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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Hannah Butler
Black Hawk freshman leads Warriors to 50 start
Hannah Butler
Freshman Hannah Butler averaged 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game to lead the undefeated Black Hawk Warriors (50) to three wins in the past week.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

 

Hannah Butler, Fr., F, Black Hawk girls basketball

     Black Hawk freshman Hannah Butler is this week’s Mast Water Technology SWnews4U.com co-Athlete of the Week after averaging 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game in three Warrior wins over the past seven days, including a 50–42 victory over ninth-ranked Barneveld Tuesday night. 

     Last Thursday against Juda, Butler scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the first half to lead the Warriors out to a 33–9 halftime lead. Undefeated Black Hawk went on to post a 57–30 win as Butler finished with four rebounds and two steals. Then, at Ordfordville, on Saturday, the freshman forward scored a game-high 22 points along with three rebounds and two assists in a 58–32 non-conference win over Parkview. Finally, in a battle of ranked Six Rivers East foes, Butler tallied a game-high 22 points along with five rebounds, four assists and five steals to lead the 10th-ranked Warriors over the 9th-ranked Golden Eagles 50–42. The victory ended Black Hawk's 11-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles dating back to the 2011–12 season and kept the Warriors unbeaten this season at 5–0.

     “We have a lot of weapons. When things start firing on all cylinders, like it did in the second half we are a difficult team to guard,” said Black Hawk head coach Mike Flanagan.

     Black Hawk will travel to Benton (3–2, 1–1 SRW) Friday night, weather permitting, before traveling to Platteville (6–1) on Monday for a second-straight non-conference road game. The Hillmen ended defending WIAA Division 4 state champion Mineral Point’s 30-game winning streak on Monday night.

 

 

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Briana Ernst, Jr., F, Belmont girls basketball

     Ernst scored eight of her 13 points in overtime to lift Belmont to a 72–62 overtime victory at 10th-ranked Benton last Thursday night. Ernst’s scoring burst was much-needed after senior center Caitlyn Gilbertson, who scored a game-high 26 points, fouled out with 7:28 left in regulation. 

 

Emma Liddicoat, Sr., PG, Iowa–Grant girls basketball

     Liddicoat made six straight free throws in the final two minutes to lift Iowa–Grant to a 43–37 victory over visiting Fennimore last Thursday night. Liddicoat finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Panthers, who improved to 4–0 with the win.

 

Sami Martin, Fr., C, Platteville girls basketball

     The freshman center scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Platteville as the Hillmen ended defending Division 4 state champion Mineral Point’s 30-game winning streak Monday night with a 66–65 overtime victory. Martin also had 12 points and eight rebounds in Platteville’s 59–34 victory at River Valley last Friday.

 

Isaac Nagel, Sr., G, Dodgeville boys basketball

     Nagel made 8 of 14 3-point attempts and finished with a game-high 37 points to lead Dodgeville to a 79–60 SWC victory at Richland Center last Friday night. He also had five rebounds and three steals in the win for the Dodgers (2–2, 2–0 SWC).

 

Devin O’Brien, Sr., 285, Fennimore wrestling

     After Mineral Point took and early 13–10 lead with three straight victories, Cody McCullough and O’Brien scored key back-to-back pins to swing the momentum in Fennimore’s 37–28 SWAL victory over visiting Mineral Point last Friday night. O’Brien (9–2) then went 5–0 to win the 285-pound title while helping Fennimore win the team title at Sautrday’s Sun Prairie Bob Downing Scramble. The Golden Eagles finished with four champions and three runner-ups to easily outpoint runner-up Lodi 723.5–587 for the title.

 

Brady Peat, Jr., 170, Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling

     Peat (11–1) went 5–0 with four pins in a total of 6:05 to lead the Panthers to a 4–1 record and a second-place finish in Pool B at Saturday’s Wisconsin Dells Duals Classic. Peat won the 170-pound title at the Dubuque Invitational a week earlier with a perfect 5–0 record.

 

Will Schwartz, Sr., G, Darlington boys basketball

     Schwartz averaged 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a pair of Darlington victories last week. The Redbirds hammered Fennimore 84–45 on Friday, after easily handling Dodgeivle 68–50 on Tuesday, Dec. 6.