Plum City/Elmwood (PCE) started this week of Dunn-St. Croix (DSC) Conference competition with a 65-50 win at Elmwood High School over Boyceville (0-8, 0-3 in DSC) on Monday night.

Lucas Webb led the team’s even scoring attack with 16, while Dayne Whipple and Basil Gilles were close behind with 13 and 12, respectively.

Last Friday night, the Wolves had their hands full in the first half at Glenwood City (2-5, 1-4 in DSC) before they started to fire on all cylinders.

Early in the game, Hilltopper senior Brandyn Hallquist pulled the standout post presence in Webb onto the perimeter by hitting some deep three pointers.

“We still have a couple of more big guys in Austin Bartz, Basil Gilles and Tyler Bauer, they work their butts off pulling down rebounds for us,” Wolves Coach Kyle Webb said after the game about his veterans that stepped up to do the dirty work. “We have some seniors that can really step up if he (Lucas) is being separated from the basket.”

The Hilltoppers put together a five-point lead, and they were looking to add to it.

The Wolves thought differently and went on a 12-0 run over the next five minutes. Led by consistent play on both ends of the court, Gilles started the scoring in the paint. After a foul on a made shot assisted by a Webb drive in the paint, Gilles sunk the foul shot to make it a 31-28 game. On the next offensive possession, Webb drove again and tied the game with an old school threepoint play of his own with 12:42 to play.

As the GC ballhandler crossed the court, Elijah Gansluckner trapped him in the corner to force a turnover that led to a Zack Hartung three-pointer at the top of the key.

The Wolves never looked back.

Whipple stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup to mark a 10-0 run over two and a half minutes.

Shortly later, Whipple battled two Hilltoppers for possession and forced a jump ball. GC kept it, but Whipple stayed pesky after the inbounds and forced the ball free across half court. Two Hilltoppers chased it, but Whipple didn’t let up, poking the ball free and not letting them get a handle on it. The ball went out of bounds under the Wolves basket, last touched by a Hilltopper. Basil Gilles converted a rebound put-back before GC finally answered with two points of their own with 9:10 on the clock.

“These guys have played together for a while, they’ve all played together since middle school,” Coach Webb said about their full-court effort on both sides of the ball. “They’ve learned how to play with each other, they really know how to read each other. They’re still learning, though.”

The Wolves fed off their momentum on strong defensive possessions to get smart looks at shots.

“They played good defense, a good press, and on offense we just started getting it done.”

What can the Wolves learn from their 57-41 win on the road?

“I think the biggest thing is don’t panic,” Coach Webb stated. “Trust each other, have faith in each other and we’ll get the job done.”

Webb led PCE with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Gilles contributed 12 points and five rebounds, while Whipple also grabbed nine boards for the Wolves.

PCE plays Mondovi at Plum City High School on Thursday before starting an eight-day break from competition.

Photos by Jack McLoone.