Hilltopper boys fall to Spring Valley Cardinals, bounce back against Mondovi Buffaloes

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by Joel DeWitt

Sports Correspondent

The Glenwood City boys’ basketball team looked to continue their hot streak to start the season. The young squad was riding a four-game win streak coming off a double overtime thriller against Cadott.

However, they were about to experience the highs and lows of a full season this past week.

The lows occurred in their first game at Spring Valley on December 12 when they had 19 turnovers and shot 43 percent from the field en route to a 27-point loss at the hands of the Cardinals.

The highs followed three nights later with a home contest against Mondovi. The Hilltoppers (5-1, 1-1) held the Buffaloes to 26 percent shooting from the field to bounce back for the 54-46 win.

The Hilltoppers will conclude their pre-New Year schedule with a pair of road non-conference matchups against Middle Boarder teams.

Glenwood City traveled to Amery (3-3) on December 18 to take on the Warriors. Game was not completed in time for this edition.

The Toppers travel to Ellsworth (1-7) on December 21 for a matchup with the Panthers.

Spring Valley

Both teams started a bit slow offensively on the evening. It took over four minutes for either team to score a field goal, and that was the Topper’s Brady Thompson who put his team up 2-1.

After gaining the early lead, baskets were few and far between for the Hilltoppers. A 20-7 run by the Cardinals put them up 21-9 with 1:16 left in the half.

The Hilltoppers did manage to break the double-digit mark with less than 30 seconds remaining when Tyler Harrington drained a 3 pointer on an inbounds play. 

However, Cardinal Masyn Wolf grabbed a rebound and put it back at the buzzer to give his team the 23-12 halftime advantage.

Morgen Eggert hit a pair of free throws coming out after halftime, unfortunately Spring Valley had another run in them.

The Cardinals outscored the Hilltoppers 18-6 over the next eight minutes to pull out to the 51-20 lead.

Glenwood City stayed even with conference co-leader Spring Valley for the remainder of the game but didn’t find enough offense to overcome a 31-point deficit and fell 60-33.

Eggert and Harrington shared scoring honors on the night with nine points apiece. Zach Hill was close behind with seven.

Mondovi

Unlike the previous game, the Hilltoppers jumped to the early lead. A bucket by Eggert off the opening tip set the pace for the Hilltoppers.

After a basket by Mondovi knotted the score at two apiece, back-to-back 3 pointers by Brody Olson launched Glenwood to the 8-2 lead.

A few moments later, Harrington’s 3 pointer from the corner and a floating jumper from Olson extended the Toppers lead to 13-3 with 10:00 remaining in the half.

Mondovi closed out the half with its own run, this one 16-7, to cut the Hilltopper lead to one at intermission 20-19.

The Buffaloes jump ahead early in the second half, however a 15-foot jumper by Ilan Anderson on the next possession gave the Hilltoppers the lead back.

The Anderson jumper trigger a Hilltopper 9-1 run over the next five minutes to jump ahead 31-24.

Mondovi once again took the lead 41-40, but only for a short time. Harrington connected on another corner 3 pointer on the next possession to propel Glenwood to the 43-41 lead with under three minutes to play.

The Hilltoppers closed out the game with a 11-5 run to secure their second conference win of the season, 54-46.

Olson lead his team with 20 points. Harrington pitched in 11 on the night. Both players connected on three 3 pointers.