from the Hip

Congratulations to Jordan Malmlov on becoming Prescott High School basketball’s all-time leading scorer. After a mammoth 55-point record-setting performance against River Falls earlier in the week, Malmlov scored 15 points in the Cardinals’ win over Highway 10 rival Ellsworth. Malmlov’s 55-point performance is tied for the fourth best in Wisconsin this season. Mellen’s Tommy Zakovec has a 62- and 60-point game under his belt for the Granite Diggers this season. Sophomore Carter Wollan has a 50-point game for the Warriors earlier this season.

With the #2 seed, Nick Johnson and his charges will host the winner of the game between Somerset and who? Look for the Spartans to advance to play the Cardinals this Friday.

The Prescott CAB Company and Prescott Fastpitch Association are selling tickets for the March 24 banquet featuring well-known KFAN Radio Personality Dan “The Common Man” Cole. Cost of the banquet is $25 and will be held at the Old Ptacek’s Banquet Center. For ticket information, call Brady Randolph at 651-560-6954 or send an email to [email protected] Bravo to Prescott Wrestler Benny Olson. Wrestling at 106 pounds, the talented Olson wrapped up his high school prep career with an impressive overall record of 39-14. Last season as a junior Olson finished with a record of 27-11. Additionally, congratulations to Nolan Thomley on his fourth place finish in Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Sectional. Thomley finished the season at 28-10 and will be one of top returning wrestlers in the Middle Border next season.

Obviously, the new computerized seeding system benefited the Prescott girls basketball team. The #1 seed Somerset Spartans finished the regular season with a record of 18-6 and Prescott the #2 seed finished with an overall record of 16-8. Up Highway 35 Heart of the North conference champion St. Croix Falls received the #3 seed and finished the season with a record of 22-2. Obviously, Saints fans are not happy since St. Croix Falls beat both the Spartans and Cardinals during the regular season. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes I understand the strength of schedule argument. No reason to lecture me on that. However, one has to understand why Saints fans are miffed at the #3 seed. Oh, and one more thing. Amery, the #4 seed in the regional, beat the Saints during the regular season.

When the Prescott girls basketball team hosted Osceola last Thursday, fans may have noticed both benches had some imposing figures holding clipboards. Prescott fans are well aware of 2016 Cardinal alumnus Owen Hamilton and his 7’1” frame, but what about Osceola Assistant Coach Amy Fossum? At 6’5”, the Frederic High School graduate enjoyed a four-year NCAA basketball career. Fossum played one year at Loyola-Marymount University in California and then transferred to DePaul (Chicago) University, where she played three years for the Blue Devils. In high school, Fossum scored 50 points in one game.

Bella Lenz and the Michigan Tech Huskies remained undefeated at home with a 8046 drubbing of Purdue Northwest on Thursday and a 68-58 win over Kenosha Parkside on Saturday. Michigan Tech is a game out of first place with a record of 12-3 and boasts an overall mark of 22-5. The Huskies close out the regular season at home against Northern Michigan this Saturday. Michigan Tech will host a yet to be determined opponent in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday, March 1.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament begins this week. UW-Stout senior forward Haylee Yaeger and her Blue Devils teammates will play host to one of four teams in the tournament semi-finals at 7 p.m. this Thursday in Menomonie. The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR reminds ice anglers that it’s time to remove their permanent ice shanties from Wisconsin’s waters. The deadlines to remove permanent ice shanties, or those that are not removed daily, on inland and boundary waters are: Wisconsin – Iowa boundary waters by Feb. 20, Wisconsin – Minnesota boundary waters by March 1, inland waters south of Highway 64 by March 5, Wisconsin – Michigan boundary waters by March 15; Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Superior and inland waters north of Highway 64 by March 19. Portable ice shanties can still be used after these dates, so long as they are removed from the ice when they are not actively in use and at the end of each day.

Remember the deadline for Prescott Hall of Fame nominations is June 1. Nomination forms are available on the Prescott School District website.

Amery guard Carter Wollan is closing in on 1,000 career points. What makes Wollan’s 936 points even more newsworthy is the 6’3” Warrior guard is only a sophomore. Impressive.

This past week the Wisconsin Sport Network began running an article series entitled “Behind the Clipboard: A Coaches Perspective on the Grinds of a Basketball Season.” Including commentary from 20 coaches around Wisconsin, the first two installments centered around the time spent coaching the game and the second on ways to “decompress” during the season. Many coaches shared the exorbitant amount of time required or expected of them to coach the game today and several opined how difficult it was to find time to relax during the season. Mary Merg from Wauwatosa East said “First off, the season is too long … too long for high schoolers, for coaches. Covid season was great, even that 2-3 week cut into the season made a huge difference. These players want a break in between AAU seasons too, but they do not get one. By far the longest sports season in the WIAA.” Another coach said their time “increases during the summer.” Perhaps the saddest comment came from Beaver Dam Head Coach Tim Ladron. Being a head coach “forces you to choose the places carefully that you go out to eat at. Unfortunately, I (and many other coaches) have been victim to parents or fans, asking why you do this in a game, or why little Johnny isn’t playing more minutes etc. while sitting at a restaurant with family trying to enjoy a night out. So, I am very careful with where I go, and who I’m with. It has to be at a comfortable place, with a small group of people that I can trust.” The articles are very informative, interesting, and in many ways very sad.

Headshaker of the week: It just never ends. Last week at a boys basketball game in the Madison area a coach was ejected from the game along with a couple of fans. I do not want to embarrass the coach or the offending fans so I won’t mention they were from Oregon High School. After the coach received his second technical, a crazed fan was also escorted from the gymnasium. While being ushered out by staff, the zealous rooter was exhorting fans to applaud and cheer as he made his way to the exit. It reminded me of the hated professional wrestler egging on the crowd as he enters the ring. Sadly, this was not performance art. It was fan idiocy at its finest. It’s the epitome of embarrassment. And it’s a headshaker.