The Spring Valley boys basketball team made it clear from the opening tip that they were going to play a much more physical brand of basketball than Elmwood/Plum City during the rivalry game on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Spring Valley’s physicality led its lopsided 37-22 advantage in the rebounding battle which ultimately culminated in a 64-38 blowout victory over the Wolves on Tuesday night in Elmwood. Spring Valley improved to 8-7 overall and 5-3 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference action while Elmwood/Plum City fell to 3-10 and 1-6 in league play.

For Spring Valley head coach Rob Bosshart, playing with physicality and attacking Elmwood/Plum City early was going to be key to leaving Elmwood with a win. He spoke about the game plan.

“We wanted to make sure that we took it to them instead of sitting back and letting them get comfortable, especially offensively,” Bosshart said. “The kids did a good job of that. They came out and played aggressively, mostly on the defensive end and the glass. That was the mentality going in.”

Spring Valley certainly did that throughout the first half of the rivalry game on the road. The Cardinals built a 16-12 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the opening half. However, Spring Valley’s offense was just getting warmed up.

The Cardinals proceeded to go on a 23-5 run over the next eight minutes that culminated in a 39-17 lead and a timeout by Elmwood/ Plum City head coach Kyle Webb. Spring Valley’s offensive explosion was in large part because of sophomore guard Cade Stasiek, who scored 17 of the 23 points during the run.

Stasiek hit mid-range jumpers with ease, slashed into the lane seemingly as he pleased and even made a three-point play the old-fashioned way. Stasiek’s 23-point first half helped Spring Valley build a 41-26 lead going into the intermission.

“Cade has tremendous footwork and knows how to use his pivot foot to get around (defenders) and he has really good vision too,” Bosshart said of the sophomore guard. “I think the kids are starting to get more comfortable playing with him. We’ve had instances where kids aren’t sure what to do when he’s driving, but I just keep telling them he will find them if they’re open.”

Stasiek got his teammates involved throughout the game, as his penetration into the lane created open looks for some of Spring Valley’s perimeter shooters. Sophomore guard Tanner Dicus and junior guard Jameson Bauer both went 2-3 from beyond the three-point line on Tuesday night.

For Elmwood/Plum City head coach Kyle Webb, trying to defend Spring Valley’s potent offense was a catch-22 situation. If the Wolves sent extra help to defend Stasiek, he hit teammates for open jumpers. If the Wolves didn’t, Stasiek got to the bucket at will.

“Stasiek is a hell of a player,” Webb said. “We’ve got to keep our bodies in front of him. He has that dribble and pullback quick jumper that we just don’t see very often, so it’s hard to plan for. They’re just a really good team.”

Stasiek and the Cardinals maintained their lead throughout the second half and cruised to a 64-38 victory on the road. Stasiek finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in the win. However, his most impressive stat may have been his game-high six steals, four clear of anyone else on the floor Tuesday night.

While Stasiek led the charge for Spring Valley, Elmwood/Plum City sophomore Lucas Glaus led the Wolves. Glaus finished with a team-high 18 points on 5-13 from the floor, all of which were three-pointers. EPC senior guard Trevor Asher came up one rebound shy of a double-double as he finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists in the loss.

For coach Webb, Tuesday night was another learning opportunity against a strong Spring Valley squad. In addition to returning almost no varsity players from last year, the Wolves are also working on installing a new offense, which has led to some of the lopsided losses this season.

“We’re working on a new offense and it’s just learning to adapt out of that,” Webb said. “The UCLA flex offense, you can do so much with it, but you have to see the floor. We need to do more of that because sometimes we watch the ball too much.”

While Elmwood/Plum City is focused on gaining experience and installing the UCLA offense, Spring Valley is preparing to topple Durand and Elk Mound – the top two teams in the conference – the next time they meet.

After starting the season 4-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play, Spring Valley lost three consecutive games against Mondovi, Elk Mound and Durand. The 60-57 loss at home against Durand on Friday, Jan. 20, was the only of the three contests decided by less than a dozen points.

Coach Bosshart’s young varsity squad – which doesn’t have a single senior in the starting lineup – gained valuable experience in those three losses against some of the top teams in the league. He spoke about what the Elk Mound game taught his young players.

“The Elk Mound game we played them pretty close most of the first half, we just had a stretch of two or three minutes where it got away from us a little bit. The same thing happened in the second half,” Bosshart said. “I think it’s a good learning experience for our younger kids. You can’t have those mental lapses against good teams.”

Spring Valley learned from that Elk Mound game and came back three days later and took an 11-4 Durand team down to the last possession. Bosshart spoke about how that Elk Mound experience helped his players prepare for Durand.

“Our next game was Durand and I think we had learned a lot, we played really focused basketball the entire game,” Bosshart said. “I think we grew up a lot playing those two teams and I expect us to be better prepared going into those games.”

Spring Valley was back in action at home against Boyceville on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Elmwood/ Plum City played against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Monday, Jan. 30. Both of those contests were slated for 7:15 p.m.

Sophomore Lucas Glaus of the Elmwood/Plum City boys basketball team releases a wing three-pointer during the home game against Spring Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Glaus finished the game with a team-high 18 points and five made three-pointers. Photo by Reagan Hoverman