Mounder boys overcome foul trouble and BV Bulldogs to earn win

PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.

Email

Submit

← Back

BOYCEVILLE — In what turned out to be its only game of the week and first of the new year, the Elk Mound boys’ basketball team had to overcome some early foul trouble which it eventually did to earn a 60 to 36 win in Boyceville last Friday night, January 6.

The contest was part of a doubleheader with the girls’ squads playing in the matinée and the boys taking the night cap.

Mounder starters Ryan Bartig, Cale Knutson and Sam Wenzel along with Logan Jerome all found themselves experiencing some first-half foul trouble which threatened Elk Mound’s offensive game plan.

But by the second half, Elk Mound, which led host Boyceville 32 to 20 at the break, was able to overcome those issues and the Bulldogs en route to the 24-point win.

“We didn’t do a great job with our feet and got into early foul trouble,” stated Mounders’ head coach Christopher Hahn.

“Thankfully, we overcame our foul trouble in the second half and came out on top,” continued Hahn.

Despite their early foul troubles, Bartig, Knutson and Wenzel were able to led the Elk Mound offensive attack along with Kaden Russo. Wenzel finished as the top scorer for the Mounders, who tallied eight triples in the contest, netting 13 points. Bartig scored a dozen on two triples, a deuce and 4-for-5 shooting at the charity stripe. Knutson and Russo finished with 11 points each with Knutson sinking a trio of triples while Russo had a pair from behind the arc along with a two pointer and went 3-of-4 at the line.

“Sam played another excellent game and continues to be aggressive on offense. We need to keep playing through him and getting paint touches off the pass and dribble,” stated Hahn.

“On the offensive side of the ball, we did a great job of getting the ball into the post,” he added.

Knutson, Wenzel, Bartig and Russo combined for 26 of the Mounders 32 first-half points to help build a 12-point advantage.

In the second half, Elk Mound sank five of its eight three-point shots with Bartig getting two and Russo, Knutson and Aiden Bartholomew each sinking one. That helped the visiting Mounders, who went 8-of-10 at the free throw line, outscore their host 24 to 16 in the final stanza.

Elk Mound, who had Tuesday’s home game with Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau postponed until February 13 due to bad weather,  improved to 3-0 in conference action with the victory and is now 6-2 in all games. 

Wenzel led the team in rebounds with eight while Bartholomew had five. Russo finished with four steals and Bartig, Jerome and Bartholomew each registered three.

Boyceville’s Chase Hollister shared the points lead Wenzel, scoring 11 of his 13 in the second half to finish as the only Bulldog in double digits. Devin Halama added nine on two treys, a hoop and a free toss and Nick Olson and Jack Phillips each chipped  in for five points. Boyceville (0-3, 5-4) finished 6-of-13 at the line and had four triples.

Elk Mound has a full slate with five games scheduled over the next two weeks. It will host a pair  this week which began with a non-conference contest against Fall Creek this past Monday, January 9. Colfax will be in town Thursday. Next Tuesday, January 17, the Mounders begin a three-game conference road swing against the co-champion Cardinals of Spring Valley.

“We have some big games coming up in the next few weeks and need to keep playing together,” Hahn concluded.