Girls Basketball

No girls basketball squads escaped the Regional bracket of the playoffs over the course of the week.

Prescott got the closest, receiving a bye in round one and taking care of business against a strong Northwestern team 51-42 to advance to the Regional final where they ran into Baldwin-Woodville and lost 52-26. Junior Violet Otto finished with 31 points in the win.

River Falls found two halves of complete dominance in the playoff opener, beating Ashland 89-23 before meeting their match in Lakeland with a 49-34 loss.

Spring Valley got a home playoff win with strong defense, beating Prairie Farm 44-21. Spring Valley then had to face 22-3 Webster on the road. The Cardinals fell just three points short of a 12-point halftime deficit comeback, falling 45-42.

Ellsworth was no match for Somerset on the road, ending its season with a 64-37 loss.

Elmwood/Plum City had a long way to travel in the opening round against Kickapoo, the destination their season would end, 49-23.

Boys Basketball

After a loss to Durand-Arkansaw seemingly took Spring Valley out of contention for the Dunn-St. Croix Conference title during the final week, Durand-Arkansaw lost later in the week to Colfax, and a 66-38 win over Boyceville earned the Cardinals a share of the title at 12-2. Spring Valley hosts South Shore in their Regional on March 4.

EPC ended its week with a 1-1 split beating Webster 65-59 and losing to Glenwood City 59-40. The Wolves are headed to Blair-Taylor on March 4 for their playoff game.

River Falls also went 1-1 on the week, losing to St. Paul Central 73-63 before beating Eau Claire North 69-50. The Wildcats host the winner of New Richmond and Ashland on Friday in the playoffs.

Prescott and Ellsworth’s lone game came against each other in Ellsworth where the Cardinals would sweep the season series with a 69-48 win. Prescott has a bye and will play the winner of No. 8 St. Croix Central and No. 9 Baldwin-Woodville as the No. 1 seed. Ellsworth also has a bye, drawing the winner of No. 5 Amery versus No. 12 Spooner.

Wrestling

A dozen county wrestlers punched their ticket to individual State, with three of those wrestlers placing.

At D2 106, Austin Peterson of Ellsworth took fourth place. He pinned his first-round opponent and won 9-3 in the quarterfinals before taking a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in the semifinals. It was a massive senior season for Peterson, and the State placement only cemented that. Ellsworth senior Noah Walker took sixth at 120, picking up a pair of pins and a 10-7 decision to get to the fifth-place match.

River Falls’ Oliver Larson at D1 120 was the other placement, finishing sixth. Larson was seeded No. 11 but won three matches by decision to find his way into sixth place.

Hockey

The hockey season came to an end as the River Falls boys lost a 3-2 overtime thriller against No. 1 seed Somerset with a trip to State on the line.

The St. Croix Valley Fusion had a bye and lost its opening playoff game against Black River Falls 4-2. They split the regular season series 1-1, but Black River Falls got the last laugh.

Gymnastics

River Falls had a massive weekend, taking home the win at the D2 Ashland Sectional. The squad will be headed to State at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School Fieldhouse. Individually, Ruby Amundson (vault, bars, beam, floor and all-around), Tirfe L’Allier (vault and floor) and Bella Franklin (beam and floor) all qualified for State as individuals.