Hilltopper boys lose trio of games, brings tally to 0-4 for the season

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by Joel DeWitt
Sports Correspondent

While the Hilltoppers boys’ basketball team didn’t get their first win of the season against Grantsburg, they would have three opportunities to achieve that milestone this past week. Playing Colfax, Elk Mound, and Thorp would prove to be fruitless in that quest as they would fall in all three contests and go to 0-4 in the early season.

The first of the trio of games saw Glenwood City opening conference play by hosting Colfax on December 7. The Hilltoppers would shoot less than 30 percent from the field and fall to a hot Vikings team 61-33.

Two days later the Hilltoppers would travel to Elk Mound and run into the hot handed Mounder Kaden Russo. Russo would lead his team with 33 points en route to handing the Hilltoppers their second straight conference loss 71-38.

The Hilltoppers would then wrap up the busy week by playing at UW-Stout in the Northwest Shootout Classic against Thorp on December 11. That game would have a similar outcome to the previous two of the week, with a cold shooting Glenwood City squad falling 35-21 to the Cardinals.

Even though the Hilltoppers couldn’t notch their first win of the season, progress is being made with the squad.

“The players are working hard to adjust to a new system and a new set of expectations,” said Coach Patrick Olson. He continued, “Our defense and limiting the opponent’s second chance points are getting better with each outing.”

Glenwood City will have a chance this week to get on the winning side of things when they face Elmwood/Plum City at home on Thursday, December 16. The Wolves are 1-1 in conference play and coming off a non-conference loss to Clear Lake by a score of 40-46. They then have a non-conference doubleheader with the Topper girls’ team next Tuesday, December 21 in Clayton.

Colfax

The Vikings would jump out to a quick 6-0 lead and set the tone for the game. Even though Glenwood City would cut the Colfax lead to three, the Vikings would outscore the Hilltoppers by 25 points to end the half up, 43-26.

While the Hilltopper defense would hold Colfax to only 18 points in the second half, the damage was already done as the Vikings would cruise to a 61-33 win.

While Colfax was shooting over 50 percent from the field on the evening, led by Elijah Entzimnger’s 17 points, Glenwood City struggled to find its range. The Hilltoppers went 13-45 from the field (0-6 from behind the arc).

Elek Anderson would lead all Hilltoppers offensively with eight points. Max Janson and Owen Swenby would each contribute six points apiece. Janson would pace all Hilltoppers in the rebounding category with seven rebounds on the night.

Elk Mound

The first road contest of the year found the Hilltoppers traveling to Elk Mond to visit a Mounder team hungry for their first conference victory. The combination of hot shooting by Mounder Kaden Russo and the Hilltoppers inability to control the ball would lead to the Hilltoppers falling to 0-2 in conference play early in the season as Elk Mound took the 71-38 win.

The Hilltoppers hung with the Mounder squad early, however an 11-0 run by Elk Mound would see them grab a 15-6 lead midway through the first half. Turnovers would plague Glenwood City on the offensive end, and Elk Mound would capitalize as they opened a 37-15 lead at half.

The second half would see the Hilltoppers attack the paint early and often to some degree of success as they scored the first five points of the half to cut the Mounder lead to 17 points. However, the night belonged to Russo and his hot hands.

The sophomore would explode for 34 points on the evening, highlighted by eight three-pointers (on ten attempts). Of the eight three-point attempts made, six came in the second half as he helped secure the lead and allow Elk Mound to easily defeat Glenwood City 71-38.

Brady McCarthy would pace Glenwood City with 11 points. Anderson and Drew Olson would contribute eight and seven points, respectively. Swenby would pull down six rebounds to lead his team.

Thorp

Glenwood City was hoping a non-conference game against Thorp would be the right medicine to get them on track. However, their shooting woes would come back to haunt them in a Saturday morning affair at the Northwest Shootout in Menomonie.

As with previous games this season, the Hilltoppers had a dry stretch. Midway through the first half the Hilltoppers two-point lead turned into a nine-point deficit. Glenwood City’s offensive struggles continued for the remainder of the half and Thorp took a 20-9 lead at intermission.

Glenwood City would cut that lead to five early in the second half. After an Olson free throw the Hilltoppers would press the Cardinals and Janson would steal an errant pass and find an open Olson for the layup.

A few possessions later, Anderson would tip in the ball on an inbounds play. Janson would subsequently be fouled on a shot in the lane. He would hit one of two to cut the lead to 20-15.

However, the Hilltoppers would not get any closer. They would be outscored 15 to seven in the final 14 minutes to lose 35-21. Anderson led the Hilltoppers with six points on the day. Olson followed close behind with five.