BELLEVILLE — Knocking off a year-in and year-out quality program 60-51 like Mineral Point (13-6) was enough for Belleville (12-5) to celebrate loudly in the gym on Jan. 27. The vibes were much bigger and spilled out into the streets, however, as Belleville senior Maddi DeSmet reached the vaunted 1,000-point threshold for her career.
DeSmet sank a free throw to clinch the mark and finished the night with 19 points. Teammate Toria Devoe led all scorers with 20 points.
Devoe herself is narrowing in on the 1,000-point mark as well. The junior is averaging 18.5 points per game this season sits less than 70 points from the milestone with seven games left before playoffs.
The Wildcats (12-5, 3-1) were scheduled to face Marshall on Jan. 31 and Feb. 4. Of the team’s final seven games, six are against Capitol South opponents. Cambridge sits atop the league at 4-0 with three weeks left to play, while Belleville and Marshall are each 3-1 and New Glarus behind them at 2-2.
Albany-Monticello 52, Barneveld 38
ALBANY — The Space Stallions (18-0, 9-0) paved themselves a clear path to a Six Rivers East Conference championship with a quality win over Barneveld (12-6, 8-2). AM took a 26-20 lead into the break, and then out-paced the Eagles 26-18 over the game’s final 18 minutes.
Abby Hollis hit four three-pointers for AM, and sisters Molly and Heidi Olson combined to make another 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. Hollis and Heidi Olson each finished the night with 12 points, while Molly Olson added 11. Dalana Trumpy tallied seven points and 11 rebounds, and Anna Ellinger added seven points and nine boards.
Barneveld head coach Jim Meyers recently became the state’s all-time winningest girls basketball coach.
Argyle-Pecatonica 77, River Valley 43
SPRING GREEN — Argyle-Pecatonica had three players with more than 17 points as it soundly defeated River Valley 77-43 in a nonconference game Jan. 27.
Kylie Butler led all scorers with 26 points, while Brooke Wellnitz dropped 20 and Averie Steiner tallied 17. AP connected on six of its nine three-pointers in a 41-point first half. River Valley trailed by 22 at the intermission.
Argyle-Pecatonica 89, Juda 37
ARGYLE — Brooke Wellnitz had a dominant double-double for AP, finishing the evening with 23 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in a Jan. 28 win over Six Rivers East foe Juda. Kylie Butler added 23 points, six boards and five assists. Loretta Tisch tallied 18 points, eight steals and seven rebounds. Avari Steiner scored 16 points as well.
Makenna Scheidegger led Juda with 12 points.
Big Foot 49, Monroe 28
WALWORTH — Alexis Gertsch tallied a double-double for the Cheesemakers in a Jan. 28 Rock Valley loss. Gertsch scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds.
Leah Paulson scored 20 for Big Foot, which led 31-17 at halftime.
Monroe out-rebounded the Chiefs 37-33, but shot just 23.7% from the field and had 32 turnovers.
Darlington 45, New Glarus 39
DARLINGTON — Catie Hartwig had 16 points and Maddie Gratz 12 for the host Redbirds, which won a tight, hard-fought battle against the Glarner Knights in a nonconference game Jan. 28.
Darlington led 18-17 at halftime, and outpaced New Glarus 27-22 in the second half. Gratz was 8-for-10 from the free throw line and added seven rebounds.
East Troy 53, Brodhead 48
EAST TROY — Alecia Dahl and Makenna Schooff each reached double figures in scoring, but the host Trojans did just enough to squeak by the visiting Cardinals on Jan. 28. Dahl led all scorers with 16 points, while Schooff finished the night with 11. East Troy led 31-27 at halftime.
