ALBANY — The Annual Six Rivers Conference Boys and Girls All-Star games were held on Friday June 20 at Albany High School. In past years the games were a fundraiser for UW Children’s Hospital, but this year, the games were a fundraiser for four year old Emberly Krahenbuhl of Argyle, who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia.

The East vs. West girls game began the night with the West jumping out to a 7-0 lead. But, the East tied up the game at 7-7 with 11:15 remaining in the first half. Katelyn Miller of Highland hit a three to put the West in front 10-7. Stella Spillane of Shullsburg drained a three to give the West a 17-13 lead before Kaylie Oimoen of Barneveld hit a pair of free throws and made an off-balance layup to give the East a 20-17 lead with 3:20 left in the half. Barneveld’s Bryn Meyer made a basket to put the East up 22-19 at halftime.

In the second half, the East went on a 15-4 run to widen a 27-23 lead to a 42-27 advantage, fueled by Dalana Trumpy of Albany-Monticello’s three, and a stretch where Abby Hollis of Monticello got a layup off a steal, a banked-in three pointer and another three-pointer, and a field goal by Trumpy. Kate Tarrell of Highland pulled the West to within 45-33 with a basket with 7:35 to go. Hailey Wellnitz of Black Hawk made a basket to give the East a 50-33 lead which was followed by a lay-up by Albany-Monticello’s Anna Ellinger which put the East ahead by 19 points at 52-33 with four minutes left. Moments later, the East claimed a 56-43 victory.

Morgan Freeman of Belmont led the West with 10 points. Stella Spillane of Shullsburg had six, and Olivia Brown of Shullsburg and Katelyn Miller of Highland each had five points. For the East, Abby Hollis of Albany-Monticello led all scorers with 14 points and Dalana Trumpy of Albany-Monticello had 12 points.

In between the girls game and the boys game, a three-point shooting contest was held involving both teams. The East beat the West, 150-120.

The boys all-star game followed and the West dominated from the start, getting baskets from Dawson Weber of Potosi, Aidan Uppena of Potosi, Wes Kraisinger of Highland, and John Dreischmeier of Highland to roll out to a 22-0 lead. At halftime, the West had a comfortable 48-22 lead. In the second half, Michael Lease of Barneveld hit a couple of baskets to get the East to within 48-26. Kaden Zurfluh of Albany knocked down a three to make the score West 50, East 29 with 6:10 remaining. Charles Anderson of Pecatonica made the score 67-40 with a basket and Ike Waage of Argyle made it 74-45 with 9:49 left to play. With five minutes remaining, the West led by 40 points at 90-50 and triggered a running clock. Bennett Smith of Highland powered a slam dunk to put the West over the century mark at 101-60 with under a minute to play and Michael Lease closed the game with a slam dunk to make the final, West 104, East 62. 

Wes Kraisinger led all scorers with 21 points for the West. Tanner Simmons of Belmont had 16, Dawson Weber had 14, and Michael Esser of Highland scored 13 to lead the West. For the East, Michael Lease poured in 14 points and Kaden Zurfluh of Albany scored 12 points.

The game raised $4,302 to benefit the family of Emberly Krahenbuhl. 

Derik Doescher of Albany-Monticello, who coached the girls East Team talked about the all-star games, saying, “it’s really about kids coming together and being teammates and the relationships they can build from that.” About the fundraiser, Doescher said, “it’s huge because the Krahenbuhl family is well-known in the area. Kids should be playing with their friends and shouldn’t be worrying about cancer.”

This year’s All-Star game was the 19th annual Six Rivers Conference All-Star Game.