Hilltopper boys’ basketball drops two for fourth straight D-SC Conference setback

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by Joel DeWitt

Sports Correspondent

Coming off a deflating loss to rival Boyceville, the Glenwood City boys’ basketball team looked to rebound with a pair a conference contests. 

While the Hilltoppers were competitive in both games, the opponents were able to pull away late to secure the wins.

Glenwood City (7-7, 2-5) traveled to Colfax on January 16 to take on the Vikings for the first time this season. Even though they trailed at halftime, the Hilltoppers were able to pull even with Colfax at 37 apiece midway through the second period. 

However, a 26-5 Viking run down the stretch doomed Glenwood’s chance at victory on the night as Colfax won 65-50.

Three nights later Glenwood City welcomed Elk Mound to town to wrap up their week’s schedule. Much like Colfax, the Mounders used a second-half run to ruin the Hilltoppers chance at an upset. Elk Mound closed out Glenwood City by the score of 77-67.

Glenwood City returns to action on January 25 when they travel to Plum City to play Elmwood-Plum City (4-9, 1-6) with tipoff at 7:15 p.m. The Hilltoppers defeated the Wolves at home on December 7 by the score of 60-53.

Colfax

Brody Olson started the scoring action for the Hilltoppers by hitting on a pair of free throws and draining a deep three pointer to tie the game at 5-5 early in the game.

After a Viking field goal put Colfax up 7-5, Brody Riba ignited a Hilltopper 7-0 run with a drive and bucket. Another triple from Olson and a ten-foot jumper from Morgen Eggert gave the Hilltoppers the 12-7 lead.

The Vikings countered later in the first half with their own 7-0 run to retake the lead at 21-18. That run helped Colfax go into intermission up by two at 28-26.

Zach Hill gave Glenwood City the lead to start the second half when he was fouled on a made layup. The ensuing free throw gave the Hilltoppers the 29-28 advantage. The Hilltopper lead was short lived as Colfax jumped out to a 36-31 lead before Glenwood City tied it at 37-37.

Nevertheless, Colfax was too strong on the evening. The ensuing Viking run ended with the Hilltoppers trailing by 21 points at 63-42. Glenwood City would score eight of the next ten points but fell short by the score of 65-50.

Olson led the Glenwood in scoring with 16 on the night, while Eggert was the only other Topper in double figures with ten points.

Elk Mound

The Hilltoppers fought tooth and nail with one of the top teams in the conference on January 19, but couldn’t quite keep up down the stretch. Elk Mound’s big three of Sam Wenzel, Kaden Russo, and Logan Jerome account for 63 of the Mounders 76 points on the night.

The Hilltoppers pulled out to a 15-10 lead with 13:00 left in the first half on Tyler Harrington’s corner  three pointer. However, eight consecutive points by Wenzel launched Elk Mound back into the lead.

The Hilltoppers fought back and went up by four points at 26-22 when Harrington drained three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Elk Mound controlled the final 5:30 of the first half. The Mounders outscored the Hilltoppers 15-4 to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.

A Mounder bucket to begin the second half put the Toppers down nine, but they were not deterred. Glenwood City went on a 19-5 run to take a five point lead at 49-44 on an Eggert put back.

Unfortunately for the Toppers, they went cold from the field. Elk Mound countered the Hilltopper run with a 25-5 run of their own to jump ahead 69-54 en route to the 77-67 win.

Harrington led a quartet of Hilltopper scorers with 15 points on the night. Eggert and Riba both posted 14 points, while Olson had 13.