GIRLS AND BOYS BASKETBALL POWER 5
Girls basketball Power 5
Loyal (11-2) – A long and busy week for the Greyhounds awaits with three games in five days. Loyal plays at Marathon on Monday, then it’s two Cloverbelt conference games against Gilman and Neillsville. The three opponents this week boast a combined 20-9 record that includes 11-1 first place Neillsville. Obviously, the Hounds will need two conference wins to take the top stop from the Warriors. They will also likely need two wins to stave off a hard charging Colby Hornets team who are just a half game behind in the Cloverbelt standings in third place. Watch Friday, January 31st when Loyal hosts Neillsville live at zaleskisports.com.
Marshfield (8-5) – The first place Marshfield Tigers, yes that’s right, the first place Marshfield Tigers. Coach Taylor Varsho has led her team all the way to the top of the Wisconsin Valley Conference via a win at home against SPASH on Friday night. In the Friday battle with SPASH, the Tigers saw Maddie Michaelis (19), Danielle Minsaas (13), and Kaydee Johnson (10) hit double-digit scoring.
Should coach Varsho continue to get scoring from all corners of the court her Tigers will be tough to beat. This week Marshfield is at Wisconsin Rapids on Tuesday, January 28th (watch live at zaleskisports.com) and home vs Merrill on Friday, January 31st.
Neillsville (12-2) – Two Cloverbelt Conference games this week for the first place Neillsville Warriors. On Tuesday it’s a home game against struggling Greenwood (3-11) and then a Friday road trip to rival Loyal (11-2). The Warriors easily dispatched Loyal 59-39 in the season opener all the wayyyy back on November 22nd. That long ago, Turkey was still frozen, the ground wasn’t, and Santa was still finding out who was naughty and nice. Suffice to say, seasons change and basketball teams change, often in-season. It will be a brand-new game in Loyal on Friday, January 31st and you can watch it live at zaleskisports.com.
Newman Catholic (13-3) – The Cardinals were victorious all three times they hit the court last week, all road games, including two Marawood Conference wins. 157-70 was the scoring margin for Coach Paul Haag’s girls including a 32-22 grinder in Stratford. Two games on the schedule this week that finishes at home against Wausau East. The other home game on the schedule? None other than Marawood South rival, Assumption Catholic (watch live at zaleskisports.com). With just one road game left on the regular season calendar and a two and a half game lead in conference, the Cardinals are in the driver’s seat for another conference championship.
SPASH (9-5) – The good news? SPASH shares first place in the Wisconsin Valley Conference even after dropping their only game of the week last week at Marshfield. The bad news? Coach Terpstra appears to not have found a scorer outside of Leah Earnest. Earnest leads the Panthers with 26.9 points per game and is also tops in rebounds and assists. She scored 23 of the 45 points in the loss at Marshfield, meaning all other SPASH scorers combined couldn’t match her total. If another scorer doesn’t appear by playoff time to help, it likely equals a quick post season exit. Next up for Stevens Point is a road game at EC Memorial on Tuesday and then at home vs Wisconsin Rapids on Friday, January 31st.
Boys basketball Power 5
Auburndale (14-1) – The Weinwrightraab’s were impressive last week. They tore through Spencer (8-2) by a score of 89-55 and then piled on at Rib Lake (11-1) 61-47. Postgame in Rib Lake, senior guard Cooper Weinfurter admitted that their lone loss at Stratford was embarrassing and they have played since to take corrective measures. Auburndale will see Stratford at home on February 21st and look to keep just the one notch in the loss column until then. This week Auburndale plays at Marathon (5-5) on Tuesday, January 28th.
Marshfield (8-5) – Like their female counterparts, these Tigers are also in first place in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Unlike the Lady Tigers, these guys have sole possession of first place after stomping SPASH 57-39 at home on Friday night. The Three Amigos of Tony Posteluk, Addison Hill and Joey Goettl average 36.3 points per game.
All of the Tigers play a suffocating defense at the command of head coach, Scott Scheuer, only letting up 54 points per game. It’s a fine line for the Tigers at the top, with a scoring average of 56 points per game and just a half game clear of DC Everest. Those Evergreens beat Marshfield 48-42 back on January 3rd. Marshfield plays at Wisconsin Rapids on Tuesday, January 28th (live at zaleskisports.com) then at Merrill on Thursday, January 30.
Neillsville (12-2) – Alex King dunk, Isaac Weirs dunk, Braden Trunkel three, Monte Diestler three, Joe Katcher block! Ladies and gentlemen; meet the Neillsville Warriors. The first place Warriors are undefeated in conference and have played everybody at least once, nothing closer than 13 points. Logic would say that kind of team will continue to roll, high school sports says that anything can happen. Neillsville is at Gilman (3-9) on Thursday, January 30th.
Stratford (13-0) – Best team on the list.
Next up for Stratford is a home game against Newman Catholic on Tuesday, January 28th and then Spring Grove (MN) in the Minnesota Wisconsin Border Battle on Saturday, February 1st. You can watch the game live at zaleskisports.com with a special start time at 10am.
Only four boys teams? Yep.
Other teams to watch: DC Everest, SPASH, Iola-Scandinavia, Spencer and Almond-Bancroft.