ARGYLE — On a hot and humid night at Argyle High School, the East girls and the West boys remain cool to the end and came away victorious at the 14th annual Six Rivers Conference Senior All-Star Basketball Classic held on Friday, June 28.

The East girls’ All-Star team led from the opening basket of the game, but had to to hold on late to defeat the West All-Stars, 39-31, to snap a three-game losing streak; while the West boys’ All-Stars rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat the East on the final basket of the game, 65-63, as the West also snapped a three-game slide at the Classic.

The West girls’ and East boys’ still own a 10-4 all-time series record over their counterparts during the 14-year history of the event.

In the sixth annual 3-point shooting contest, the West boys’ sank 25 treys during to rally past the East, 117-90, to even the all-time series to 3-3.

For the 14th year in a row, the true winner of the night was American Family Children’s Hospital, which received a generous donation of nearly $1,300 on behalf the Six Rivers Conference from the proceeds of the gate and concession sales. In the 14-year history of the All-Star event, the Six Rivers Conference has donated more than $20,000 to the Children’s Hospital.

“We are so proud to continue our affiliation with to the Children’s Hospital. It has been a great partnership and a testament to the generosity of our conference and the families who make up the Six Rivers. A huge shout out comes out to all who made last night’s event a success,” said Black Hawk girls’ basketball coach and event organizer Michael Flanagan. “We also want to note our appreciation to Travis Erickson and the Argyle School District for their flexibility in hosting on short notice.”

Girls’ All-Star Game

East 39, West 31

The Argyle trio of Kirsten Ostby, Jena Saalsaa and Alysabeth Lantz made the most of their final prep appearance on their home court by teaming up to score 29 of the East’s 39 points en route to a 39-31 victory over the West All-Stars at the 14th annual Six Rivers Classic.

Jena Saalsaa gave the East the lead on the first basket of the game and they managed to hold that lead the rest of night despite a valiant effort by the short-handed West squad, who had just six players available for Friday’s game after losing Benton’s Shay Soppe to an injury during practice the night before.

Three-pointers by Ostby and Lantz and an old fashioned three-point play by Barneveld’s Elizabeth Oimoen extended the East’s lead to 13-4 midway through the first half. The lead swelled to as many as 16 late in the half, and the East took a seemingly comfortable 28-13 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Jena Saalsaa opened the scoring again in the second half to give the East their largest lead of the game at 30-13, but the West wasn’t about the wither in the heat. A 7-0 run sparked by a 3-pointer from Benton’s Maggie Dougherty trimmed the deficit to 30-20 with 13 minutes remaining.

Oimoen and Ostby combined to push the East lead back to 15 at 35-20, however the West broke off on an 8-1 scoring burst to cut the gap down to 36-28 with just under four minutes to go.

The West had a chance to get even closer down the stretch, but missed 8-of-11 free throw attempts over the final five minutes of the game to hinder an hopes for a comeback. The West struggled from the free throw line the entire game, finishing just 6-of-30 at the charity stripe on the night.

The East fared a little better at the line as they finished 8-of-20 for the game, and they also bettered the West from beyond the arc hitting five 3s to the West’s 3 treys en route to the victory.

The West was held to the lowest scoring half in the Six Rivers Classic history in the first half (13 points), but they came back and held the East to a new lowest total in the second half (11). The West’s 31 points also set a new low score for a team in a SRC girls’ All-Star Game, and the two teams combined for the lowest scoring total (70) in All-Star history.

Ostby nailed four 3s on her way to game-high 12 points to lead the East. Jena Saalsaa chipped in with 10 points and Lantz added seven as the Orioles’ trio thrive on their home court. Oimoen finished with five points for the East.

Maggie Dougherty and River Ridge’s Taylor Langmeier each netted nine points to pace the West scorers. Potosi/Cassville’s Amber Udelhoven scored eight points and Belmont’s Nikki Knebel added five for the West.

Black Hawk head coach Michael Flanagan improved his record to 2-4 all-time in his All-Star Game appearances after guiding the East to the win. River Ridge head coach Caren Townsend slipped to 1-2 as the West All-Star coach. 

