Mounder boys lose first game of season to Durand-Arkansaw, batter Boyceville
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The Elk Mound boys’ basketball team’s streak of 18 straight conference wins came to an end in Durand last Tuesday, December 12 when the Panthers of Durand-Arkansaw knocked off the defending Dunn-St. Croix champs 48-30.
Ironically, the Elk Mound boys last conference defeat came nearly two year ago against Durand-Arkansaw. In that February 10, 2022 contest, the Panthers defeated the Mounders on their home court 54-41.
But, Elk Mound didn’t dwell on that set back long as it simply began a new win streak by battering Boyceville, 90-48, in a home contest played three days later.
With the split, Elk Mound is 2-1 in conference, one game behind Durand-Arkansaw and Spring Valley, and 5-1 overall.
The Mounders will play at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau this Friday, December 22 to concluded its pre-holiday schedule. G-E-T knocked Elk Mound out of last year’s Division 3 tournament with a 80 to 48 victory in the regional final that was played on the Mounders’ home court.
Durand
The Panthers height coupled with a Mounders’ offense that was out of sync much of the game led to a 48-30 loss for Elk Mound, its first of the season.
The first half was a low-scoring affair with the host Panthers taking a 21-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Cale Knutson had half of Elk Mound’s points at the intermission with a triple, a deuce and a 2-for-2 effort at the free throw line. Logan Jerome added a trey and Grandt Mueller had a pair of two-point hoops to account for the other first-half points.
Durand-Arkansaw also made a pair of threes in the first 18 minutes of action and was able to outscore Elk Mound by seven for the lead.
In the second half, the Mounders pumped in three more triples but had only two other field goals and a 3-for-4 effort at the charity stripe to post just 16 points.
Meanwhile, Durand-Arkansaw added 27 points to its tally as Dane Bates took over in the second half where he scored 13 of his game high 16 points. The Panthers also added a pair of three-point shots during that span to pull away for the 48-30 victory.
“Their length seemed to cause us some problems and we could not find any rhythm on offense,” stated Mounders’ head coach Chris Hahn.
“We struggled to string good possessions together and didn’t shoot well at all,” he added.
Elk Mound finished just 10-for-44 shooting including 5-for-24 from three-point range. The Mounders, who did hit 5-of-7 free tosses, were led by Cale Knutson who tallied ten points after scoring seven in the opening half. Sam Wenzel finished with seven and Logan Jerome had six.
The Panthers height advantage was clear on the boards as they pulled down 36 to the Mounders 13 and committed just seven turnovers while Elk Mound finished with 17.
Boyceville
Home, Sweet, Home!
After struggling to make baskets in Durand three days earlier, Elk Mound returned home Friday, December 15 where it nailed 17 of its 34 three-point shots and nearly 54 percent of all its attempts to rout the visiting Boyceville Bulldogs 90-48.
The Bulldogs, who many picked to challenge for the Dunn-St. Croix crown this season, were no match for the Mounders.
Elk Mound dominated the contest from the opening tip to the final horn as ten players scored in the contest and three finished in double figures.
Elk Mound led by 30 points at the intermission, 52 to 22, and went on to outscore Boyceville in the second half as well, 38 to 26, to claim the 42-point win.
Cale Knutson led the Mounder offensive splurge with 21 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the three-point arc and 8-for-11 overall. Kaden Russo added 19 points with four triples, a trio of deuces and was a perfect 1-of-1 at the charity stripe. Grandt Mueller finished the game with 15 points which included a 2-for-3 effort from three-point land. Parker Dutzle, Brady Amble, Logan Jerome, Sam Wenzel, Caleb Beskow and Zane Brice each made a three pointer for the Mounders.
Elk Mound took just six foul shot and made three.
The Mounders collected 26 rebounds led by Lucas Johnson with eight and Russo had seven. Russo and Amble each had six assists and Wenzel added seven steals.