Topper boys lose trio of conference contests
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GLENWOOD CITY junior Jayden Quinn (#30) scored two points late in the Toppers’ 40-59 loss to Elk Mound last Tuesday, February 1. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
by Joel DeWitt
Sports Correspondent
The Hilltoppers boys’ basketball team faced a tough task this past week when they took on teams from the top tier of the Dunn-St. Croix conference. While strides where made, the results would be same in all three games as Glenwood City would drop the three contests.
Glenwood City (1-8,3-13) started the week off traveling to conference leader Durand (9-0,14-3) on January 31. Even though the Toppers would hang tough early and be leading midway through the first half, a dry spell would do them in as Durand would win 54-37.
The next night Glenwood City hosted Elk Mound (6-4,11-8). Much like the first meeting of the year between the two, the Mounders would control from the beginning and get the 59-40 victory.
They would wrap the week up on February 4 traveling to Plum City. Much like the previous game against Elk Mound, Elmwood/Plum City (7-3,12-5) would control the tempo from the beginning and cruise to the 60-44 win.
The Hilltoppers hosted Boyceville Monday, February 7 and the game was not complete in time for this week’s edition. They then travel to Amery on February 8 and to wrap up the week hosting Spring Valley on Thursday, February 10.
GLENWOOD CITY junior Jayden Quinn (#30) scored two points late in the Toppers’ 40-59 loss to Elk Mound last Tuesday, February 1. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Durand
The Toppers would hang close to the Panthers, undefeated in conference play, early on. Hilltopper guard Brady McCarthy would be a one-man wrecking crew to begin the game. He would score the first 13 points on the evening for Glenwood City and allow them to stay close.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by McCarthy would start things out for the Toppers and give them a quick two-point lead. Following two layups, McCarthy would hit another shot from long range to give his team the lead once again at 13-10 with 8:50 remaining in the first half.
Unfortunately, the Panthers would clamp down defensively for the last portion of the first. They would only allow two points, a pair of free-throws by Justin Moe, and score 23 to take the 33-15 lead.
The Hilltoppers would fail to mount any runs in the second half to cut into that 18-point lead and would fall on the evening to the Panthers 52-37.
In large part to his hot start, McCarthy led his team with 17 points. Drew Olson added ten.
Elk Mound
Like the first meeting of the year, the Mounders would punish the Hilltoppers with shots from beyond the arc. The game in December saw Elk Mound connect on 11 3-pointers, while this match up only saw them connect on nine it was enough for them to pull out to a commanding lead early and win 59-40.
The Mounders jumped out to an 11-0 lead before a free-throw at the 10:00 mark of the first half by McCarthy would get the Toppers on the board. Later in the first, the Hilltoppers would have a mini-run to cut into the Elk Mound lead.
Trailing 6-22, Olson would hit a pair of free-throws to spark a 6-0 run to cut the lead to ten points. However, Elk Mound would counter with their own 9-0 run to end the half up 31-12.
The second half saw the Hilltoppers offense come to life. Glenwood City would put in 28 points, however that wouldn’t be enough to overcome the sluggish first half as the Mounders would hold on for the 59-40 triumph.
Drew Olson was the only Hilltopper in double digits on the evening with 13 points.
Elmwood/Plum City
After falling behind 4-0 early, a 3-pointer by McCarthy and a short jumper by Elek Anderson would see the Hilltoppers jump ahead 5-4. The Wolves would hit back and go on a 9-0 run that would only be stopped by an Olson layup to make the score 13-7.
Elmwood/Plum City would gradually pull away for the remainder of the first as they would extend the lead to 18 points at 32-14. As with their previous game against Elk Mound, the Hilltoppers would heat up in the second half, however the first half deficit would prove to be too much as they would fall 60-44.
A bright spot on the Hilltoppers side was McCarthy. The senior guard shot 8-of-14 from the field including 6-of-10 from 3-point range to notch 22 points on the evening. Anderson finished with ten.