GC boys log first win against Eleva-Strum, fall to Mondovi
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by Joel DeWitt
Sports Correspondent
Entering the new year, the Hilltoppers boys’ basketball team was still searching for that elusive first victory. While a contest against Clear Lake was postponed due to weather and a road game versus Mondovi proved fruitless, the Toppers did find their first win against Eleva-Strum.
Glenwood City traveled to Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 7 to take on Eleva-Strum in a non-conference matchup. The Hilltopper defense held the Cardinals to a season low 25 points, including only seven points in first half, to cruise to the 40-25 win.
“We have had so much happen such as injuries, sickness, cancelled games, and other adverse situations to start the year,” commented coach Patrick Olson. “These boys are fighters and on Saturday they showed that grit and played a tremendous first half of basketball”
The night before Glenwood City faced conference foe Mondovi in their first action in over two weeks. The rust was evident as the Hilltoppers struggled with finding their shot and dropped the contest 71-53.
The Hilltoppers (1-6, 0-4) have a full slate this coming week as they traveled to Pepin on January 10 to face Alma/Pepin. They host Durand-Arkansaw on Thursday, January 12 with tipoff at 7:15 p.m. and Independence on Saturday, January 14 with an afternoon tilt that starts at 2:30 p.m.
Mondovi
The Hilltoppers found themselves in an early hole against Mondovi and wouldn’t be able to dig themselves out on the evening. An opening possession bucket by Mondovi blossomed into an 12-1 lead.
It wasn’t until the 12:40 mark of the first half when a driving Morgen Eggert found an open Anthony Nelson for the bucket and the Hilltoppers’ first field goal.
Another bucket by Nelson moments later would cut the Buffalo lead to seven at 12-5. However, a 3 pointer by Mondovi moments later would ignite a 9-2 run and see Glenwood City trailing 21-7 at the midway mark of the first half.
The Toppers would trade buckets with Mondovi for much of the remainder of the half, and even cut the Mondovi led to nine on a Nelson 3 pointer from the right corner with under three minutes remaining in the half.
However, Mondovi would score the final seven points of the half to take a 39-23 lead into intermission.
To begin the second half, the Hilltoppers were able to find the bottom of the net to cut into their deficit. A 13-6 run over the first nine minutes of the second half cut the Buffalo lead to nine.
The run was highlighted by back-to-back 3 pointers by Max Janson and Tyler Harrington, the latter of which put the score at 45-36.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, they couldn’t get any closer. Mondovi outscored Glenwood City 25-9 over the next seven minutes to take a commanding 71-45 lead.
The Hilltoppers scored the final eight points of the game but fell 71-53 on the evening.
Nelson paced the team with 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field. Harrington was the only other Topper in double digits with ten points, while Eggert and Janson had eight apiece.
Eleva-Strum
Still in search of their first victory of the season, the Toppers went across the boarder to Minneapolis to take on the Cardinals of Eleva-Strum. The trip proved to be productive as Glenwood City captured their first win of the season.
The Hilltoppers used a tenacious defense to hold the Cardinals to only seven, first-half points. On top of the defensive performance, they poured in 31 points in the opening half to take the commanding 24-point advantage into intermission.
Harrington paced the way offensively for Glenwood as he’d score all his 14 points in the first half, which included two 3 pointers. Nelson and Janson would also connect from long range to make a potent scoring combo.
The Hilltoppers cooled off a bit in the second half and only manage nine points, however the defense was still strong holding Eleva-Strum to only 18 after halftime en route to the 40-25 win.
“Anytime you can hold a varsity team to seven points in the first half while scoring 31 is a good start,” exclaimed Olson. “Overall, it was a great team win.”
To go along with Harrington’s 14 points, Janson pitched in seven while Eggert and Nelson had six and five points, respectively.