Mounder boys maintain share of first with wins over Spring Valley, Elmwood-Plum City
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Winning a pair of Dunn-St. Croix Conference road basketball contests last week, the Elk Mound boys held on to a share of first place along with Durand-Arkansaw who they were also set to face this past week but saw that game postponed by yet another winter snow storm.
The Mounders headed to Spring Valley last Tuesday, January 17 and came away with a 56-44 victory over the defending co-champion Cardinals. After Thursday’s (January 19) showdown against Durand-Arkansaw (last season’s other conference co-champ) in Durand was postponed until February 25, Elk Mound made the long trek to Plum City Friday, January 21 to battle the Wolves of Elmwood-Plum City where it overwhelmed the hosts with an explosive first-half of offense coupled with a suffocating defense to grab an early double-digits advantage en route to the 64-39 win.
The Mounders improved to 6-0 in conference action and 9-3 overall, marks which are identical to those of Durand-Arkansaw who kept pace with victories over Mondovi and Spring Valley.
Elk Mound returns home to host a pair of games this week with Bloomer coming in for a non-conference contest that was played last evening (Tuesday, January 24) and Glenwood City on Thursday, January 26. The Mounder boys will then close out the week with a Saturday, January 28 game at Prescott (10-3), who is currently ranked ninth in the state Division 3 poll. They then finish off the month of January with a game in Mondovi next Tuesday.
Spring Valley
Playing in Spring Valley January 17, the Mounders overcame four, first-half treys by the host Cardinals which included three by Jameson Bauer with a consistent offensive effort highlighted by Sam Wenzel’s 25-point performance to claim a 56-44 win over the defending co-champs.
Wenzel knocked down eight, two-point hoops, many in the paint, to finish with 16 points in the opening half alone. Ryan Bartig, Cale Knutson and Aiden Bartholomew each canned a three-point shot during that span to give the Mounders a 29-23 halftime advantage.
“We did a great job getting Sam the ball early and often,” said Chris Hahn, Elk Mound head coach. “He scored our first 12 points and was an unstoppable force inside scoring and rebounding. Kaden and Aiden did a great job of attacking the basket and setting Sam up with easy buckets.”
Wenzel continued to score in the second half adding four more baskets and free throw to his tally while Bartig sank two more threes as Elk Mound outscored Spring Valley 27-21 in the final half to win by a dozen points.
Although the Mounders did struggle with shooting from the perimeter against Spring Valley, they still finished with five triples, the same amount the Cardinals put in.
Wenzel added eight rebounds to his stats with Logan Jerome tallying nine boards to led the way for the Mounders. Knutson had six boards and Kaden Russo and Bartig finished with five each. In all, Elk Mound corralled 35.
Wenzel was the only Mounder to finish in double digits with his 25 points. Bartig tallied nine, Russo finished with six and Knutson and Bartholomew had five each. As a team, Elk Mound was 28-for-78 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 at the free throw line.
Spring Valley was led by Cade Stasiek and Jameson Bauer who scored 15 and 14, respectively. The Cards finished 11-for-13 at the charity stripe but hit only 19 of its 68 shot attempts.
“I’m really happy with how our team is sharing the ball. The more we can play as a team and take great shots each possession, the more likely we are to win games,” concluded Hahn.
Elmwood-Plum City
Elk Mound started fast in Plum City as the offense carried it to a convincing 64-39 win over the Wolves of Elmwood-Plum City last Friday, January 20.
Sam Wenzel and Ryan Bartig combined for 17 of the Mounders 32, first-half points as Elk Mound raced to a commanding 32-15 lead at the intermission.
Cale Knutson, Kaden Russo and Logan Jerome got in on the scoring act in the second half as the trio helped the Mounders put another 32 points on the scoreboard in the 25-point triumph.
“In the first half, we did a great job of making them work for every basket on defense and we’re starting to focus better on defense for longer stretches of the game,” said Hahn.
“Of their (Elmwood-Plum City’s) 15, first-half points, several buckets came off of live ball turnovers that led to transition buckets. We need to do a better job of not turning it over and letting other teams get easy buckets. In close games, those make a huge difference,” he added.
Although only six Mounders scored in the game, five finished in double digits led by Ryan Bartig and Cale Knutson who each tallied 14 points. Kaden Russo added 13, Sam Wenzel scored 11 and Logan Jerome had ten. Russo and Wenzel also had seven rebounds apiece to top the EM charts. The Mounders were 31-for-87 which included 6-for-23 from long range and 8-of-12 at the charity stripe.
Lucas Glaus led the Wolves with ten with Trevor Asher adding nine. The Wolves were a similar 6-for-24 from three-point land and 21-for-65 shooting overall but made only three of ten foul shots.
“Offensively, we were very balanced tonight and our team continues to share the ball and not be concerned with who scores. The more we pass up good shots for great shots, the better we will be,” Hahn concluded.