ALMOND-BANCROFT SURGES PAST PACELLI IN BATTLE OF CWC SOUTH LEADERS

Zaleski Sports

STEVENS POINT – The Almond-Bancroft boys basketball team clinched no worse than a share for the Central Wisconsin Conference South Division title with a come-from-behind 49-42 win over Stevens Point Pacelli on Thursday at Pacelli High School.

Pacelli led 24-17 at halftime, but the Eagles dominated the second 18 minutes, outscoring the Cardinals 32-18 to pull out the win.

T.J. Lamb had 18 points and Ayden Phillips chipped in 16 for Almond-Bancroft, which is now 16-5 overall and 10-1 in the CWC South.

Jaydon Awe had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Logan Mayer added nine points for Pacelli, which falls to 9-12 and 7-2 in the conference.

Almond-Bancroft plays a pair of nonconference games next week – at home against Manawa on Monday and at Gresham on Feb. 18 – before hosting Wild Rose in its final conference and regular-season game. With a win over Wild Rose, the Eagles would win the conference championship outright.

Pacelli wraps up its regular season with three CWC South games – at Rosholt on Monday, at Wild Rose on Feb. 18, and at home against Port Edwards on Feb. 24.

Eagles 49, Cardinals 42

Almond-Bancroft 17 32 - 49

Pacelli 24 18 - 42

ALMOND-BANCROFT (49): Brody Dernbach 4, T.J. Lamb 18, Ayden Phillips 16, Austin Zinda 4, Tyler Huntington 2, Xander Miner 5. Record: 16-5, 10-1 Central Wisconsin Conference South Division.

PACELLI (42): Brock Birrenkott 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Schroeder 2-2 0-0 4, Ben Haemmerle 1-4 0-0 2, Logan Mayer 3-7 1-1 9, Andrew Van Order 3-7 0-0 7, Camden Schurk 1-5 1-2 3, Jaydon Awe 5-17 0-1 10, Brycen Cashin 1-4 0-0 3, Nick Fox 2-5 0-0 4, Adam Mueller 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-52. FT: 2-4. 3-pointers: 4-19 (Mayer 2-6, Cashin 1-2, Van Order 1-4, Haemmerle 0-1, Schurk 0-2, Awe 0-2, Fox 0-2). Rebounds: 35 (Awe 11). Record: 9-12, 7-2 Central Wisconsin Conference South Division.