Boys’ All-Star Game

West 65, East 63

Cassville’s Mason Infield knocked down the go-ahead basket with 10 seconds remaining as the West rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat the East All-Stars, 65-63, in the 14th annual Six Rivers Boys’ Classic.

After trailing 41-32 at the intermission, the West fought back to take their largest lead of the night at 60-57 on a basket by Cassville’s Ty Bausch with just over five minutes remaining in the game. The answered back with back-to-back baskets by Monticello’s Jeffrey Ace and a pair of free throws by Pecatonica’s Jaden Hendrickson to regain the lead at 63-60 with 2:29 to play. 

The East would not score again as they missed the front end of a bonus opportunity and turned the ball over four times in the final 75 seconds of the game to open the door for a West comeback.  

Potosi’s Ethan Groom, who scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the first half to keep the West close, cut the deficit to 63-62. A turnover by the East with 30 seconds to go got the ball back into the West’s hands, and Infield came through in the clutch by sinking a contest jumper in the lane with just 10 seconds remaining to put the West in the lead to stay at 64-63.

The East turned the ball back over to the West with five seconds to go. Benton’s Brooks Tiedeman was fouled with :03.7 remaining but missed his bonus free throw, however Groom came down with the rebound and he got the ball to Potosi teammate Brady Curtis. Curtis was fouled with :01.2 to go and made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 65-63.

The East had one last chance to come away with the win after getting the inbound pass into the hands of Barneveld’s Malcolm Reed, but his 3/4-court heave at the final horn bounced hard off the backboard leaving the West to post their first victory since 2015.

Reed scored the East’s first 10 points of the game and buried two of the team’s nine first-half 3-pointers to help the East get off to a hot start.

Back-to-back treys by Ace put the East up 16-8 at the 13-minute mark of the half. A 3 by Black Hawk’s Kyle Lovelace pushed the lead to 13 midway through the half, and then 3s by Reed and Juda’s Quinton Kammerer extended the advantage to 35-20 with 6:30 to go.

The West heated up down the stretch, outscoring the East 12-6 at the end of the half to close the gap to 41-32 by the intermission.

Reed scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the opening half to lead the East, who were held to just three 3-pointers and 22 points in the second half by the West.

The West opened the second half on an 18-8 scoring run to overtake the East. A coast-to-coast layup by Infield following a steal put the West up 50-49 with 10:30 to play.

Barneveld’s Dayne Evans hit back-to-back 3s to put the East back into the lead, however Shullsburg’s Kyle Klotz answered with back-to-back baskets to thrust the West ahead once again at 58-55 with seven minutes remaining.

The East out-shot the West from beyond the 3-point arc in the game, 12-3, but the West was better from inside the arc topping the East 25-11 on 2-pointers. 

Ace reached double figures for the East with 10 points, while Hendrickson poured in eight points to go along with seven points for Albany’s Jamison Stauffacher and six points apiece for Evans and Albany’s Josh Dahl.

Groom finished with 17 points to lead the West. Klotz, Tiedeman and Curtis each scored eight points along with Potosi’s Will Bierman to aid a balanced West attack. Infield (six points) and Shullsburg’s Alex Wand (four) scored all their points in the second half to held the West rally.

Potosi head coach Mike Uppena (1-2) picked up his first All-Star victory in three tries, while Barneveld’s Tyler Sullivan (0-1) fell is his All-Star debut.   

3-Point Shoot-Out

West 117, East 90

Potosi’s Will Bierman and Cassville’s Mason Infield buried 25 3-pointers during their two-minute shooting period to rally the West to a 117-90 victory over the East in the sixth annual Six Rivers Conference Senior All-Star Basketball Classic 3-Point Shooting Contest. 

Argyle’s Kirsten Ostby and Jena Saalsaa outscored the West duo of River Ridge’s Taylor Langmeier and Potosi/Cassville’s Amber Udelhoven, 45-42, during the girls’ round to lift the East out to the lead, however Bierman and Infield teamed up to outscore Black Hawk’s Kyle Lovelace and Juda’s Quinton Kammerer, 75-45, in the boys’ round to notch the comeback victory for the West.

The all-time series is now tied at 3-3.