Prairie du Chien boys basketball extends winning streak to four with trio of victories
Prairie’s Max Schneider (50) gets Waukon seniors Kole McCormick (2) and Jacob Courtney (4) to fall for his up-and-under move. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Senior Dawson Eastman forces Waukon's Jacob Courtney to lose control of the ball with strong defense. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
No, the Waukon gym did not have a net missing, though you would be forgiven for assuming that in this photo as the shot attempt by Prairie's Tyler Harris managed push the net between the ball and the rim at the split second this photo was taken. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Junior Nick McCullick quickly gets past his Waukon defender in this photo. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Sam Kramer uses a breakaway to go in for a layup during the second half of Prairie du Chien's 51-47 win over Waukon. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Brady Lenzendorf goes up and off the glass for a quick two points early in the game as teammate Max Schneider (50) looks on. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
As the month of January turns into the month of February, the Prairie du Chien Boys Basketball team is using strong defense, good shooting and steady fundamentals to claw their way up the standings in the Southwestern Wisconsin Conference.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the Hawks traveled to Waukon to face the Indians in the Hawks final out-of-state competition of the season and looking to build off of their home win over River Valley the week prior. Following a slow, but back-and-forth first half that saw the host Indians take a 21-19 lead into halftime, the Hawks came out of the break on fire, jumping out to a 32-25 lead with 4 minutes left in the third quarter (Iowa plays four eight minute quarters).
The hosts would not go away quietly, which would turn out to be the theme of the night, as the Indians used a 10-0 run over the final four minutes of the third quarter to take a 35-32 lead on the Hawks heading into the final quarter.
Prairie would use the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to use a 9-0 run to grab a 41-35 lead before a three-point basket by Waukon senior Kole McCormick ended the Hawks run. Following a series of sloppy possessions by both teams that saw the Indians once again cut into the Hawks lead at 44-40, PdC used a 6-0 run, including a free throw by Tyler Harris with 50 seconds left in the game to give the Hawks their biggest lead of the game at 50-40.
However, double-digit leads are not always safe in the final minute of regulation, and a three-point basket by Waukon’s Mason Wasson with 35 seconds remaining made the score 50-43. Following two missed free throws by the Hawks with 25 seconds remaining, the Indians’ Colton O’Neill drove the length of the court for a layup that drew a foul with 19.5 seconds left. O’Neill missed the free throw, but the Indians defense forced a Blackhawk turnover as Wasson went off the glass for a lay up with 6.4 seconds remaining to make the score 50-47 in favor of the Hawks.
Senior Dawson Eastman was fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining, making the second of his two free throws to give the Hawks a four-point lead at 51-47. McCormick’s three point attempt at th buzzer for Waukon hit the rim and was no good and the Blackhawks escaped with a 51-47 victory.
The Hawks continued their busy week with a home contest against Lancaster on Thursday, Jan. 25, looking to avenge an early season loss suffered at the hands of the Flying Arrows.
There would be no double-digit loss this time for the Hawks as they used a 29-22 halftime lead to pull away in the second half for a 58-41 victory, moving Prairie into a three-way tie with Dodgeville and River Valley for second place in the SWC at 3-3, one game ahead of Lancaster at 2-4, and two games ahead of Richland Center at 1-5. Platteville leads the conference with a 6-0 mark.
Every victory helps the Hawks in the playoff seeding meeting in a few weeks as each win could help PdC get a better seed.
On Saturday morning, Jan. 27, the Prairie boys and girls basketball teams traveled to Barneveld for their annual non-conference doubleheader with the Eagles of the Six Rivers East Conference.
The boys took the court first, and the Hawks quickly jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first three and a half minutes of the game before the hosts tied it 10-10 with 11:56 left in the first half. That would be the last time the game would be tied as Prairie used a 21-11 run to end the first half to hold a 31-21 advantage at the break.
Prairie came out of the break strong, using a 11-2 run to extend their halftime lead to 42-23. The Hawks never allowed the hosts to get closer than 12 the rest of the game and Prairie walked away with a 54-39 win over Barneveld, which is tied with Argyle for first place in the Six Rivers East Conference with an overall record of 11-6, 7-1.
Max Schneider had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hawks. Also scoring in double figures for Prairie was Nick McCullick with 10 points. Rounding out the scoring attack was Harris and Hunter Straka with 8 points each (Straka also had 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals), Sam Kramer (4 points), Brady Lenzendorf (3 points), and Abe Amundson (2 points).
The Hawks improved to 8-9 overall with the win, and have now won a season high four straight games and six of their last eight games.
Prairie was at La Crosse Logan on Tuesday night before going to Dodgeville on Friday, Feb. 2 for a key conference game with the host Dodgers.
