DARLINGTON — The Redbirds lost their grip on the top spot in the conference standings as the Cubans ran away with the ball in the second half en route to a 52-42 win Jan. 3.
Darlington (9-2, 5-1 SWAL) led 24-19 at halftime, but Cuba City (9-2, 6-0) went on a 33-18 run to close the game’s final 18 minutes.
Kaylee Meyers led Darlington with 16 points, while Kathleen Mathias had 10. Courtney Busch had 11 for Cuba City, which also received 14 points from Kiera Holzemer.
Belleville 62, New Glarus 60
NEW GLARUS — Jenna Schrader scored 19 and Rachael Heittola finished with 18 for the Wildcats, which won a tight Capitol South matchup over its Highway 69 rival New Glarus.
Belleville led 27-25 at halftime and shot just 3 of 7 from the free throw line in the second half, but hit four of five 3-pointers in the final 18 minutes to close out the game. Schraeder had two 3s and Sophia Grady hit two more 3s in the second half for the Wildcats (7-3, 2-0), which also received 12 points from Jade Halvensleben.
New Glarus (5-6, 0-2) was led in scoring by Jaylynn Benson’s 19 points — 15 of which came in the second half. Lexi Krause had 10 for the Knights, which also received nine from Morgan Hustad and eight from Dylan Noll. New Glarus finished 10 of 18 from the charity stripe but hit just two 3-pointers in the contest.
Argyle 74, Monticello 51
MONTICELLO — Orioles freshman Tori Lantz scored 17 points to lead fifth-ranked Argyle to a big conference victory Jan. 4.
Lantz was 9 of 11 from the free throw line and hit four field goals in the game. Jena Saalsaa scored 14, Kirsten Ostby had 13 and Alysabeth Lantz finished with 12 for Argyle, which remains a game behind Black Hawk in the Six Rivers East standings.
Alyssen Noriega scored 19 to lead Monticello, which got nine points from Miah Brokopp, eight from Abby Wicker and seven from Mackie Errthum.
Argyle led 41-20 at halftime.
Albany 43, Barneveld 42
BARNEVELD — The Comets scored their first win over Barneveld since 2001 with a rally in the final seconds Jan. 4.
Down four with 10 seconds to play, freshman Payton Wachholtz hit a 3-pointer to cut the Eagles lead to one. Albany fouled to force a double-bonus with 4.6 seconds left, but Barneveld’s Morgan Schult missed both shots from the free throw line.
“Freshman guard Brianna Dahl pulled down the rebound and dribbled to half court where she was fouled on a 3-point attempt with .6 second left,” Albany coach Derik Doescher said.
Dahl missed the first toss, but hit the second two to give the Comets the one-point win. Dahl finished with 20 points to lead all scorers, while teammate Sydney Mortaloni had 12 points. Schult led Barneveld with 11.
Albany moves to 10-3 overall with the win and hangs in the balance in third place in the Six Rivers East.
Juda 60, Pecatonica 52
BLANCHARDVILLE — The Panthers scored their first conference victory of the season in a comeback effort Jan. 4.
Montana Steinmann scored 19 to lead Juda, which tailed 26-21 at halftime. Hannah Powers had 11 points for the Panthers and teammate Riese Price had 10.
Tessa Green led Pecatonica with 16 points, while Sydney Eaton scored 14.
Black Hawk 70, Wisconsin Heights 50
SOUTH WAYNE — Replaying a game that was postponed by a blackout in November, the No. 1-ranked Warriors dominated the Vanguards Jan. 5 in a nonconference game.
Hannah Butler and Natalie Leuzinger scored 22 points each to lead unbeaten Black Hawk. Maddy Huschitt finished with 11.
The Warriors led 36-19 at halftime but struggled shooting in the game — especially from deep. Black Hawk was just 6 of 26 from the 3-point line and 26 of 72 from the field. Sharpshooter Bailey Butler was 0-for-5 from 3 and just 1 of 13 from the field, finishing with three points. Leuzinger was 1 of 6 from beyond the arc and Kaylee Marty was 0-for-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.
Black Hawk still managed to force 17 steals and dominated the boards, finishing with 43 rebounds — Hannah Butler had 13 rebounds alone. The Warriors also had 18 assists to just 13 turnovers, with Bailey Butler leading the team with six assists.
