Holiday Split: Mounder boys spank Sparta, lose to top-ranked West Salem
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WEST SALEM — Playing in the West Salem Classic between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, its first action in nearly three weeks, the Elk Mound boys’ basketball squad finished with mixed results in the two-day tournament that took place last Wednesday and Thursday, December 28 and 29 at West Salem High School.
The Mounders earned a convincing 72-43 victory over Sparta in the tournament opener on December 28. But the outcome of the following day’s match up against host West Salem, the top-ranked squad in the most recent Division 3 state poll, was the complete opposite as the Panthers went on the prowl and took down the Mounders in convincing fashion, 69-41.
The split left Elk Mound with a 5-2 record as it prepares to open the 2023 portion of its schedule. The Mounders were set to host Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau in a non-conference competition last evening (Tuesday, January 3) before resuming Dunn-St. Croix play this Friday, January 6 in Boyceville. They return home next Monday, January 9 to welcome Fall Creek in another out-of-league contest.
Sparta
If there was any rust from their 18-day layoff, the Mounder boys didn’t show it when they took on Sparta in the first day of competition at the West Salem Basketball Classic last Wednesday, December 28.
Elk Mound made great offensive decisions as they enjoyed a 37 to 23 advantage over Sparta at halftime.
The Mounders continued to pour in the points in the second half as it added another 35 to its tally while holding the Spartans to 20 in a 72-43 rout.
“After an 18-day layoff, I was really happy with our efforts and focus in the game. We moved the ball well and played great team basketball. Numerous times we passed up good shots for great shots,” stated Chris Hahn, the Mounders’ head coach.
While both teams finished with nine triples, Elk Mound outpointed Sparta on deuces as it sank 16 two-point shots to the Spartans’ five. The teams each missed just two foul shots in the game, but the Mounders finished 18-for-20 while the Spartans attempted just eight, making six.
Three of the eight Mounders that put scores in the book finished in double digits. Senior Ryan Bartig led Elk Mound with 16 points, 11 of which came in the opening half, including a pair of triples. Junior Kaden Russo tallied 15 points with a trio of treys in the first half. Sophomore Cale Knutson scored 14 points thanks to a 4-for-9 performance behind the three-point arc and two foul shots. Knutson also had seven rebounds to lead the team.
“Ryan Bartig continued his great play. He’s been incredibly efficient on the offensive side of the ball and often creates easy looks for his teammates. Kaden Russo shot the ball well and is continuing to pick-up his scoring,” added Hahn.
Junior Sam Wenzel and senior Aiden Bartholomew each added seven points with Wenzel contributing six boards and a team high five steals while Bartholomew finished with five rebounds.
Sophomore Logan Jerome finished with six points and junior Zane Brice had five.
Sparta’s top gunner, Layden Bender, led all scorers with 19 points including five triples.
“We were able to limit Sparta’s number of looks by controlling the defensive rebounds most of the time, but we lost their best player (Bender) too often,” Hahn said.
“One area we need to continue to improve is recognizing the best offensive players on the opposing team and limiting their ability to get open looks,” he added.
As a team, Elk Mound finished 34-for-78 shooting including 9-of-24 from the three-point line, collected 31 rebounds, had 13 assists, 15 steals and just eight turnovers.
West Salem
Unlike the previous day’s game against Sparta, it was Elk Mound that found itself trailing by double digits at halftime in its Thursday, December 29 game against number one West Salem.
The Panthers pounced on the Mounders early thanks to Carson Koepnick, West Salem’s second leading scorer, who tossed in four of his five three pointers and 20 of his game-leading 23 points in the first half to help put the hosts ahead 37 to 22 at the intermission.
West Salem’s top scorer, Peter Lattos, who the Mounders held to seven points at the break, added nine more in the final 18 minutes to finish with 16 points and teammate Joe Sullivan made two of his three triples during that span to finish with 11 points. That scoring coupled with strong defensive pressure throughout the contest helped carry the Panthers to a 69-41 win.
“Anytime you play the #1 ranked team in your division, you’re going to have to play well to give yourself a chance,” said Hahn. “I was proud of our kids and how hard they played. They left it all out on the court and they did everything we asked of them.”
“Their defensive pressure is unlike anyone else we’ll see all year and they could very well have a gold ball in March,” Hahn added.
“I thought we handled their pressure well in the first half and were able to get a number of open looks, but we just weren’t able to convert them,” he said.
Early in the second half, Elk Mound was able to cut its deficit to 13 points with about 14 minutes to play.
Unfortunately, the Mounders then turned the ball over on five straight possessions, four of which the Panthers turned into points to push their lead over 20 points once again. After that, the Mounder were unable to get their deficit below that the rest of the way.
Sam Wenzel led Elk Mound with 14 points including an 8-for-12 performance at the free throw line. Kaden Russo added seven, Ryan Bartig six and Cale Knutson and Logan Jerome had five each.
“Sam Wenzel and Logan Jerome played incredibly well against a strong front line for West Salem,” noted Hahn.
Elk Mound shot 16-for-58 which included just 3-for-19 from beyond the arc. West Salem netted 38 of its 85 shots attempts including a dozen threes on 31 tries. The Mounders were 12-for-17 at the free throw stripe while the Panthers hit 8-of-14. Elk Mound, however, committed 17 turnovers compared to only six by the Panthers.