Regis
Despite a team high 24 points by Ryan Bohl, the Mounders couldn’t shut down the Ramblers JP Wolterstorff who finished the contest with 27 points. Bohl had 10 points in the first half to go with four from Michael Jenson, a triple from Kaden Russo and a deuce by Ethan Levin but the Mounders were down 27-19 at the break.
“The Rambler’s full-court and half-court pressure really got to us, especially in the first half,” Mounders’ coach Michael Kessler said. “They forced us into mistakes that led to easy buckets for them.”
Bohl and Jenson carried the load offensively in the second half as Bohl knocked down a trio of triples, a pair of short range shots and a free toss while Jenson added nine points to finish with 13 for the game. Nate Lew tacked on six points, Ben Heath added five and Ryan Bartig hit a pair of free tosses to finish off the scoring.
The Mounders continued to knock down shots from behind the arc, hitting eight treys in the game, five by Bohl, and they were a perfect seven-for-seven at the foul line. But the difference in the game came with the Ramblers scoring 17 points on 22 free throw attempts to go with eight treys, four from Wolterstorff.
“I’m proud of the way the kids battled to the end,” Kessler said.
Augusta
11 first-half points by Russo and nine from Jenson helped the Mounders to a 32-19 halftime lead over the Beavers. Bohl connected for four treys in the game with three in the second half.
All told, the Mounders drained 12 three-point shots in the contest including three each from Russo and Jenson and one apiece by Lew and Bartig. They were just three-of-eight from the foul line while the Beavers were six-of-13.
Russo finished with a team leading 15 points, with Jenson adding 14 and Bohl 12, while Heath and Lew each came up with seven points.
“We were able to put together longer stretches of solid defense that resulted in stops for us,” coach Kessler said. “We hope to see that continue as the season goes on. I thought our energy level was great coming out in the second half. I was also pleased with the small adjustments we made on offense and defense. It was nice to get contributions from a lot of different guys,” he concluded.