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

Kellen Kenney, Jr., G, Fennimore boys basketball

     Junior Kellen Kenney had another fantastic all-around game, finishing with a game-high 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals to lead Fennimore to a 62–59 SWAL victory over rival and 10th-ranked Mineral Point last Thursday night. 

     Kenney’s steady play was even more important in Thursday’s victory considering, the Golden Eagles (13–2, 6–2 SWAL) played the entire second half without leading scorer and senior captain Reid Larson, who was benched for picking up a technical foul with 1:07 left in the first half.

     “Kellen keeps defense on their heels all the time,” said Fennimore head coach Troy Larson. “He can handle the ball with quickness and has developed a nice jump shot and can get all the way to the hoop.”

     With 1:07 left in the first half, Fennimore senior captain and leading scorer Reid Larson was hit with a technical foul.

     Coach Larson — also Reid’s father — has a hard an fast rule on his team; you get a technical foul, you take a seat for the rest of the night. And coach Larson made no exceptions, not for his son, not even in the “big” game.

     “Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about this game and felt perhaps someone might cross the line,” said coach Larson. “I even mentioned it in the locker room before the game. So when it happened, I was obviously disappointed but not shocked. We are coaching kids, young adults. They will live and learn. I knew it was going to be an emotional game. Fennimore wanted it bad, but we can’t let emotions get the best of us. The rest of the team did a great job up picking up the slack and now we move forward.”

     Kenney also 17 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds before taking a seat with six minutes left in Fennimore’s 77–64 victory at Iowa–Grant on Saturday. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 25 in the second half.

     Kenney and the Golden Eagles return to action Friday night in a SWAL showdown at first-place and undefeated Darlington (14–0, 8–0), which is currently ranked second in Division 4.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Alexis Adkins, Jr., C, Fennimore girls basketball 

     Adkins finished with a game-high 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, including a key swat with 25 seconds left in a one-point game, to lead the Fennimore girls (5–11, 2–7 SWAL) to 53–52 upset of SWAL co-leading Cuba City (11–4, 7–2) last Friday night.

Will Ahnen, Jr., 182, Fennimore wrestling

     Ahnen scored a dramatic overtime pin over Kyle Vondra at 182 pounds during Friday night’s SWAL dual with rival Mineral Point. Ahnen’s victory gave the Golden Eagle (7–0, 6–0 SWAL) its first lead of the night at 24–22 and helped propel Fennimore to a 40–22 victory that clinched the program’s fifth straight SWAL duals wrestling title.

Anna Kartman, So., F, Potosi/Cassville girls basketball

    Kartman finished with a game-high 16 points and 14 rebounds, her sixth double–double in her last seven games, to lead the Potosi/Cassville co-op to a 51–41 win over Fennimore. She also had 10 points and 11 rebounds in last Monday’s 60–47 loss at Argyle (11-2). Kartman is averaging 10.3 points and team-high 9 rebounds per game (both second on the team), including 13.3 points and 11.1 boards over the past seven games. The Chieftains (9–5) are 5–2 during that stretch.

Emma Liddicoat, Jr., G/F, Iowa–Grant girls basketball

     Liddicoat scored 21 of her career-high 32 points in the first half to lead the Iowa–Grant girls to a 57–44 victory at Boscobel last Friday night, the Panthers’ (6–11, 2–7) in league play. Liddicoat made 10 of 16 shots from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point land.

Sadie Willborn, Sr., G, Belmont girls basketball

     Willborn made four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 16 points to help the Belmont girls defeated Juda 52–28 last Saturday for the Braves’ first win of the season. The victory snapped Belmont’s (1–13) 14-game losing streak that dated back to last year.

Brady Wedig, So., Belmont boys basketball

     Wedig scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and overtime to help the Belmont boys edge host Juda 73–69 in four overtimes Friday night in a Six Rivers Challenge crossover game. Wedig went 8 of 10 from the foul line, including four straight in the final minute of the fourth extra session.