FC unbeaten, Augusta with big win and E-S their first win in boys hoops
Tri-County Area prep boys basketball teams enter the Christmas break with one team undefeated, one team coming off a big win and one team getting its first win period.
Fall Creek is the unbeaten team at 6-0 (3-0 in the Western Cloverbelt). FC stayed that way rallying from an 11-point deficit at home vs. Eau Claire Regis on Tuesday, Dec. 21 to win 54-51 after Jeffery Ritger sank a three-pointer with 5.8 seconds to go. it was Regis' first loss in WCC action this season.
Ritger scored 11 points but he was one of four Cricket players in double figures. Bo Vollrath and Cameron Martzke both scored 12 points for FC and teammate Ben Kelly scored 11 points. Those numbers offset Kendon Krogman's game-best 18 points for the Ramblers, 3-5 overall.
Fall Creek was certainly well-rested as this was their lone game for the week of Dec. 14-21. The Crickets will put their perfect record on the line against two non-conference opponents before the new year as they host Altoona (2-5 overall) this Thursday, Dec 23 also host Elk Mound (6-1 overall) on Dec. 30, both games at 7 p.m.
It had been a while since Augusta beat traditional Dairyland Conference power Blair-Taylor on the hardwood but the Beavers did so last week Thursday, Dec. 17 in Blair by a 58-53 score. Trailing 30-23 at halftime, the Beavers outscored the home team 35-23 in the second half. Sparking the AHS rally was a great second performance by Mitchell Johnson, scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds. Tyler Brixsen had 13 points to lead Augusta, Dalton Robinson had 12 points, Drew Jacobs finished with eight points and teammate Aiden Anderson scored six points, including a key three-pointer which put Augusta up for good late in the ballgame. Brixsen led the team in assists with six while Robinson had nine rebounds and Jacobs seven boards. Evan Nehring had 13 points to lead B-T (4-2 overall) The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Beavers, including a 91-69 loss at Whitehall (3-2 overall) last week Tuesday, Dec. 14 despite a season-best 31 points from Robinson (The Norse's backcourt combo of Dalton Thorn and Devon McCune both scored 27 points each). It also put the Beavers above the .500 mark at 4-3 (1-2 in the Dairyland Large) before they play in the Auburndale Tournament next week Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 27-28.
Eleva-Strum notched its first win of the regular season last night Tuesday, Dec. 21 in a non-conference contest at Arcadia (0-8 overall) by a score of 54-50. The Cardinals had three players in double figures led by Cayden Lasher's 15 points with teammates Wyatt Miland and Cater Gunderson scoring 13 and 10 points respectively. Central's Brady Monson finished with eight points. Sawyer Deetz had a team-best 11 rebounds and four assists. The win puts E-S at 1-5 overall and they'll look to extend it to two next week Thursday, Dec. 30 at Mondovi. However, Central is 0-3 in the Dairyland Large, losing at Melrose-Mindoro last week Tuesday, Dec. 14 by a 48-38 score and losing 62-20 at Whitehall on Thursday, Dec. 16. Monson had a double-double 11 points and 10 rebounds vs. the Mustangs.
One Tri-County Area team is still searching for its first win and that's Osseo-Fairchild. The Thunder (0-7 overall and 0-4 in the WCC) maybe coming close to breaking through starting the new year. They played one of their best games of the season last week Friday, Dec. 17 at home vs. Cadott, losing 78-72 and had moments of good play with consistent hustle vs. Chippewa Falls McDonell despite an 83-63 loss, also home on Tuesday, Dec. 21. O-F rallied from a 33-20 first half deficit to close the gap to 35-33 at halftime before being outscored 48-30 in the second half as the Macks' Eddie Mittermeyer scored 25 points and teammate Buchanan Huss scored an even better 32 points. Braeden Metzler led O-F in scoring with 23 points and Ethan Wathle had nine points while Keyton Boettcher finished with seven points.
