Mounders fall short against Black River Falls; grab win in Glenwood City
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HARD TO STOP — Glenwood City had no answers to stop Elk Mound senior Cade Hanson (#20) during a contest in Glenwood City February 13. Hanson, who is shown scoring a layup and drawing a blocking foul, finished with a game-high 22 points in the Mounders’ 62-41 win over the Hilltoppers. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Amber Hayden
After a close home loss to the Tigers of Black River Falls, the Elk Mound boys’ basketball team was able to keep hold of second place in the Dunn-St. Croix with a double-digits win over the Hilltoppers in Glenwood City.
Elk Mound hosted Black River Falls for a non-conference tip off last Monday evening, February 10. In a tight game throughout, the Tigers secured a three-point win after a last second, three-point shot by the Mounders’ Ryan Bohl, that would of sent the game into overtime, missed the basket by inches.
Then on Thursday evening, February 13, the Mounders were on the road in Glenwood City and were able to grab the win 62-41 to retain a hold on second place in the D-SC, a position they now share with Colfax and Spring Valley. Cade Hanson was a leader for Elk Mound as he finished with 22 points against Glenwood City which included 14 shots from inside the lane.
Elk Mound, 8-3 and 10-8, started their toughest week of the regular season last night, Tuesday, February 18, with a road game against the Mondovi Buffaloes. The Buffaloes knocked Colfax out of first place last Thursday evening and look to continue their run up the D-SC ranks. Elk Mound is back at home on Friday evening, February 21 against conference leader Durand and hope to have a repeat from earlier in the season when they beat the Panthers 59-46.
The Mounders will also host another tough squad, the Bloomer Blackhawks, for a non-conference contest next Monday, February 24.
Black River Falls
It wasn’t all sunshine and turnovers for the Elk Mound boys’ basketball team Monday night, February 10, as they welcomed Black River Falls to the Mounders’ home court and were beaten 58-61.
“Offensively, we got panicked and we didn’t do the little things, we weren’t setting guys up on screens, we weren’t coming tight to screens,” said head coach Michael Kessler. “We had three or four possessions where we got the ball deep into the lane and kind of fumbled it away and they took it away and got runaway lay-ups.”
In recent weeks, Elk Mound has become accustomed to forcing turnovers and steals, but that was not the case against the Tigers. Ben Heath and Nate Lew were able to block two separate shots from beyond the arc, but made little of the blocks on the offensive end.
Cade Hanson was first to score for the Mounders as he was sent to the line for two, he hit both buckets to make it a 2-3 game.
Hanson wrapped up his evening with two doubles, a trey, and was two-for-four from the line for nine points, The senior was visually unhappy in the first half when his first foul was called on him and gave the ball back to Black River Falls.
The Mounders took the lead with 15:52 left in the first half as Ryan Bohl went up for three, but the lead would be short lived as the Tigers tied things back up two minutes later at seven all.
Another quick lay-up by Bohl gave the lead back to Elk Mound, which they would possess until Mike Roou tied things back up at 19 with four minutes left in the half.
Bohl ended the evening leading Elk Mound with 13 points off of a pair of twos and three shots from behind the arc.
Elk Mound sat back as a minute later the Tigers took the lead off a double by Trey Cowley. The Mounders fought to keep the game close but did not gain the lead the rest of the evening.
Going into the locker room, the Mounders were down by five, 21-26, and outscored the Tigers in the second half 37-35.
Elk Mound began to rush in the second half, putting up quick shots and not handling the ball with care. Which in turn, allowed Black River Falls the advantage as the lead widened.
Members of the Tigers’ team began to show fatigue which allowed Elk Mound to catch up as the first time out was called in the second half by Black River Falls, who was still up by eight, 48-40.
Ben Heath and Michael Jenson helped in closing the gap for the Mounders as they scored four buckets from beyond the arc. Heath was first to score in the second half, and Jenson helped to get the Mounders within striking distance.
All of Heath’s and Jenson’s points were scored during the second half of Monday’s contest. Heath had two doubles and a pair of threes, and Jenson had two triples.
In the remaining minute of the game, Elk Mound did their best to take the lead as Ryan Bohl hit his final three of the night making it 54-56.
