The Wisconsin/Minnesota high school boys' basketball Border Battle was started 19 years ago by WisSports.net basketball writer Mark Miller. The Border Battle has switched locations between the two states each year. This year's 14-team showcase was scheduled in River Falls because of location and the quality and willingness of streaming services provided by the River Falls Sports Broadcasting volunteer group. It was postponed from seven games last week to four games this week because of bad weather and poor travel conditions. Then, another snowstorm on the eastern side of Wisconsin Friday cut a half-day of hardwood hoopla down to one game this past Saturday. The lone battle was River Falls hosting Heritage Christian Academy.

"It went from a seven-game Border Battle," said River Falls Sports play-by-play man Kevin Westhuis, "to a one-game pillow fight."

It's tough to control the weather and even tougher for most high school offensive lines to stop Minnesota Gopher-recruit Abu Tarawellie. If his name doesn't ring a bell now, it likely will in a couple years.

Tarawellie is highly regarded as the top defensive lineman in Minnesota prep football this past season. The 6’3” 280-pounder also runs a 4.8 40-yard dash. Tarawellie was playing power forward for Heritage Christian on Saturday. It would be a clash of two high school grid iron greats on the basketball court along with River Falls' post player Eli Johnson, the 6'7" 245-pound tight-end headed to the University of Iowa. The sidebar story was a Big Ten Border Battle of sorts.

Mark Miller's Border Battle is no stranger to packed gyms and high-level hoops.

"The biggest crowd we've had was at La Crosse when Chet Holmgren and Jalen Suggs from Minnehaha Academy took on Jordan Davis and Johnny Davis from La Crosse Central," said Miller. "Three of those guys are in the NBA now."

Miller is also the editor of the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook. The 336-page annual magazine, now in its 32nd year, covers boys' high school and men's college basketball in Wisconsin. WisSports.net covers girls' and boys' high school basketball including updated records, stats, and recruiting news.

Miller and the rest of the fans for the one-game Border Battle saw a high-scoring first half and a little piece of Wildcat history. Junior Wildcat guard Brody Graetz, just one game removed from a month-long injury lay-off, set a school-record with 14 assists against Heritage Christian. Four Wildcats scored in double figures with Graetz leading the way with 23 on 5 of 8 shooting from three. Preston Johnson had 17-points and Cal DuMond and Gavin Carufel each chipped in with 13 points apiece. Both DuMond and Carufel were 3 of 5 from the beyond the arc. The Wildcats shot 14 of 29 (48%) as a team from three-point land. River Falls was up 53-33 at the half and cruised to a high-scoring 92-80 victory. The 92 points were a season-high for Wildcat Head Coach Zach Turpin and his team. 

Heritage Christian’s Tarawellie scored 17 points and muscled his way to nine rebounds. The Wildcats’ Johnson had eight points and nine rebounds.

Austin Stellrecht grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for River Falls. Stellrecht also added nine points on the day.

The Wildcats improved to 11-9 on the year with four regular-season games remaining. River Falls will host Rice Lake on Friday, Feb. 21. Tip-off is at 7:15 p.m.  

Next year’s Border Battle will be held at Hamline University, the site of the first-ever intercollegiate basketball game on Feb. 9, 1895.