Elk Mound boys finish off season sweep over Colfax
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JUMP SHOT — Grandt Mueller of Elk Mound went up for a jump shot over Colfax defenders Kyle Irwin (3) and Colton Hoffman (34).Mueller scored 10 points in the win over the Vikings February 13 in Colfax. —photo by Marlys Kruger
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
COLFAX — For the second time in a little over a month, the Elk Mound boys’ hoopsters defeated Dunn-St. Conference rival, Colfax in the game played in Colfax, February 12.
Although the Vikings outscored the Mounders in the second half by 10 points, it was the first half that set the stage for a Mounder win as they took a 20-point lead at the half to earn a 66-56 win. The win left the Mounders undefeated in conference play with three conference games left.
Much like the first go-round, the Mounders started with a triple, this time from Ryan Bartig, but after that it was a whole lot of Sam Wenzel under the basket for a lot of their points. Colfax pulled ahead 7-3 on a shot from Jack Scharlau under the hoop and Elijah Entzminger scored on a shot from behind the arc and a short jumper. That would be the last time the Vikings led in the contest after the Mounder’s zone defense kept them away from the basket, forcing several turnovers while not giving them a lot of chances at a clear shot.
Elk Mound went on a 14-point run for a 17-7 lead as Wenzel started the streak with two buckets and a free throw while Bartig drove to the hoop for two points. Kaden Russo found a seam and scored in the lane and Grandt Mueller scored in the paint himself. Wenzel added another deuce and Russo drilled a triple before Entzminger stopped the bleeding for the Vikings with a drive through the lane.
The Mounders continued with a steady stream of scoring, upping their lead to 25-9 with Wenzel doing some of the damage on a pair of shots in the paint, including one on a slick spin move. Entzminger again halted the streak with a jumper and the next six points from the Vikings came from Fischer with a free throw and a put back, Scharlau’s shot from close range and Colton Hoffman’s free toss.
Mueller dropped in a pair of buckets, Logan Jerome scored on a fast break layup and Russo scored on a put back as the buzzer sounded with a 37-17 halftime lead for the Mounders.
“I thought we did a great job in the first half, playing hard and limiting what Colfax could do offensively,” Elk Mound coach Chris Hahn said.
AFTER swiping the ball from Elk Mound, Jack Scharlau of Colfax drove in for a layup during the second half of the conference contest played February 14 in Colfax. —photo by Marlys Kruger
“Anytime you can have a 20-point lead at halftime, you’re generally doing some things right. We were able to attack the paint early and often and that really got us off to a great start. In the second half, we didn’t do as good of a job and traded baskets throughout most of the half,” he added.
And that certainly was the case as Kyle Irwin started the second half with a driving layup for Colfax but Wenzel drilled a long deuce. Scharlau scored on a putback, Entzminger drained a triple and Nick Jensen hit a couple of free tosses but Bartig and Cale Knutson scored from close range and Aiden Bartholomew canned a trey to counter those points.
Scharlau and Entzminger accounted for 19 of the Vikings final points and after Wenzel scored in the paint again with Russo drilling a triple, Kamron Diermeier reached the scoring column on 5-of-6 free throws, the last one ending the Mounder scoring.
“Elk Mound is a very good team and has all the pieces to win games,” Colfax coach Mark Noll said.
“They have overall length, a great point guard and great shooters. We kept working hard and played more physical the second half. We got beat physically in the first half and started to play our own game better,” he concluded.
Entzminger led all scorers with 24 points as he slithered through the lane nine times for deuces and added two triples. Scharlau added 19 points including 5-for-5 at the charity stripe and the Vikings knocked down three triples and were 11-for-14 at the foul line.
Eight Mounders were in the scoring column, led by Wenzel with 14 points, Russo with 12, Mueller adding 10 and Bartig nine. Wenzel pulled down six rebounds and Mueller snared four. Oddly enough, they connected on just four triples after draining 14 the first time they faced the Vikings. They finished 14-for-20 at the charity stripe and came up with 10 steals.