Nicole Dalman, Tori Benck, Bella Lenz and Lila Posthuma all scored in double figures as Prescott opened the Middle Border Conference season with a hard fought 66-59 victory over the Spartans. Although the Cardinals never trailed in the second half, the pesky Spartans hung around long enough to cause those in attendance to engage in a little bit of finger nailing biting.

The boys basketball team will open its season this week as they play Altoona and Eau Claire Regis this week. The Railroaders are picked to win the Western Cloverbelt this season and are identified as one of the teams to watch come tournament time.

Heading into the week Bella Lenz has scored 1,435 career points. Lenz is not the only 1,000 girls basketball player in the Middle Border Conference to surpass the coveted mark. The Panther’s Autumn Earney eclipsed the 1,000 point last year and has led the Panthers to a 2-0 start this season.

WIAA Executive Director Dave Anderson will retire next year after 21 years at the helm of the powerful organization. No word on who will replace the University of Wisconsin- Madison alumni but it is expected that former Baldwin- Woodville Teacher and Coach Wade Labecki would appear to be one of the candidates to replace Anderson.

Also, the WIAA Board of Control the Board approved of adding one 30-second timeout per half in basketball with the stipulation that the additional timeout in the first half will not be carried over into the second half. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we start adding media timeouts as well. Basketball players, coaches, and fans of yesteryear remember when players on the floor were the only ones who could call timeouts during a game. As a cranky old timer, I wish that were the rule again, along with making coaches sit down during games.

Remember Wisconsin High School football fans it wasn’t until the late 1970’s when the WIAA began sponsoring a state tournament. Until then the high school season always concluded at the end of October whether you finished 0-7 or 7-0 in conference. Locals have often wondered how some of the great teams skippered by retired Prescott Teacher and Administrator Dick Hoffman would have fared in a postseason.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources… the most Current deer harvest totals have surpassed the total deer harvested in 2019, but harvest trends lag behind 2018, which had the highest total deer harvest since 2013. While many southern farmland zone counties saw double-digit increases in the buck harvest, the harvest was not evenly distributed across the state.

Also from the DNR… The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the official wolf season will begin Nov. 6, 2021. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will delist gray wolves from the federal list of endangered species on Jan. 4, 2021, returning management authority to the lower 48 states and tribes. Under Wisconsin law, when the wolf is delisted, the state's annual hunting and trapping seasons shall resume.The recovery of gray wolves is a triumph of the Endangered Species Act and stands as a testament to the cooperation of federal, state and tribal agencies, as well as other conservation partners working together to support wolf recovery. The most recent monitoring effort indicated a minimum of 1,034 wolves in Wisconsin, primarily across the northern third of the state and the Central Forest region. Although welcomed by many hunters in the northern third of Wisconsin, the decision is expected to draw ire from some tribal members who identify the wolf as culturally significant to the lives of native people.

Headshaker of the week. Obviously we are living in strangetimes. HighSchool athletes all over the United States are being required to compete while wearing masks. Any athlete will tell you it’s not easy. What is easy is wearing a mask properly while watching these young athletes compete in a less than optimum situation. Come on fans, wear the required mask properly, above your nose. Those who grouse about wearing masks in the stands, try wearing one playing a basketball game. Not wearing a mask properly while watching an indoor high school sporting event, it’s a headshaker.