Elk Mound boys slide by Altoona, earn Regional championship with win over Berlin

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

ELK MOUND — As a number one seed in the WIAA Division 3 basketball sectional, the Elk Mound boys received a first-round bye, allowing them to host a second-round game. With a win, they would play at home again for a regional final contest. 

Things worked out just right as they had to come from behind before taking a hard fought battle for a 59-55 win over the Altoona Rails Friday, March 1, then 24 hours later, used a strong second half to beat the Berlin Indians 66-46. It was the first regional championship  for the Mounder boys in 10 years.

Elk Mound (22-4) will advance to this Thursday’s sectional semifinal game which will be played at the Wanek Center at Arcadia High School. The Mounders’ opponent will be Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (19-7), the number three seed. The Red Hawks, who finished third in this year’s Coulee Conference race, defeated the Mounders at home, 80-48, in last year’s regional championship. G-E-T is led by Cody Schmitz who averages nearly 31 points per game and finished with 45 against Elk Mound in that 2023 regional contest. 

Altoona

The Rails were just 13-13 on the season and a number eight seed when the game began, but all of those losses came from some pretty solid teams, including Elk Mound earlier in the season. Playing out of the highly competitive Middle Border Conference, they defeated Prescott during the year, a team that is also a number one seed in the sectional. The Rails had also defeated the Mounders in all three of their playoff matchups in the past. With all this knowledge, Elk Mound coach Chris Hahn knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task to come out with a win.

 A three-point shot put Altoona ahead to start the scoring  but Cale Knutson countered with his own triple for the Mounders. After an Altoona bucket, the Mounders’ Sam Wenzel went to work and scored three straight times in the paint, and another Knutson triple put the Mounders up 12-5. Several turnovers and a shot off the mark by Elk Mound allowed the Rails to pull within a point at 12-11 before Wenzel scored on a put back.

Kaden Russo drilled a shot from behind the arc, Logan Jerome followed with one of his own and after a couple of Russo free throws, it was suddenly a 22-13 lead for the Mounders. Knutson drained his third trey of the half to make it 25-15 but the Rails battled back, scoring eight points which included a pair of triples. The Mounders struggled and scored just a single point on a Lucas Johnson free throw and they went into the intermission with a slim 26-23 lead.

After that 8-1 run from the first half, the Rails scored the first 11 points of the second half and with that 19-1 streak, they were up 34-26. Jerome finally stopped the bleeding when he canned a pair of free throws and a Grandt Mueller put back made it a two-point game with the Mounders behind 34-32. The Rails upped their lead by six points at 40-32 before Wenzel scored in the paint. Russo went to work, stealing the ball and scoring on a layup, Wenzel dropped in a free toss and Russo drilled a triple to knot the score at 40-40.

That didn’t last long however, as a Rails three pointer followed by a close range shot put them back up 45-40. Jerome managed to squeeze in a bucket under the hoop but another Rails triple put them ahead 48-42. Johnson got the Elk Mound crowd going as he canned a three pointer and with 4:20 on the clock, Russo drilled another trey to make it 48-48.

The final four minutes had the fans on the edge of their seats as the Rails scored in the paint to move ahead, but Jerome added his own bucket to knot it at 50-50. Another Altoona triple gave them a three-point edge before Jerome and Wenzel both pounded the paint for a bucket and a one-point Mounder lead. Jerome appeared to be stuck in the corner with the ball but somehow got a somewhat unconventional shot off that ended up in the basket for a 57-53 Mounder advantage with 1:03 to go.

The Rails were off the mark on a couple of three-point shots, and Russo ended up going to the charity stripe to make 1-of-2 shots. Altoona’s Graysen Becker was fouled on a three-point attempt and made 2-of-3 shots to make it just a one-possession game at 58-55 for Elk Mound. With seven seconds left, Russo went to the foul line again and made 1-of-2 to preserve the win. The Rails threw up a three-point shot that missed to officially end the game.

Russo, the Mounders’ all-time leading scorer, led his team with 15 points while Jerome finished with 14 and Wenzel 13. Elk Mound drained nine triples in the contest including three each from Russo and Knutson. They were 8-for-14 at the free throw line.

Ajay Lenborg was high scorer for the Rails with a career high 19 points with a trio of treys and Owen Gunderson added 15 points. Altoona’s leading scorer Keaton Camastral who averaged 21 points a game, was held to just six points. The Rails were 3-for-6 at the foul stripe with eight treys in the contest.  

Berlin 

Berlin’s school enrollment is 100 more students than Elk Mound but that didn’t seem to have any bearing on the outcome. The Indians were 18-8 overall and 6-6 in the East Central Conference and were a number five seed in the sectional, coming off a 67-62 win over Wautoma. They have been led all season by Aaron Bartol with a 17 points per game average.

Russo and Knutson started things off with a bang, both drilling triples, but the Indians scored 10 points on five shots in the paint. Mueller came off the bench and made his presence known on both ends of the court, scoring under the hoop, taking a charge and scoring from close range again for a 10-10 score. Berlin picked up a free toss and added two more close up buckets but Zane Brice canned a three pointer and Wenzel added a put back to make it 15-15.

Russo connected from long range again and Knutson showed the importance of following your shot. After missing a three pointer, Knutson raced in for the rebound and scored. Russo zipped a long  pass to an open Jerome under the hoop and Jerome put a big slam down to make it 22-15.

A Berlin trey made the score closer but Johnson dished an alley-oop pass to Jerome who scored yet again in the paint. Russo added another triple and an unusual  three-point attempt from Wenzel found the bottom of the net at the buzzer and the Mounders led 30-18 at the break.

Wenzel scored quickly in a more conventional way for him, under the hoop and after the Indians dropped in a triple after three attempts, Wenzel connected on a jumper. After Russo scored on a fast break layup, Jerome canned a free toss and Knutson, playing with a sore hip, banged home another trey for a 40-23 Mounder advantage.

 Both teams went a little stale offensively for the next couple of minutes before Berlin dropped in a three-point shot. Wenzel ended up going to the charity stripe and made 1-of-2 shots, and after an Indian turnover, Wenzel continued to pound the paint with another deuce. Johnson topped off the three-point shots for the night as he drilled one to make it 47-33 and the Indians never got closer than 11 points the rest of the game.

Berlin had several players with three or four fouls which opened the lane, allowing Jerome and Knutson to score inside, then Brice knocked down a couple of free tosses. The Indians started launching three pointers and made one out of three attempts before Knutson drove through the lane for a bucket and was fouled on the next possession for a double bonus. Knutson put in 1-of-2 and Russo and Wenzel combined for seven more free throws to finish off the scoring.

Three Mounders scored in double digits including Wenzel with 17, Knutson with 16 and Russo with 15. The team connected for eight triples, three by Russo and they were 14-of-22 at the free throw line.

Bartol was held to 12 points leading his team in scoring and his team drilled seven triples and were 3-for-9 at the foul line.