The past two weeks have been quite eventful for Prescott Cardinals guard Isabella Lenz. The smooth playing junior scored her 1,000th point at the end of the month and has surpassed Kollyn Severson (Eichman) as the second leading scorer in Prescott girls basketball history. Lenz followed that feat by pouring in a school record 38 points in a Cardinal win over conference rival Amery early last week. And this past weekend Lenz’s 28 points led Prescott to a surprising lopsided 70-44 win over New Richmond, who entered Saturday’s game tied atop the conference with the Cardinals.

In the crucial win over New Richmond, Nicole Dalman scored 15 points and owned the boards against the Tigers. Solid backcourt play from juniors Sydney Matzek and Tori Benck helped Head Coach Rob Radloff and his charges humble the Tigers. Next week the Cardinals will host #9 ranked St. Croix Falls in a crucial non conference matchup. The Saints, who play in the West Lakeland Conference, enter this week with a record of 15-0. Prescott ended last week at the #10 ranked team in Division III.

The WIAA Regional Wrestling tournaments begin around the state on Saturday, February 15th. Prescott will join Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau/ Melrose-Mindoro, Ellsworth, Arcadia, Osseo-Fairchild/Augusta/Fall Creek, Black River Falls, and West Salem/Bangor. The regional will be hosted by Arcadia High School. According to Wisconsin Wrestling Online Prescott’s Joe Schulte, wrestling in the 220 pound division, is now the #2 ranked wrestler in his weight class in Wisconsin. Fellow senior Ryan Pederson is listed at Honorable Mention at 113 pounds, and sophomore Sam Murphy is also listed as Honorable Mention at 132 pounds.

The 39th Annual Northwest Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Clinic was held this past Saturday in Cumberland, Wisconsin. The clinic featured Head Coach John Vodenlich from NCAA Division III power Whitewater and Paul Blanchard Head Coach at Southwest State (MN). Blanchard, son of former Major League player John Blanchard, reference a study recently completed by professional baseball on the career length of Major League players. The results showed those who played one one sport during their preparatory years had the shortest professional careers. Those who played two sports had longer careers and players who played three sports in high school had the longest careers in professional baseball. Hmmmmmmm.

Speaking of baseball, the Prescott Cardinal baseball team is still in search of a C Team/Assistant Coach this spring.

There is talk among some Middle Border Conference Head Baseball coaches regarding the possibility of communities hosting future youth coaching clinics. Preliminary discussions include conference schools hosting instructional clinics on a rotating basis involving coaches from Middle Border Conference Schools. Clinics would focus on baseball skills, fundamentals, and practice planning. Stay tuned.

Hats off to Dallas Eggers, color commentator Fred Booth, and cameramen Paul Most and Larry Imm for bringing Cardinal basketball and other athletic events into the living rooms of many people in Prescott.

Speaking of Eggers, the seemingly tireless Prescott Hall of Famer is currently in the throes of planning the CAB Company Banquet that will be held at the Old Ptacek’s Banquet Center on Friday, March 27th. Two time Minnesota Twin and former World Series Champion Al Newman will be the featured speaker. Cost of attending the 22nd Annual CAB Banquet will be $25.00. Stay tuned for future details.

Those were the days…For the first time in quite a while I witnessed a scene akin to one of those old Norman Rockwell paintings. As I was taking my weekly Sunday afternoon drive I noticed a couple of youngsters outside playing catch with a baseball in the parking lot of the old high school. They weren’t inside playing video games or watching the seven hour Super Bowl pregame. The seasonally warm, sunny weather brought the anticipation of spring and brought them outside to play the simple, yet glorious game of catch. Those were the days…