EM boys continue to roll over conference opponents

The Elk Mound boys’ basketball turned what their coach called a snowball effect into an avalanche as they crushed the Spring Valley Cardinals 52-18 Jan. 13, bulldozed the Boyceville Bulldogs 65-24 Jan. 16 and rumbled over the Elmwood Raiders two days later in a Saturday matinee. All three games were played in the comfort of their home gym.

Spring Valley

The Cardinals were expected to give some conference teams a run for their money this year, and in fact had only one loss coming into the Mounders gym. But Elk Mound took care of any hopes of an upset rather quickly as they used points by four players to take a 21-2 lead after the first quarter then shut Spring Valley down the second stanza for a 37-2 halftime lead.

“Spring Valley is a good team but I think it just snowballed for them tonight and they couldn’t get shots to fall,” Elk Mound coach Chris Hahn said.

With another half to go, the Mounders eased up a bit on the offensive side but the defense continue to stifle the Cardinals and again held them to just two points in the third quarter, putting the running clock into use temporarily with a 50-4 lead. The Mounders added just two points in the fourth on free throws while Spring Valley finally found the mark for 14 points to make it look a little better on the scoreboard for them.

Eight Mounders scored points in the game with only one, Dexter Curry finishing in double digits with 16, all but one in the first half. Spring Valley’s leading scorer, Zac Webster who averages 16 points a game, was held to just seven, all in the fourth quarter.

“We did a much better job playing with our feet on defense and pressuring them into tough shots,” Hahn said.  “Our wings (Travis Nelson, Austin Hanson, Hunter Kohls and Logan Strom) did a great job of rebounding on the weak side of the floor and Curry was great inside for us again. Our perimeter players did a good job of getting the ball into him, and when he was double teamed, they started hitting shots.”

ELK MOUND (52)
Curry 7-2-3-16, Nelson 3-0-0-9, Z. Doll 3-2-2-8, Kohls 3-0-0-7, Strom 3-0-0-6, D. Lew 1-1-1-4, N. Zurbuchen 0-1-2-1, J. Erpenbach 0-1-2-1

SPRING VALLEY (18) Webster 3-1-3-7, J. Helmer 2-0-0-4, L. Olson 1-0-0-3, S. Green 1-0-0-2, S. Borgerding 1-0-0-2

THREE POINTERS: Nelson 3, Lew 1, Kohls 1, Olson 1, Webster 1

Boyceville

The snowball began to turn into a giant snowman as the Mounders built another big halftime lead to the tune of 45-3 with Zac Doll leading the way with all 15 of his game high points, coming from both a trio of triples and deuces. The rest of the team were on fire from long range as Nelson, Strom and Hanson all connected from downtown to help the cause.

Boyceville finally picked up their offense with 11 third quarter points, nine coming from three treys but Curry hit from close range three times, Strom drained another triple and added a pair of free throws to go with a deuce by Kohls and Hanson for a commanding 60-14 lead heading into the final quarter. Elk Mound apparently worked on their passing and dribbling skills in the quick final quarter as Boyceville outscored them 10-5.

“We came out with great energy tonight and played a solid first half,” Hahn said. “We are really trying hard to stay solid in all of our defensive fundamentals no matter what the situation or opponent. Doll did a nice job of getting us going and Hanson and Adam Gottschalk gave us some great minutes tonight.”

ELK MOUND (65): Doll 6-0-0-15, Curry 6-0-0-12, Strom 2-3-4-9, Hanson 3-0-0-7, Kohls 3-0-0-6, Nelson 2-0-0-5, Gottschalk 2-0-0-4, Lew 1-0-0-2, N. Zurbuchen 1-0-1-2, J. Erpenbach 1-0-0-2, A. Hollister 0-1-2-1

BOYCEVILLE: (24)
H. Anderson 3-0-0-8, J. Kuhn 2-0-0-6, S. Hellmann 2-0-0-4, J. Schultz 2-0-2-4, B. Schutts 0-1-2-1, T. Draeger 0-1-2-1

THREE POINTERS: Doll 3, Strom 2, Kuhn 2, Anderson 2, Nelson 1, Hanson 1

Elmwood

And the first half domination continued for Elk Mound as their defense blanketed the Raiders like the snow that fell throughout the week, holding the Raiders to four points and a 46-4 lead. That’s right, folks. Elk Mound outscored their three opponents last week in the first half 138-9 which makes it pretty easy to win games. Kohls started the afternoon off with a triple, Curry scored on a put back, Nelson hit a trio of short jumpers and Doll came up with a deuce and a trey for a 16-0 lead. Elmwood got on the board with 2:30 to go in the quarter but Doll and Hanson both knocked down a short shot, and working the clock to perfection, the Mounders took the ball with 45 seconds left and Nelson drained a three ball at the buzzer for a 23-2 lead.

They continued to score from all over while the Raiders, when they did manage to get a clear shot, couldn’t find the basket, allowing Elk Mound to stay in control. Curry hit a pair of buckets early in the third quarter along with one from Nelson in between for a 52-7 lead and the Mounders again worked the clock for a final shot as Lew drained a buzzer beating trey for a 56-12 lead.  Things slowed down the rest of the way as they finished the fourth quarter with just four points on a Alex Hollister trey and a Lew free toss.

“In the first half we did a great job of pressuring them into a lot of turnovers by speeding them up,” Hahn said. “It seemed like we were able to score on every possession. But we have been rather flat in the third and fourth quarters and we need to find a way to play hard for all 32 minutes, regardless of who is on the floor.”

Nelson and Doll led the Mounders with 14 points each and Curry added 12.

ELK MOUND (60): Doll 5-2-2-14, Nelson 6-0-0-14, Curry 6-0-0-12, Kohls 2-0-0-5, Lew 1-1-2-4, Hanson 2-0-0-4, Hillister 1-0-0-3, Strom 1-1-1-2, Gottschalk 0-1-2-1

ELMWOOD (21): L. Wolf 4-1-4-10, N. Wells 2-0-0-6, T. Freyholtz 1-0-0-3, N. Bechel 1-0-02

THREE POINTERS: Doll 2, Nelson 2, Wells 2, Lew 1, Hollister 1, Kohls 1, Wolf 1, Freyholtz 1