Mounders win two, lose one conference games for the week
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RUNNING JUMPER — Elk Mound sophomore guard Tori Blaskowski (#23) is shown scoring two of her game-high 21 points in a Saturday afternoon matinee performance in Plum City against the E/PC Wolves. The Mounder girls came from behind to defeat Elmwood/Plum City 56-51 in the January 9 D-SC conference contest.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
Getting back to conference competition, the Elk Mound girls’ basketball squad used seven, three-point shots in the first half to pull out to a huge lead and took an 80-51 win at home over the Glenwood City Hilltoppers January 5.
Two days later, the Mounders traveled to Durand and lost 51-36 to the Panthers, and in a make-up game, the Mounders bounced back with a come-from-behind win at Plum City, 56-51, in a Saturday matinee against the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves.
The Lady Mounders, who improved to 3-4 overall and 3-1 in the Dunn-St. Croix, will play four more games in a seven-day span. They returned home last evening, January 12, to host Boyceville before returning to the road for games against rival Colfax this Friday, January 15 and at Mondovi the following day, Saturday, January 16. Then next Monday, January 18, Elk Mound returns to its home hardwood to welcome conference-leading Durand.
Glenwood City
The Mounders scored early and often with Stella Rhude starting things off on a steal and layup. Leading 10-6 with help from Brooke Emery’s triple and Rhude’s bucket, the Mounders used a pressing defense to force Topper turnovers and took advantage by scoring 11 consecutive points.
Emery knocked down two more triples in the run for a 21-6 advantage before Yasmin Mendez finally scored for Glenwood City. Rhude scored from the paint for a 23-8 Mounder advantage but the Toppers got to within ten points at 25-15 before Madisyn Mohr drained a trey for the Mounders.
Emery added her fourth shot from behind the arc and after the Toppers committed their seventh team foul with just over six minutes to go in the half, Tori Blaskowski went to the foul line three times and canned four-of-five free tosses for a 39-17 Mounder lead.
Blaskowski kept the scoring going with a triple and a deuce, and a free throw each by Lydia Levra and Emery had the Mounders in control with a 47-27 halftime lead.
If anyone was late getting back from the concession stand (well, if there actually was a concession stand this year) they would have been surprised to see a 57-27 score. In a matter of 20 seconds, the Mounders scored ten points by causing several turnovers off that tenacious press with Rhude scoring six points and Blaskowski four on easy layups.
Delanie Fayerweather stopped the bleeding for the Toppers with a bucket but Blaskowski was on a roll, scoring from close range twice and draining another triple and the Mounders went up 65-31.
The rest of Elk Mound’s points came from close range with Levra, Mohr and Rhude all scoring while Kallee Rhude added her own deuce and a free throw and Kate Mohr finished things off with her own two foul shots.
“The girls played well,” Mounders’ coach Jordan Kongshaug said. “Offensively, we moved the basketball efficiently, and we were aggressive. We played with a lot of confidence. This is very encouraging for the rest of the season,” he added.
The Mounders had four players score in double figures, led by Blaskowski with 23 followed by Stella Rhude with 17, Emery with 15 and Mohr with 12. Fayerweather was the Toppers top scorer with 20 points. Elk Mound was 12-for-20 at the foul stripe while the Toppers were 11-of-18.
Durand
The three pointers were not falling for the Mounders in this contest as Emery had the lone trey for them which came in the second half. Blaskowski and Rhude did their best to keep them in the contest in the first half, scoring 13 points together but they trailed at the break 29-17.
The Panther’s ball pressure took the Mounders out of their offensive rhythm and nobody besides Blaskowski, Mohr and Emery had more than two points the second half. Blaskowski finished with 12 points with eight coming from free throws on eight-of 10 shooting. The team went nine-for-12 from the foul stripe while Durand was 20-for-27.
“Durand did a good job of being physical and pressuring the ball,” Kongshaug said. “We responded better in the second half but couldn’t get over the hump.”
Elmwood/Plum City
It was a close game all the way with the score knotted at 27-27 at the intermission. Emery knocked down a pair of triples in the half while Blaskowski was almost unstoppable, scoring 16 points which included two treys of her own.
The Mounders trailed most of the second half before mounting their comeback. Levra scored seven points with five coming from the foul line on six attempts and Blaskowski added five more free throws for a game high 21 points. Emery canned her third triple and Kallee Rhude and Isabella Hollister both hit from behind the arc to help seal the win.
Emery finished with 11 points and Stella Rhude 10. Elk Mound went 17-for-33 at the foul stripe while the Wolves were 13-for-17.