Elk Mound called their final timeout with 25.4 seconds left after Blaze Todd had hit the backboards for two points, bringing the score to 56-58. Todd hit four doubles for Elk Mound for a total of eight points.
After a quick score from Black River Falls, the Mounders had 4.5 seconds left to get the ball down court. With time running out Ryan Bohl went up for the game-tying three-point shot only to have the ball miss the basket by inches as the final buzzer sounded.
“With a guy in his face, the ball left his hand and the buzzer went off so it was timed just right,” Kessler explained. “We have a couple of guys in the locker room that we trust to put the ball in their hands, and it happened to be in Ryan’s hands.”
Also scoring for Elk Mound were Nate Lew with six points, Cole Steinhorst with four, and Ethan Levra with two.
“We treat every game like it’s the most important one, this is a unique group of kids that focuses on the next one,” said Kessler. “This is a fun group that I’ve been a part of, their personality and work ethic is tremendous.”
Elk Mound (58)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 5-0-2-13, B. Heath 4-0-3-10, N. Lew 2-1-4-6, E. Levra 1-0-2-2, C. Steinhorst 2-0-0-4, C. Hanson 3-2-4-9, B. Todd 4-0-2-8, M. Jenson 2-0-4-6. Totals 23-3-19-58.
Black River Falls (61)
FG-FT-F-TP: J. Dobson 1-0-1-2, T. Cowley 8-2-0-22, B. Williams 0-1-0-1, E. Bird 4-5-1-15, M. Roou 2-2-4-7, E. Voss 3-0-2-6, K. Nichols 2-2-4-8. Totals 20-12-13-61.
Elk Mound 21 37 – 58
Black River Falls 26 35 – 61
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (3), B. Heath (2), N. Lew, C. Hanson, M. Jenson (2); Black River Falls: T. Cowley (4), E. Bird (2), M. Roou, K. Nichols (2).
Glenwood City
TO THE HOOP — Blaze Todd (#25) made his way to the net for two, beating out defender Trey Cowley (#13) to score the basekt.
—photo by Amber Hayden
After a couple of tough losses, Elk Mound found themselves back in the win column on Thursday evening, February 13, against the Glenwood City Hilltoppers.
The win kept the Mounders in second-place tied with Colfax and Spring Valley.
“The guys played with great energy all night,” said coach Kessler. “I really liked the way we attacked the lane.”
The Mounders pulled away from the Hilltoppers late in the first half and led 31-23 at half before outscoring their host 31-18 in the second half.
Cade Hanson led Elk Mound on the court with 22 points with seven doubles, a pair of threes, and he was two-for-two from the charity stripe.
“Cade was all over the place defensively and had a very productive night on offense as well,” Kessler said. “We had contributions from everyone on the roster last night.”
Scoring 26 points combined were Ryan Bohl and Cole Steinhorst. Bohl had a strong showing at the line as he went six-for-six, had a double, and two triples for 14 points. Steinhorst went inside the paint for two shots, a triple, and was three-for-three at the line.
Also scoring for the Mounders were Ben Heath with five points, Michael Jenson with four, Ryan Bartig with three, and Blaze Todd with a double.
“Really nice to get back into the win column,” Kessler commented. “We are looking forward to a big week next week at Mondovi and Durand.”
Elk Mound (62)
FG-FT-F-TP: R. Bohl 3-6-1-14, B. Heath 2-0-3-5, C. Steinhorst 4-3-1-12, R. Bartig 1-0-0-3, C. Hanson 9-2-0-22, B. Todd 1-0-1-2, M. Jenson 1-2-2-4. Totals 21-13-8-62.
Glenwood City (41)
FG-FT-F-TP: B. Hallquist 5-1-4-15, G. Janson 1-3-2-5, E. Hanson 2-0-2-4, O. Swenby 3-2-2-9, D. Loring 2-1-1-5, J. Moe 1-0-0-3. Totals 14-7-13-41.
Elk Mound 31 31 – 62
Glenwood City 23 18 – 41
3-point goals: Elk Mound: R. Bohl (2), B. Heath, C. Steinhorst, R. Bartig, C. Hanson (2); Glenwood City: B. Hallquist (4), O. Swenby, D. Loring