Mounder boys beat Buffaloes to earn regular season split

By Cara L. Dempski

MONDOVI — If the Mondovi boys’ basketball team was looking for a repeat of its 51-40 victory over Elk Mound in early December, it did not find it.

The Mounders traveled to Mondovi last Thursday, January 26 and proceeded to trounce the Buffaloes 55-41 to earn a regular-season split with Mondovi. Elk Mound’s head coach, Mike Kessler, said the team seemed happy with the win.

“I think the boys were very pleased to get one back from Mondovi,” Kessler elaborated. “They were certainly disappointed with the outcome the first time around, so this win was nice for them.”

The confidence garnered from toppling the Buffaloes will be useful in the coming week, as the Mounders met the 6-0 Cardinals, whom they trail by a half game for the conference lead, in Spring Valley this past Monday night, January 30. The Spring Valley contest was the first of four straight road games for the Mounder boys. They traveled to rival Colfax last night and will cap the week with a February 2 road trip to Durand to face the Panthers. The Mounders will finish the road swing for a non-conference tilt against Chetek-Weyerhaeuser in Chetek next Monday, February 6.

Kessler verbalized pleasure with how the Mounders played on both ends of the court. Elk Mound hit the hardwood with energy and enthusiasm to force turnovers and turn them into baskets. Offensively, Kessler was impressed with how well the team worked the ball inside to open players to create scoring opportunities.

The Elk Mound coaching staff is excited to see the boys step up to the challenge presented by the Spring Valley, Colfax and Durand squads. He is eager to know how well the boys respond to such a tough schedule.

The two top scoring players each earned 19 points. In a moment of symmetry, Mondovi’s Ben Larson and Elk Mound’s Ben Lambele both reached 19 points by dropping in eight field goals and three free throws.

Seniors Dane Lew and Chandler Schreiber each put in 10 points when they each sank four field goals and a pair of charity shots. Noah Zurbuchen contributed nine with a trio of field goals and three free throws, Carter Pritchard put in five with a field goal, and a three-point shot, and Dylan Black is credited with two points after putting in a field goal.

ELK MOUND 55, MONDOVI 41
Elk Mound………………………..28  27 — 55
Mondovi……………………………13  28 — 41

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Elk Mound (24-10-15-55) D. Lew 4-2-2-10, C. Pritchard 1-0-1-5, R. Mohr 0-0-2-0, B. Lambele 8-3-3-19, D. Black 1-0-2-2, N. Zurbuchen 3-3-1-9, C. Schreiber 4-2-4-10.

Mondovi (10-6-15-41) C. Johnson 0-0-0-3, A. Hoepner 2-0-0-7, S. Van Roo 0-0-2-3, R. Fath 0-2-1-2, H. Evans 0-0-4-0, G. Gifford 1-0-0-2, B. Becker 1-0-4-5, B. Larson 8-3-4-19.

THREE-POINTERS EM — C. Pritchard 1; M — C. Johnson 1, A. Hoepner 2, S. Van Roo 1, B. Becker 1.