Boys Basketball

After opening the week with a 52-45 non-conference loss to McDonell Central, Spring Valley had one of its biggest games of the year at conference foe Elk Mound. The Cardinals beat Elk Mound in a thriller earlier in the year, and this one had heavy conference implications. The Cardinals laid it all on the line, dominating in a 66-44 win to move to 10-1 in conference and remain tied with Durand-Arkansaw for the top spot. The two will face off for sole possession of the top spot Feb. 18.

Ellsworth has been in instant classics seemingly weekly at this point, getting in another overtime game to start the week against Baldwin-Woodville. This time around it did not go the Panthers’ way, falling 61-60. They got it together against Somerset to close the week with a 60-52 win. Parker Peterson had 17 points on the night. Ellsworth is 13-6 overall and third in Middle Border Conference play with an 8-4 record.

Prescott also split its week with a 57-50 win over Altoona and a 67-49 loss to Amery. The loss was tough for the Cardinals as they were chasing Osceola for the top spot in the conference; however, Osceola also took a loss, so Prescott remains just a game out of the top spot at 9-3.

River Falls lost the rivalry matchup with Hudson on Friday night 79-61. They quickly bounced back with a 92-80 win over Heritage Christian on Saturday. Brody Graetz led the scoring in the win with 23 points on 8-16 shooting and had an astounding 14 assists. River Falls is 11-9 overall and 5-7 in conference on the year.

Elmwood/Plum City’s lone game of the week was a Thursday loss to Colfax 54-38. A 28-8 first half put the Wolves in too large of a deficit to rally back from, as they fell to 6-13 overall and 2-9 in conference.

Girls Basketball

Prescott went 1-1 on the week, beating a tough Durand-Arkansaw team 41-32 to kick off the week, losing 51-40 to Amery after. The Cardinals got a first-round bye in the playoffs with a No. 4 seed. They play the winner of No. 5 Northwestern and No. 12 Spooner at home Feb. 28.

Spring Valley had a tough showing to open the week, losing 43-17 to Durand-Arkansaw. After trailing at the half to EPC, the Cardinals rallied to win 49-39 to close the week. At 10-13 on the year, Spring Valley earned a No. 7 seed in the playoffs and will play at home against No. 10 Prairie Farm on Feb. 25.

River Falls took two losses from teams in the top half of the Big Rivers Conference, losing 64-34 to Eau Claire North and 63-33 to Hudson. The Wildcats are 6-17 overall and 5-8 in conference. They got a No. 7 seed in the playoff bracket, hosting No. 10 Ashland on Feb. 25.

EPC lost the rivalry game to Spring Valley and lost earlier in the week 59-13 to Elk Mound. The Wolves got a No. 14 seed in the playoffs and take on No. 3 Kickapoo on Feb. 25.

Ellsworth lost a pair 48-37 against Amery and 56-27 against Somerset. The Panthers drew an 11 seed and a matchup with No. 6 Somerset on Feb. 25 to open the playoffs.

Wrestling

None of the wrestling teams in the county advanced to Sectionals as a whole, but many individuals on the girls’ and boys’ sides are moving on.

River Falls took third place as a boys team, finishing just a spot out of team Sectionals qualification. Waylon Deaton, Jonas Longsdorf, Jacob Hutchins and Lincoln McCarty all won their brackets. Oliver Larson and Vinny Costabilo are moving on with runner-up finishes and so is Rieder Loomis with a third-place finish. For the girls, Olivia Luther took second, Providence Kretzmann took third and Izzy Davenport took fourth to all move on to Sectionals.

Spring Valley/Elmwood missed the cut with a sixth-place finish of 14 teams. Asher Turner won the 165 bracket to advance and was joined by Sam Schmitt (second), Doost Kaker (second) and Jack Steinmeyer (second) as qualifiers.

Ellsworth took fourth at the team’s Regional, missing out on qualification by a pair of spots, finishing fourth. The team did have eight qualifiers for Sectionals though with Austin Peterson (third), Parker Lampman (third), Noah Walker (fourth), Henry Penn (third), Matthew Lundstrom (fourth), Blake Nelson (second), Sawyer Van Horn (fourth) and Jeremiah Johnson (third) all moving forward.

On the girls’ side, Prescott’s Charlette Kellogg (third), Addyson Allsop (third) and Savannah Whiting (second).

Hockey

The St. Croix Valley Fusion beat the CFM Sabers 2-1 to close out the regular season with a share of the Big Rivers Conference title at 6-2-0 and an overall record of 15-9-0. It was the team’s sixth consecutive conference title and they earned a bye in the first round of the postseason. They play the winner of Chippewa Falls/Menomonie versus Black River Falls at home Feb. 25.

The River Falls Wildcat boys also wrapped up the regular season with wins, beating Rice Lake 8-0 and Eau Claire North 5-0 in the final week. River Falls finished fourth of eight in conference with an 8-6-0 record and an overall record of 12-12-0. With a No. 2 seed in their Sectional, the Wildcats host Viroqua at home Thursday night.

Swimming and diving

Over the weekend, some of the Wildcats competed at Sectionals in Ashwaubenon, with divers Tristan Patz and Gus Schmitt-Mischke qualifying for State in diving with second and fourth place finishes, respectively.

Daniel Carns continued to cement his legacy with wins in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles to advance to State in both. The 200-freestyle relay team of Carns, Ty Wise, Jake Weiss and Joe Hoffman are also headed to State.

River Falls finished fourth as a team at Sectionals. State qualifiers will compete over the weekend at Waukesha South.

Gymnastics

River Falls beat Menomonie and Superior in its final event of the regular season, scoring a 136.65 Feb. 11. Next up is the Big Rivers Conference meet Saturday at Chippewa Falls.