Athletes honored
Eight Darlington cross country runners were honored at halftime for their fall acheivements as scholar-athletes. Girls coach Arnie Miehe played the role of MC and presented the runners with their honors. His girls, in addition to qualifying for the WIAA state meet, put together a startling combined 3.99 Grade Piont Average.
DARLINGTON - The most recognizable patron at Tuesday night's SWAL contest couldn't have been happier with the way his alma mater pulled out a "W."
The Eagles turned the tables in a Fennimore Flash, much to the delight of onlooking Eagle alum and former Badgers receiver Luke Swan, to earn a 64-52 victory over Darlington.
Darlington (7-4, 3-3 SWAL) held Fennimore (9-3, 5-2) scoreless for the first 5 minutes, 40 seconds of the second quarter during a 10-0 Redbird run. The Eagles then rose like a Phoenix, scoring the last six points of the half, part of an extended 31-8 run that found Fennimore up 43-30 with 25 seconds elapsed in the fourth.
"We couldn't hit anything and then all of a sudden we hit a couple shots at the end of the first half and realized, 'It's not what they're doing to us, it's what we're doing to ourselves,'" Fennimore coach Mark Fifrick said.
"Coming out from halftime, we were disappointed with ourselves and our shooting, but coach told us the shots would fall. And they did," Eagles junior Ben Hertrampf said.
Nobody heard Fifrick's halftime message louder than Hertrampf, who was lights out in the second half in scoring 19 of his 21 points in the last 16 minutes and hit 10 of his 13 second-half free throws.
The Redbirds, meanwhile, got away from the interior presence that helped them build a 22-12 lead as they turned ineffectively to the 3-ball to try to slow the Eagles down. Redbirds senior Mitchell Erickson led all scorers with 23 points but was visibly frustrated as the offense bogged down in the third quarter that was dominated, 23-8, by the Eagles.
"We got some good ball movement in the first half and I was able to hit some shots," Erickson said. "In the second half we got cold from the outside. We were settling too much and not looking inside."
Darlington's reluctance to go to the rim was glaring as the Redbirds shot just two free throws all game. While the Eagles used red-hot shooting to pull away, they hung tough early by getting second-, third- and even fourth-chance baskets.
"It's called balance and, ideally, that's what we should have," Darlington coach Michael Hopkins said. "But we don't get the ball inside enough to keep me happy. You'll get easier opportunities, higher-percentage shots and get fouled a lot more."
Hopkins dropped a zone look on the Eagles at the opening of the second, which led to the Eagles' drought, but they more than made adjustments.
"They weren't making shots and, to their credit, once they started hitting shots in the second half we had to get out of our zone," Hopkins said.
Cameron Ruef got red hot late, scoring all nine of his points in the last quarter to earn the second-fiddle role to Erickson. Luke Wiederholt, a 6-5 Eagles senior post, was second in scoring for Fennimore with 12.
Even the Eagles guards sneaked peeks at the battle inside between Erickson and Wiederholt when they weren't drilling their barrage of mid-range jumpshots.
"It's very nice to watch two dominant post players go at it, you don't know what's going to happen next," Hertrampf said.
Things hardly get easier for the Redbirds as they travel to UW-Platteville for a neutral site contest with SWAL frontrunner Cuba City.
"It doesn't get any easier from here, we're out of sync and I would just like an explanation as to what it is," Hopkins said.
The Eagles turned the tables in a Fennimore Flash, much to the delight of onlooking Eagle alum and former Badgers receiver Luke Swan, to earn a 64-52 victory over Darlington.
Darlington (7-4, 3-3 SWAL) held Fennimore (9-3, 5-2) scoreless for the first 5 minutes, 40 seconds of the second quarter during a 10-0 Redbird run. The Eagles then rose like a Phoenix, scoring the last six points of the half, part of an extended 31-8 run that found Fennimore up 43-30 with 25 seconds elapsed in the fourth.
"We couldn't hit anything and then all of a sudden we hit a couple shots at the end of the first half and realized, 'It's not what they're doing to us, it's what we're doing to ourselves,'" Fennimore coach Mark Fifrick said.
"Coming out from halftime, we were disappointed with ourselves and our shooting, but coach told us the shots would fall. And they did," Eagles junior Ben Hertrampf said.
Nobody heard Fifrick's halftime message louder than Hertrampf, who was lights out in the second half in scoring 19 of his 21 points in the last 16 minutes and hit 10 of his 13 second-half free throws.
The Redbirds, meanwhile, got away from the interior presence that helped them build a 22-12 lead as they turned ineffectively to the 3-ball to try to slow the Eagles down. Redbirds senior Mitchell Erickson led all scorers with 23 points but was visibly frustrated as the offense bogged down in the third quarter that was dominated, 23-8, by the Eagles.
"We got some good ball movement in the first half and I was able to hit some shots," Erickson said. "In the second half we got cold from the outside. We were settling too much and not looking inside."
Darlington's reluctance to go to the rim was glaring as the Redbirds shot just two free throws all game. While the Eagles used red-hot shooting to pull away, they hung tough early by getting second-, third- and even fourth-chance baskets.
"It's called balance and, ideally, that's what we should have," Darlington coach Michael Hopkins said. "But we don't get the ball inside enough to keep me happy. You'll get easier opportunities, higher-percentage shots and get fouled a lot more."
Hopkins dropped a zone look on the Eagles at the opening of the second, which led to the Eagles' drought, but they more than made adjustments.
"They weren't making shots and, to their credit, once they started hitting shots in the second half we had to get out of our zone," Hopkins said.
Cameron Ruef got red hot late, scoring all nine of his points in the last quarter to earn the second-fiddle role to Erickson. Luke Wiederholt, a 6-5 Eagles senior post, was second in scoring for Fennimore with 12.
Even the Eagles guards sneaked peeks at the battle inside between Erickson and Wiederholt when they weren't drilling their barrage of mid-range jumpshots.
"It's very nice to watch two dominant post players go at it, you don't know what's going to happen next," Hertrampf said.
Things hardly get easier for the Redbirds as they travel to UW-Platteville for a neutral site contest with SWAL frontrunner Cuba City.
"It doesn't get any easier from here, we're out of sync and I would just like an explanation as to what it is," Hopkins said.
