MOUNT HOREB — After a brief two-game losing streak, the Cheesemakers righted the ship against the Mount Horeb Vikings Feb. 15, winning a down-to-the-wire battle, 48-47, with senior Carson Leuzinger hitting a late jumper to win it.
Leuzinger finished with 21 points, while fellow senior JT Seagreaves had eight and junior Charlie Wiegel seven.
The win clinched Monroe a home game for the Badger West Conference championship Feb. 24. The Cheesemakers had clinched a share of the regular season crown in the Badger West with four games to go, but lost back-to-back contests against red-hot Oregon and Portage. Oregon stayed hot, rallying with a dominating second half to trounce Edgewood. Monroe’s final regular season game is Feb. 18 at Edgewood.
Brodhead 65, Evansville 52
BRODHEAD — The Cardinals stayed a game ahead of East Troy in the Rock Valley standings, with boys teams having just three games remaining on the regular season schedule.
Owen Leifker went 8-for-10 from the line and finished with a double-double for Brodhead with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Brady Malkow also had a double-double for the Cardinals, pulling in 13 boards to go with 14 points. Josiah Engen and Cullen Walker each added 12 points.
Brodhead closes the regular season out with road games at Edgerton (Feb. 18) and Jefferson (Feb. 24), with a home game against Big Foot sandwiched in the middle on Feb. 21.
The Cardinals haven’t won a conference title since sharing the Rock Valley South title with Big Foot in the 2008-09 season.
Mineral Point 53, Darlington 51
DARLINGTON — The Redbirds scored the first 11 points of the game and led for nearly the entire first half until MP’s Leyten Bowers hit a shot in the lane with 1 second left to put the fourth-ranked Pointers ahead 26-25 at the half.
The teams went back and forth in the second half, trading the lead six times and tying one another up on five other occasions. Darlington went ahead 51-47 on a basket by Carver Fitzsimons with 2:10 to go, but were shutout the rest of the way.
A 3-pointer by Joah Filardo cut the gap to one with 1:50 remaining, and then the Pointers pull in front on another 3 by freshman Eli Lindsey with 32 seconds left. Mineral Point hit four 3s in second half after making zero in first half.
Darlington missed a 3 with around 12 seconds to go and had only two team fouls at that point. Needed over eight seconds to put MP in bonus.
Bryce Acherman went to the foul line with 3.6 remaining and missed a bonus free throw. However, Dominik McVay came away with the rebound and the Pointers ran out the clock.
Easton Evenstad led Darlington with 18 points, with teammate Will Murray scoring 15 and Fitzsimons 10. Bowers had 16 to lead the Pointers.
Shullsburg 55, Argyle 43
ARGYLE — After snapping a 15-game losing-streak, the Shullsburg Miners picked up their second victory in a row by defeating the host Argyle Orioles in a non-conference affair on Valentine’s Day.
Shullsburg (4-17 overall) scored 12 unanswered points to turn an early 7-6 deficit into an 18-7 lead. The Miners took a 35-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Orioles (3-18) closed the gap six at 38-32 midway through the second half, but the Miners closed the game by outscoring the hosts 17-11 to pull away for a 12-point victory.
Heath Poppy hit a pair of 3s en route to 12 first-half points, and then went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the second half to finish with a game-high 25 points.
Seniors Jackson Jerry and Kailee Scott chipped in with nine points apiece, while Luke Unbehaun added six for the Miners.
Senior Kaden Hartwig scored 14 points and sophomore Max Godfrey followed with 12 for Argyle. Freshman Mason McNett added eight for the home team.
Durand 56, Juda 50
JUDA — The Panthers tried to rally from 10 down in the second half but came up short in a nonconference game against border rival Durand (Ill.) Feb. 15.
Mason Kammerer scored 20 points to lead Juda, with Aaron Makos adding 19 and Ward Steinmann 10.
Durand had three players in double figures as well.
In other area action on Feb. 15, Black Hawk defeated Albany at home 66-58, and Pecatonica fended off Argyle 58-44.
— Thomas Gunnell of the Darlington Republican Journal contributed to this report.
