Mounder boys survive scare from Boyceville Bulldogs, beat Central
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
ELK MOUND junior Kaden Russo (#1) is shown launching one of his five three-point makes in a home contest versus Boyceville last Thursday, February 9. Russo led all scorers with 28 points, the Mounders avoided the upset as they rallied late in the game to pull out a 58-50 win.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
The league-leading Elk Mound boys’ basketball team survived a scare on their home court last Thursday from conference upstart Boyceville.
The Mounders, who trailed for nearly three-quarters of the February 9 game, secured a 58-50 win at the free throw line in the closing minute of play.
Elk Mound also took down St. Croix Central 66-46 in a home non-conference contest played Monday, February 6.
With those wins, the Mounders improved to 10-0 in the Dunn-St. Croix and 15-4 overall.
Elk Mound has three games on its schedule this week including two at home. The Mounder boys hosted Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau this past Monday evening, February 13 and traveled to Colfax for a rematch with the Vikings last night (February 14). They will close out the week with a home conference game against Spring Valley on Friday, February 17.
Boyceville
The February 9 matchup between Elk Mound and Boyceville wasn’t billed as a must watch game. With Elk Mound undefeated in conference, and Boyceville owning only two conference wins this game was expected to be lopsided. However, the Bulldogs effort put a scare into the Mounders.
Boyceville jumped out to early 20-9 lead and used that advantage to take a seven-point lead into intermissions. They held the lead most of the second half before Elk Mound was able to claw back into the game and take the lead and hold on for the 58-50 win.
“Tonight, we had to dig down deep to pull out a win when we didn’t play well and Boyceville played exceptionally well,” commented Mounder coach Chris Hahn. “Give them a lot of credit because they hit timely 3-point shots and kept us on our heels most of the night.
Boyceville (9-10,2-8) was able to connect on ten 3-pointers on the evening, including six in the first half to head into the locker room up 32-25. However, the disparity at the free-throw line was the difference in the game.
The Bulldogs were perfect from the charity strip, but only attempted two shots with both coming early in the game. Whereas the Mounders went 14-for-25 on the evening including 10-for-18 in the second half to help secure the win.
While the Mounders may have won the game from the free throw line, it could have been Caden Wold’s shooting that almost gave them their first conference loss. The Bulldog Junior connected on six, 3 pointers on the evening including four in the first half to propel his team to the lead.
INSIDE FORCE — The Mounders’ Sam Wenzel (#5) was tough to stop during a game with Boyceville last Thursday, February 9. Wenzel hit several shots from inside the paint to finish with 21 points as he helped the Mounders rally past the Bulldogs 58-50. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
“Caden Wold played by far his best game personally on both the offensive end with 22 points and also on the defensive end,” indicated Bulldog coach Colby Dotseth.
Coming out of a timeout at the 11:00 mark of the first half, Wold’s 3 pointer gave the Bulldogs an 11-point advantage at 20-9. However, the Mounders pulled back into the game, thanks in large part to the dynamic duo of Kaden Russo and Sam Wenzel. The pair account for 21 of the teams 25 first half points.
Elk Mound was able to cut the deficit to two points at 25-23 with just under 4:00 minutes remaining, however a 7-2 Bulldog run down the stretch gave Boyceville the seven-point lead at intermission.
The first part of the second half saw both teams battle back and forth with Boyceville maintaining the lead. It wasn’t until the 7:08 mark that Elk Mound took their first lead at 41-40 on a Russo jumper.
The Bulldogs countered with a Wold 3-point shot to knot the score at 43 apiece. The game remained tight with Boyceville taking their final lead with 2:34 to play at 50-49. At that point, the Bulldogs ran out of steam.
The Mounders hit a 3-pointer with a minute to play to retake the lead at 52-50 and converted on six of eight free throws to seal the victory 58-50.
The win maintains the Mounders (15-4, 10-0) one game advantage in the standings over Durand-Arkansaw with four conference games remaining.
“Kaden and Sam carried us tonight, scoring nearly all of our points,” commented coach Hahn. “We really needed everything they gave us on offense”
The pair accounted for 49 of Mounders 58 points on the evening, including 28 points in the second half. Russo led the way with 28 point and Wenzel pitched in 21.
The Bulldogs were led by Wold and his outside shooting. He put in 22 points on the evening. Simon Evenson was also dynamic from the field scoring 13 points, connecting on three 3-pointers
The loss for the Bulldogs left them mired near the bottom of the standings. However, the effort against one of the area’s top teams leaves them rejuvenated.
“Last night showed that we are really starting to click at the right time, and I hope it carries us through the next two weeks of the season and into the playoffs,” Coach Dotseth indicated. “We can be a very dangerous team.”
St. Croix Central
There is always a worry that a team will be flat following a big, emotional win.
And that is just what happened to Elk Mound when its hosted St. Croix Central in a non-conference tilt Monday, February 6.
Just a few days after picking up a huge conference win over Durand-Arkansaw, the Mounders played uninspired basketball against the Panthers.
“We played really flat in the first half,” noted Chris Hahn, Mounders’ head coach. “We turned the ball over too many times and we gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
“After playing arguably our best half of the season against Durand last Friday, we played one of our worst halves of basketball to start this game,” he added.
Still, Elk Mound managed to hold a 31-24 halftime advantage which it was able to extend in the second half for the 66-46 win.
“In the second half, we did a better job of getting to the rim,” said Hahn, “Sam (Wenzel) and Kaden (Russo) both did a nice job of attacking the paint. Ryan Bartig) was battling some illness, but he found a way to get through it and he made some important plays for us to keep extending the lead in the second half of the game.”
Elk Mound outpointed St. Croix Central 35-22 in that final stanza.
Four Mounders scored in double digits. Russo had three of Elk Mound’s six triples and was 4-for-4 at the foul line to finish with a game-leading 19 points along with five rebounds. Wenzel was also perfect at the foul line hitting all five of his free tosses to finish with 17 points and a game-high 13 of the Mounders 31 rebounds. Despite being under the weather, Bartig stepped up to score a dozen including 3-for-4 at the line and a triple and had a pair of boards and steals. Cale Knutson finished with ten points including a pair of threes and five rebounds and two steals.
The Mounders were a remarkable 14-15 at the free throw line.
Mason Sullivan and Kaden Fry led the Panthers with 13 and 10 points, respectively.