SPRING VALLEY — Despite trailing by double-digits, the Spring Valley Cardinals boys basketball squad never wavered, rallying to win a 66-62 nailbiter over Elk Mound on Friday.

With the Mounders coming in at 7-1 overall and 2-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play and Spring Valley coming in at 7-1 overall and 3-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play, this was not only a big game for the standings, but a big game to prove what each team is capable of.

“Resilience. I thought we got off to a pretty decent start, but we knew Elk Mound was going to shoot well and come back,” Head Coach Rob Bosshart said. “Getting down, I think it was 13 in the first half, I just was really pleased with how the kids didn’t get into a panic. Kind of stayed with what we have been trying to do, went back to trying to get the ball inside.”

Six-foot-seven senior Masyn Wolf knew the importance of the game and was looking to take it right at an Elk Mound team that has a lot of size of its own. Wolf was looking smooth in the post out of the gates and piled on eight points for an early 10-2 lead capped off by a top of the key triple.

“That’s what he’s capable of doing. He’s a big guy, got great hands, great feet,” Bosshart said. “He’s come so far over the last couple of years… When he realizes that he’s six-seven and 300 pounds, and that nobody’s going to be able to really stop him, when he plays that way he’s a handful.”

Elk Mound did not take kindly to the opening, going on a 26-5 run of their own to take a commanding 28-15 lead, the largest they would hold all game.

It was only a matter of time before one of the Dunn-St. Croix’s leading scorers in senior Cade Stasiek got going, which he did late in the half. Stasiek is an elite floor general for the Spring Valley team, scoring 18.5 per game to go along with 8.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.4 steals. He took it to the rack a handful of times to cut the halftime deficit to 32-24.

The instant the Cardinals took the floor again in the second half, Wolf got right back to business.

“I’m always trying to score every single time I get the ball, and my teammates always pass it to me, they trust me,” Wolf said.

Wolf’s lead was followed by the rest of the lineup with senior Elijah Haug drilling a three, Stasiek pouring in threes and senior Caleb Bartko scoring an and-one to cap the run and flip the game on its head for a 51-44 lead with 8:47 to play.

“We put the work in all the time at practice, stay after practice, stay before practice, shoot around in the morning,” Wolf said. “It means a lot to me when they shoot well.”

A little bit of clutch factor from everyone kept the Cardinals in the lead 58-51 with 3:47 to go. From there, Spring Valley had a lot of trouble at the free throw line, allowing the Mounders to cut it all the way down to a 59-57 lead with 1:37 to go. Elk Mound tied the game at 61 and sent Haug to the line with the game in his hands and under a minute to play. Haug made the first and missed the second. The ball bounced off the rim and Wolf swooped in to make a lasting impact on the result of the game once more, rebounding the ball and getting it to senior Trevor Forster who made both free throws for a 64-61 lead.
Elk Mound would miss on the other end and the game would be sealed. The Cardinals shot 9-25 from the free throw line in the game.

“We made plenty of mistakes and missed plenty of free throws, but we did enough other really good things to win,” Bosshart said.

Bosshart said his team stuck to their focus of getting the ball inside to the posts to get open shots and drives for the guards, a strategy that paid off in the end.

“If you’re trying to just run the clock out with three, four, five minutes left, you’re probably playing to not lose and more often than not you lose,” Bosshart said. “I thought our kids played to win.”

Wolf ended the game tied for a season high 18 points on 8-11 shooting and snatched 10 rebounds along the way. Stasiek was dominant again, scoring 28 points on 10-19 from the field and 6-11 from three, adding 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

“It’s a big win because it’s a big school and it’s good to fight for conference,” Wolf said. “It’s just fun to be at the top.”

Elk Mound has given Spring Valley some trouble in recent years, but for Bosshart it’s just another conference win checked off the list.

“We haven’t been able to do that the last couple years against Elk Mound. We’ve struggled a little bit at home against them,” Bosshart said. “We still have about 10 conference games or whatever it is to play. They all mean the same, every one means the same.”