Mounder boys win pair of non-conference contests, but falls to Spring Valley Cards
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While the Elk Mound boys’ basketball team bookended last week’s three-game set with a pair of impressive non-conference wins, it was a loss to Dunn-St. Croix co-leader Spring Valley that put a damper on those other two victories.
The Mounders began last week in Fall Creek where they squashed the Crickets 58-44 in the Monday, January 8 contest.
With the momentum from that triumph and a six-game winning streak, Elk Mound welcomed Spring Valley to the Mound Thursday, January 11. The Cardinals, who share the conference lead with Durand-Arkansaw, held off a second-half Elk Mound rally to secure a 58-50 road win.
Just two days later, Elk Mound got back to its winning ways when it defeated Prescott at home 60-37 in a Saturday afternoon, January 13 contest.
With those three most recent outcomes, the Mounder boys are currently 4-2 in conference with both losses coming at the hands of the co-leaders and 11-2 overall.
Elk Mound hosted Elmwood-Plum City, who earned its first conference win against Colfax, last night and will be in Glenwood City this Friday to take on the Hilltoppers. Next Monday, January 22, the Mounders go to Bloomer for an out-of-league game.
Fall Creek
Elk Mound netted five of its six, three-point shots in the first half for a seven-point halftime advantage when it visited Fall Creek for a non-conference contest Monday, January 8.
Logan Jerome, who had a dozen of his 14 points in that opening half, and Cale Knutson who sank a pair from behind the three-point arc along with Kaden Russo’s trey and Sam Wenzel who tacked on a trio of deuces helped the Mounders take a 31-24 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The Mounders built an 18-point lead behind the solid shooting of Jerome and Knutson but the Crickets responded with an 11-0 run to close out the half.
In the second half, Russo lit the scoreboard with five, two-point hoops and a perfect 5-for-5 effort at the charity stripe to help Elk Mound outpoint the Crickets 27-20 and secure the 58-44 victory.
Both squads had several small runs in the second half. Fall Creek trimmed the Elk Mound lead to two points as it took advantage of several Mounder turnovers. But, Russo and Wenzel were able to carry Elk Mound to victory down the stretch.
“This was a great game that had a playoff-like atmosphere,” stated Elk Mound head coach Chris Hahn.
“Both teams were physical, there was an engaged crowd, and the teams left it all on the floor,” he added.
Russo finished with 20 points to lead the Mounders victory march. Jerome tallied 14, Cale Knutson finished with a dozen and Sam Wenzel chipped in for ten. Wenzel had eight of the Mounders 21 rebounds while Jerome and Russo collected six and four, respectively. Jerome also finished with a team-high four assists.
Isaac Steinke was the Crickets top point scorer with 18. Jack Walden and Bo Vollrath also finished in double figures with ten points each. Fall Creek finished with a 27-21 advantage in rebounds but turned the ball over 18 times to the Mounders 11. Elk Mound also had a dozen steals.
Spring Valley
The Spring Valley Cardinals won the battle of three pointers and the game when it visited Elk Mound Thursday, January 11 for a crucial Dunn-St. Croix boys’ basketball contest.
Spring Valley made 11 of their 30 attempts from behind the three-point arc while Elk Mound finished just 5-for-23 helping the Cardinals win a tight 58-55 contest on the Mounders’ home court.
The Cardinals’ win kept them in a tie for the top spot with Durand-Arkansaw while the Mounders fell a game and a half behind the leaders in the chase for this season’s conference basketball championship.
Spring Valley lead 30 to 24 at the break.
The Mounders outscored the Cardinals in the second half but only by three points – 31-28.
Neither team shot many free throws. Elk Mound finished 4-for-7 at the line while Spring Valley was just 3-for-6.
Spring Valley also held an advantage in rebounding, collecting 38 to Elk Mound’s 31.
Elk Mound had a trio of players score double digits in the game. Logan Jerome finished with 21 points including a pair of triples to lead the Mounders. Sam Wenzel tallied 16 points and Kaden Russo had 13 points. Russo and Wenzel each finished with eight rebounds to led the team while Russo added four assists to top the team. Cale Knutson came away with three steals.
Jameson Bauer led the Cardinals with 21 points and six three pointers while Cade Stasiek finished with four triples and 17 points.
Prescott
Senior Kaden Russo knocked down five three-point shots including four in the first half to led Elk Mound to a 60-37 home win over Middle Border combatant Prescott in a Saturday, January 13 matinée.
Fellow senior Sam Wenzel finished with 12 points many coming in the paint and Logan Jerome tacked on a pair of treys and Brady Amble added another long-range bomb for he Mounders who scored 30 points in each half. Elk Mound lead 30-15 at the intermission.
Prescott was led by Dallas Wallin and Ian Leask with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Cardinals finished with 29 rebounds and six steals compared to 27 rebounds and ten steals for the Mounders. Sam Wenzel led Elk Mound in both categories with eight rebounds and three steals.
“We came out with a lot of energy on the defensive end and rebounded really well. We kept them on their heels and for the most part, did a great job guarding their best two players,” said Hahn. He added, “This was a great bounceback win for us after Thursday’s game.”