By Reagan Hoverman

With less than one week remaining in the 2021-22 iteration of the boys basketball regular season, three local teams including River Falls, Prescott and Elmwood/Plum City all have extensive postseason expectations for the coming weeks.

The River Falls Wildcats are 16-4 and are coming off of a 45-33 victory on Friday, Feb. 11, at home against conference opponent Eau Claire North. After a highly competitive first half of action from both teams, River Falls and Eau Claire North went into the halftime break tied 21-21.

However, it was the Wildcats’ defense that took control of the game and limited Eau Claire North to 12 points in the second half. The Wildcats’ offense played better than the first half and scored 24 points in the closing 18 minutes to secure the aforementioned 45-33 victory at home. Perhaps the most impressive statistic from the win in River Falls was the Wildcats’ shooting percentage. River Falls shot 17-28 from the floor and posted an outstanding 60.7% shooting for the evening. Leading the charge for the Wildcats was senior guard Michael Schurman, who finished the game with 12 points, an assist and four steals.

The win improved River Falls’ conference record to 9-3 for the season, which puts them in sole possession of second place in the conference standings behind Eau Claire Memorial’s 11-1 record.

Up next for the Wildcats is a home game against non-conference opponent Medford on Tuesday, Feb. 15. That game will begin at 7:15 p.m.

Prescott defeats Somerset 90-41

On Thursday, Feb. 10, the Prescott Cardinals scored 90 points for the third time this season and the first time in over a month in the blowout win at home against the Middle Border opponent Somerset Spartans.

With only three games remaining in the regular season, Prescott appears to be figuring out whatever issues were plaguing the team approximately three weeks ago when the defense was struggling, and the offense didn’t have any flow.

The 90-point performance likely could have been way more, as Prescott scored 62 points in the first half and led 62-19 at the halftime intermission. Sophomore Dallas Wallin and junior Jordan Malmlov led the scoring charge for Prescott. Most of their damage was done in the first half, before the reserves went in during the second half.

When the final buzzer sounded, Prescott defeated Somerset 90-41 to improve to 17-2 for the season and 11-1 in the Middle Border Conference action, good enough for first place in the standings.

While scoring 90 is impressive, the efficiency of Prescott’s two leading scorers, Malmlov and Wallin, couldn’t be matched. Malmlov finished the game shooting 10-12 from the floor with a stat line that included 24 points, three rebounds and five assists. Wallin finished with 25 points on 10-14 shooting, including eight rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal.

Prescott’s next game is on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at home against Cameron. That game will begin at 7 p.m.

Elmwood/Plum City holds off Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 59-33 The Elmwood/Plum City Wolves improved to 14-6 for the season after a 59-33 victory on the road against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran in the Saturday afternoon, Feb. 12, non-conference matchup.

Elmwood/Plum City seniors Luke Webb and Jarrod Pelzel alone outscored Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran. Webb’s final stat line of 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, as well as Pelzel’s stat line of 14 points, three boards and two assists, were too much for the Eau Claire private school to handle.

The Elmwood/Plum City defense was suffocating and limited the opponents to 33 total points on the road, which included a 10-point second half. The Wolves are now 14-6 for the season and 7-4 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference action.

The Wolves have three regular season games left, all of which are conference games. The next game for the Wolves is on Tuesday, Feb. 15, on the road against Durand, a team that currently holds first place in the conference by half a game over Spring Valley. That game is slated to tip-off at 7:15 p.m.