ALBANY — For just the fifth time in the 16-year history of the Six Rivers Conference Senior All-Star Basketball Classic there was a sweep as the Six Rivers West All-Stars won both the girls’ and boys’ games at the 2022 event hosted at Albany High School on Friday, June 24.

The West girls’ used an 11-1 scoring run at the end of the first half to grab a 28-26 halftime lead, and then clung to their lead the entire second half to pull out a 52-48 victory and improve to 12-4 against their counterparts at the 16th-annual Six Rivers Classic.

The West boys’ came up with a run of their own— a 7-0 burst— at the end the first half to open up a 25-19 halftime lead and then extended the lead to as many as 21 in the second half to put away the East, 67-46, for the sweep. It was just the fifth win for the West in the history of the event.

In the eighth annual 3-point shooting contest, the West foursome out-shot the East, 165-153, to earn bragging rights for the third straight tear and take a 5-3 lead in the all-time series. 

For the 16th year in a row, the true winner of the night was American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, which will receive a generous donation of $2,000 on behalf of the Six Rivers Conference from the proceeds of the gate and concession sales. In the history of the All-Star event, the Six Rivers Conference has donated nearly $25,000 to the Children’s Hospital.

Girls’ All-Star Game

West 52, East 48

Five members of the Division 5 state qualifying Highland Cardinals team combined to score 45 points to lift a short-handed West squad over the East All-Stars, 52-48, at the Six Rivers Classic.

The two teams traded the lead eight times in the first half with the West breaking off on an 11-1 run at the close of the first half to move into the lead to stay.

An early 6-0 run by the East turned a 6-3 deficit into a 9-6 lead, but the West came back with seven unanswered points to go right back in front by a score of 13-9.

The East responded with a 16-4 outburst to take their largest lead of the night at 25-17. Argyle forward Maggie Godfrey had a three-point play during the run, while Black Hawk guard Tatum Baumgartner knocked down a basket and Oriole guard Grace Ganshert added a pair of free throws for the East.

Highland’s Rachel Miller and Katelyn Mueller sandwiched 3-pointers around a pair of baskets by teammate Malayna Fredericks and a free throw by Belmont’s Ashley Freeman to shoot the West to a 28-26 at the intermission.

A pair of baskets by Shullsburg’s Kennedy Allendorf and another trey by Mueller extended the West advantage to 46-34 with 11:30 remaining, however the East stuck around thanks to a 3-pointer by Ganshert and a three-point play by Albany’s Kaiya Zurfluh.

Pecatonica’s Lexi Peterson made it a one-possession game with a basket with 1:52 left and Godfrey sank one of two free throws with 1:12 to go to cut the West lead to 50-48.

Highland’s Katelyn Esser put the West back up by four with a pair bonus free throws with :33.4 remaining and Miller registered a key blocked shot with time running down to help secure the victory for the West and their head coach Josh Tarrell, who improved to 2-2 in his All-Star coaching career.

Black Hawk head coach Cora Holland (0-1) fell in her All-Star debut. 

Esser scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second-half to lead the West to victory. Fredericks followed with 13 points, while Miller and Mueller each netted six and Cardinal teammate Meg Tarrell added five.

Allendoft finished with four points and Freeman scored three points and pulled down a bunch of rebounds for the West, who had just seven players available on Friday night.

Ganshert was the lone East player in double-figures with 13 points. Peterson tallied eight points, while Juda’s Anna Skoumal and Zurfluh netted seven apiece. Godfrey chipped in with six and Baumgartner finished with two for the East. 

Boys’ All-Star Game

West 67, East 46

Belmont’s Waylon Palzkill and River Ridge’s Logan Drone each scored seven of their team-high 11 points in the second half to help the West outscore the East, 42-27, en route to a 67-46 victory in the Six Rivers Boys’ All-Star Classic.

The frantic pace of play in the game did not reflect in the score as the East were held to an all-time low point total for a game (46) and a half (19) by their West counterparts despite getting a game-high 14 points from East Player of the Year Chase Ignatius of Barneveld.

The lead changed hands nine times in the first half with Pecatonica’s Hunter Enloe scoring five points during a 7-0 run that put the East ahead 15-10 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.

The West outscored the East 15-4 the remainder of the half. Belmont’s Ty Palkill had a key 3-pointer late in the half to aid the run.

River Ridge’s David Nies scored 10 on the night, while Highland’s Max Oleson and Potosi’s Logan Uppena netted seven apiece for the West.

Argyle’s Kaden Hartwig tallied seven points and Pec’s Kegun Brunker and Enloe added five each for the East.

Potosi head coach Mike Uppena improved to 2-2 in All-Star game appearances, while Barneveld’s Tyler Sullivan slipped to 0-2 during the event.

3-Point Shoot-Out

West 165, East 153

Highland’s Rachel Miller, Katelyn Esser, Weston Frost and Max Oleson joined forces to lead the West to a 165-153 victory over the East in the eighth annual Six Rivers Conference Senior All-Star Basketball Classic 3-Point Shooting Contest.

Miller and Esser outscored Albany’s Brianna Dahl and Pec’s Tessa Green, 72-66, in the girls’ two-minute shooting session, and then Frost and Oleson topped Barneveld’s Chase Ignatius and Monticello’s Evan Guenther, 93-87, during the boys’ turn to seal the win.