MONROE — In a battle between the top two teams in the Rock Valley-Valley, Monroe used a dominating second half on Jan. 10 to gain the top spot in the league table.
East Troy went into the locker room with a slight 33-30 advantage, but Monroe coach Brian Bassett, his staff and players were able to right the ship. The Cheesemakers out-scored the Trojans 43-19 in the second half to win 73-52.
The Cheesemakers had four players finish the game in double figures. Mekhi Brown had 19 points and nine rebounds; Marcus Ott finished with 16 points, eight boards, six assists and four steals; Jordan Meyer tallied 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Jeremiah Meyer added 10 points.
Monroe finished the game shooting 44.7% from the field — including 56.5% from two-point range. The Cheesemakers also dominated the glass, doubling up the Trojans 44-22.
Brodhead 72, Evansville 60
BRODHEAD — Both teams had four players scoring in double figures, and Cullen Walker did the work of two all by himself to lead the way for Brodhead on Jan. 10.
Walker pushed his career scoring tally to nearly 1,400 points thanks to a 25-point performance that included a 3-for-5 mark from deep, five rebounds and six assists.
Gabe Bockhop (14), Sam Searls (14) and Brody Riese (10) also had double-digits in scoring for Brodhead. Riese added nine rebounds.
Matthew Wickersham (15), Cade McCollough (13), Karder Tway (11) and Harker Larsen (11) reached double figures for Evansville.
Brodhead led 41-23 at the break.
Darlington 84, Boscobel 47
BOSCOBEL — The Redbirds blew the game open practically from the tip-off en route to a convincing SWAL victory Jan. 9. Darlington took a 44-15 lead into the halftime locker room and never allowed the Bulldogs to get back into the mix in the second stanza.
Broker Buschor led Darlington with 31 points and 12 boards. Zeke Zuberbuhler added 23 points and four steals. Ryder Fitzsimons also reached double figures with 15 points.Taggart Gille added 10 rebounds.
Darlington 76, Delavan-Darien 61
WAUNAKEE — The Redbirds scored a strong nonconference victory at the Waunakee #SwingFam Showcase Jan. 11.
Darlington jumped out to a 24-point lead by halftime, 47-23.
Buschor led all scorers with 35 points on 12 of 21 shooting, including a 6-for-13 mark from 3-point land and hitting 5 of 8 free throws. Buschor also led his team with 13 rebounds and four steals. In the past two-game stretch, Buschor has averaged 33 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest. Averaging 20.8 ppg this season, Buschor, just a junior, is less than 150 points from the career milestone mark of 1,000.
Zeke Zuberbuhler finished the night with 16 points and eight assists, while Ryder Fitzsimons also reached double figures on his stat sheet with 12 points.
Monticello 68, Shullsburg 64, OT
SHULLSBURG — The Ponies battled back from an 8-point halftime deficit to pick up a solid victory in a Six Rivers crossover game Jan. 10.
The Miners led 36-28 at halftime, but Monticello tied it at 59 by the end of regulation. The Ponies then outscored Shullsburg 9-5 in the extra, abbreviated period.
The game was practically won at the free throw line, as the Ponies were 29-for-43 (67.4%) from the stripe. Shullsburg, shot 90.0%, but attempted just 11 freebies.
The whistle blew 55 times for fouls in the game — 33 by Shullsburg and 22 by Monticello. The two teams also combined for 62 turnovers (32 for Shullsburg, 30 for Monticello).
Alex Roe led the Ponies with 30 points, including a staunch 17-for-18 mark from the free throw line. Hunter Grossen added 12 points for Monticello, and Tristan Pitman tallied nine points. Roe had five steals and Madson McCutchin finished with six steals for Monticello.
Shullsburg had four players in double figures: Parker Mullen (14), Grady Poppy (13), Boone Havens (11) and Maddux Russell (11).
Potosi 48, Albany 37
ALBANY — The Comets kept things tight in the first half of their Six Rivers crossover with Potosi, but the Chieftains pulled in the second half. Albany had gone into the break trailing 21-20, but Potosi out-scored the hosts 27-17 in the second period.
Ty Durtschi led the Comets with 12 points, while Tyler Patchen added 11 and Kaden Zurfluh nine.
Potosi was able to take advantage of second-chance opportunities and Albany turnovers. The Chieftains grabbed 20 offensive boards (and 18 defensive) compared to Albany’s 17 total (16 defensive, one offensive). Potosi outscored Albany 18-5 on second-chance points, 18-11 on points off turnovers, and 22-6 on points in the paint. The Comets also lost the turnover battle 18-10.
In other area boys basketball action on Jan. 10, Juda lost to Belmont 77-52, Highland rolled Black Hawk 70-25, River Ridge toppled Argyle 82-64 and Pecatonica bested Benton 62-58.
Girls Basketball
Belleville 66, Wis. Heights 30
MAZOMANIE — Toria Devoe had 22 points and Maddi DeSmet added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats rolled to a Capitol South victory over the Vanguards Jan. 9.
Belleville led by 12 at halftime, but out-scored Heights 35-11 in the second half.
Khylee Liets added nine pints for Belleville, which finished 8-for-20 (40%) from 3-point range and won the rebound battle 40-24.
Albany-Monticello 47, Evansville 30
ALBANY — The top-ranked Space Stallions kept on prancing through their schedule, knocking off the Blue Devils in a nonconference game Jan. 11.
The victory came two days after Albany-Monticello defeated conference rival and Division 4 state contender Argyle-Pecatonica.
In the win over Evansivlle, Abby Hollis led all scorers with 14 points. Heidi Olson finished nine for AM, while Molly holson had eight and Emerson Briggs added seven. Anna Ellinger led the team with 13 rebounds, while Dalana Trumpy had 11 boards and Hollis eight.
In other area girls basketball action on Jan. 9 New Glarus lost a nail-biter at Marshall 48-44 and Black Hawk fell to Barneveld 60-35. The next night, Black Hawk was narrowly defeated by Stockton 55-53 in a nonconference border battle.
