EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Jackson Noll, So., G, Cuba City boys basketball
Cuba City sophomore guard Jackson Noll had quite a week on the court while leading the Cuba City boys’ basketball team to a pair of victories in three games played over a four-day span and he is this week’s Mast Water Technology SWnews4U.com Athlete of the Week.
The sophomore guard set career-highs in each game, opening with 23 points in an 86–73 loss to the #2-ranked New Glarus Glarner Knights in a non-conference game held at NGHS on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Noll upped his career mark to 30 points and tied a school record with seven 3-pointers in an 86–24 SWAL win over the Riverdale Chieftains in Muscoda on last Thursday, then returned home on Friday to break the school record with nine 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 33 points to lead the Cubans over Clayton Ridge (IA), 86-27, in non-conference action. All told, Noll tallied 86 points in the three games after connecting on 32 of 47 shots from the field (68 percent), including 21 of 33 attempts from 3-point range (64 percent).
“He was on fire,” said Cuba City head coach Jerry Petitgoue. “He was shooting the ball extremely well for us. He is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range on the season, so he’s been on most of the year. He just got more opportunities last week and he took advantage of them.
Noll and the Cubans (9–6, 5–3 SWAL) host second-place Fennimore (14–2, 7–2) in a key league game Friday at 7:30 before traveling to Dodgeville on Monday.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Nick Jansen, Jr., Benton boys basketball
Jansen buried five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points in Benton’s 68–54 victory over visiting Highland last Thursday night.
Taylor Langmeier, Jr., G, River Ridge girls basketball
Langmeier posted a monster double–double with a game-high 18 points and 16 rebounds to lead River Ridge (13–3, 5–3 SRW) to a 52–41 upset of Potosi (12–4, 7–2), which fell out of a first-place tie with Shullsburg (15–3, 8–10 with the loss. Langmeier also had 14 points in Friday’s 40–36 overtime loss at Barneveld and 11 points in a 37-33 non-conference win over Lancaster on Monday.
Kaylee Meyers, Jr., G, Darlington girls basketball
Meyers scored 74 points in three Darlington victories in the past week. The junior sharp shooter scored a game-high 25 points in the Redbirds 74–54 victory over visiting Darlington last Tuesday. She then made five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 28 points in Friday’s 70–50 SWAL victory at Darlington. Monday night, she poured in a game-high 21 points in a 71–63 non-conference victory over Shullsburg (15–3, ranked 10th in Division 4) as the Redbirds (9–1 in the SWAL) improved to 13–4 overall.
Devon Schmitz, Sr., G, Richland Center boys basketball
Schmitz hit a pair of clutch free throws with 20 seconds left and finished with 25 points (18 in the second half) to lead the Hornets (8–8, 3–4 SWC) to a 58–55 Southwest Wisconsin Conference win over Prairie du Chien last Friday night. It was Center’s first win over the Blackhawks in four years.
Leah Wacker, Sr., G, Boscobel girls basketball
Wacker scored a team-high 18 points in Boscobel’s 51–43 win over visiting Fennimore last Tuesday night, then drained five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points to lead the third-place Bulldogs (12–3, 7–3 SWAL) to a 67–53 victory over Iowa–Grant on Friday night.
