Mounder men pick up pair of conference wins
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QUICK FEET — Cade Hanson (#20) used his quickness during Friday evening’s win against the Glenwood City Hilltoppers. Hanson had six points for Elk Mound including a triple and a double.
—photo by Amber Hayden
By Amber Hayden
The men of Elk Mound were able to put together a successful week of conference play as they went 2-0 with wins over Elmwood/Plum City and Glenwood City.
Elk Mound took its second win in the Dunn-St. Croix conference last Tuesday, January 7 with a 64-50 win over the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves in Elmwood.
Intensity was key in Friday’s 57-35 victory over Glenwood City. Elk Mound used a full-court press throughout the game that wore down the Hilltoppers in the second half. Starter Ryan Bohl had a breakout game for the Mounders as he scored 18 points, his second highest game of the season.
With the two wins, Elk Mound (3-1, 4-5) moved into third place in the Dunn-St. Croix with a one game lead over fourth-place Mondovi.
The Mounders host Mondovi tomorrow evening, Thursday, January 16, and will be on the road next Tuesday, January 21, to tip off against the Panthers of Durand.
Elmwood/Plum City
After a two-point, halftime deficit, the Mounder men outscored the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves 34-18 in the second half to earn 64-50 victory last Tuesday evening, January 7.
“The first half I thought we were trying to do too much too fast, and we had a number of possessions that resulted in rushed shots and poor decision making,” said Mounders’ head coach Michael Kessler.
Ben Heath and Nate Lew led the way for Elk Mound with twelve points a piece, and they each had two doubles and a triple. However, Heath was five-for-seven at the line and Lew was five-for-eight at the line.
Earning ten points a piece for Elk Mound were Ryan Bohl and Blaze Todd. Bohl had a pair of threes and was four-for-seven from the line, and Todd had three doubles, a triple, and was one-for-three at the charity stripe.
“In the second half we kept our composure better and found ways to grind out possessions,” Kessler explained. “Biggest improvement from half one to half two was our rebounding.”
Elk Mound finished with 33 boards.
Also scoring for Elk Mound were Michael Jenson with a double and three shots from outside the arc, Cole Steinhorst with a double and trey, and Ethan Levra and Cade Hanson each with two points.
“I was happy to see balanced scoring from our guys,” added Kessler.
Elk Mound (64)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 2-4-1-10, B. Heath 3-5-4-12, N. Lew 3-5-1-12, E. Levra 1-0-0-2, C. Steinhorst 2-0-4-5, C. Hanson 1-0-3-2, B. Todd 4-1-1-10, M. Jenson 4-0-4-11. Totals 20-15-19-64.
Elmwood/Plum City (50)
FG-FT-F-TP: J. Glampe 2-1-4-6, D. Whipple 4-0-2-11, Z. Phillips 2-0-1-4, B. Gilles 3-3-5-9, E. Gansluckner 1-1-2-3, L. Webb 3-1-2-7, A. Bartz 2-0-3-4, T. Bauer 3-0-0-6. Totals 20-6-19-50.
Elk Mound.…………………………30 34 – 64
Elmwood/Plum City………………32 18 – 50
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (2), B. Heath, N. Lew, C. Steinhorst, B. Todd, M. Jenson (3); Elmwood/Plum City: J. Glampe, D. Whipple (3).
Glenwood City
Coach Kessler and his Mounders’ basketball players brought great intensity on defense and offense to their game against the Glenwood City last Friday, January 10 that resulted in the second win of the week.
“We put in a press to try and utilize our athleticism that we have, give teams a different look,” Coach Kessler stated. “It kind of wore Glenwood out from the way it looked, when teams get tired they start making decisions that they normally wouldn’t.”
Michael Jenson got things started for Elk Mound with a quick shot from outside the arc with 17:35 left on the clock, but Glenwood City’s Gavin Janson answered back with two points less than thirty seconds later.
But Elk Mound never gave up the lead throughout the 36-minute contest en route to a 57-35 win over the Hilltoppers.
Ryan Bohl was top scorer for Elk Mound with 18 points, he was quieted most of the first half after hitting two shots from outside the arc, and headed to the bench after his first foul. Bohl had four triples and three doubles for the Mounders.
Blaze Todd came in off the bench and was the fire that Elk Mound needed to take a commanding lead as he was able to deflect and get a steal while down on the defensive end of the floor. Todd wrapped up the night with six points, but worked the defensive end of the court for several deflections and steals.
Elk Mound had 21 deflections and 17 total steals against Glenwood City.
Going into the locker room at half, the Mounders found themselves up 26-20, and would return to the court only to have Glenwood City’s Owen Swenby strike first with two points.
During the second half, Kyle Deling came in for Elk Mound and was able to find an opening and hit his first points of the season off a three-pointer.
HOT OFF THE BENCH — Blaze Todd (#25) came in off the bench for the Mounders and was hot in the first half of Friday evening’s game against the Glenwood City Hilltoppers. —photo by Amber Hayden
“People get excited for Kyle, because he is one of the nicest kids you’ll meet,” Kessler explained. “He doesn’t see a ton of minutes, and he is starting to take on his roll really well. He is a tremendous teammate, there isn’t a person I know that doesn’t like Kyle.”
Ben Heath struggled to put up any points for the Mounders, but where he lacked in points he made up for in steals in the second half. Glenwood City attempted to get the ball in twice only to have Heath steal it away, once for two points and the second time he got the ball into the hands of Cade Hanson for another two.
Freshman Ryan Bartig found himself falling to the floor during the second half but was able to get the pass off to Blaze Todd. After which, Todd got the ball back into the hands of Bartig who was underneath and hit the basket for two.
With the win the Mounders have moved to 3-1 in the Dunn-St. Croix and 4-5 overall.
“We gave up 15 points in the second half, which is a really good half of basketball,” said Kessler. “We don’t want passes to go straight, we want the ball to get deflected as much as possible.”
Elk Mound (57)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 7-0-1-18, B. Heath 1-1-1-3, N. Lew 2-3-1-9, C. Steinhorst 3-1-2-7, R. Bartig 1-0-0-2, C. Hanson 2-1-1-6, B. Todd 2-2-4-6, M. Jenson 1-0-1-3, K. Deling 1-0-1-3. Totals 20-8-13-57.
Glenwood City (35)
FG-FT-F-TP: B. Hallquist 0-1-2-1, M. Bliese 1-0-1-3, G. Janson 3-0-0-8, D. Olson 3-0-2-8, E. Hanson 0-2-1-2, O. Swenby 1-0-1-3, D. Loring 1-0-1-3, J. Moe 1-0-0-2, J. Klatt 1-0-2-2. Totals 12-5-16-35.
Elk Mound.…………………………26 31 – 57
Glenwood City……………………..20 15 – 35
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (4), N. Lew (2), C. Hanson, M. Jenson, K. Deling; Glenwood City: M. Bliese, G. Janson (2), D. Olson (2), D. Loring.