EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday or Friday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal, Fennimore Times, Boscobel Dial
Broker Buschor, Jr., G/F, Darlington boys basketball
DARLINGTON — Junior Broker Buschor erupted for a 66 points in two games last week to lead the Division 4 #9-ranked Darlington Redbirds (10–2, 6–1 SWAL) to wins at Boscobel (1-11, 0-6) last Thursday, 84–47, and Delavan–Darien (3-6) in Waunakee on Saturday, 76–61.
Darlington had no trouble imposing their will against either opponent. The 'Birds held a 44–15 lead over the Bulldogs (1–11, 0–6) at the half, and a 47–23 advantage against the Comets (3–6) over the same period. Buschor posted double–doubles in both games, to lead all players. Against Boscobel, he had 31 points (on 13 of 22 shooting) with five 3-pointers, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. He was even better Saturday against Delavan–Darien, made 6 of 13 3-point attempts and finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Buschor continued his hot streak this Tuesday when he scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had 5 assists and 3 steals in a 93–58 rout of Riverdale. Buschor is currently averaging 21 points, a team-high 9.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3 steals per game, while shooting 48.7 percent (94 of 193) from the field and 40.7 percent on 3-pointers (35 of 86) after making 16 of 31 from downtown in the last three games.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Lucas Ludlum, Sr., G, Platteville boys basketball
Lulum joined the ranks of 1,000-point prep scorers with 20 points in last Friday night's 69–58 SWC win over Lancaster. Sitting at 18 points on the night, Ludlum grabbed an offensive rebound on the left side of the basket and scored on a contested putback with 8:37 left to become just the sixth Platteville boy to score 1,000 career points.
Ludlum raised his arms in triumph, a Platteville timeout was called, 1,000-point signs shot up all over the home crowd, and the senior standout celebrated the moment with teammates near midcourt. Ludlum, who finished the game with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, joined Platteville all-time leading scorer Jim Lawinger, Dick McKichan, Doug Knutson, Will Ryan and Donovan Blevins in the Hillmen boys’ 1,000-point club.
“Lucas has handled all of the hype of scoring his 1,000-career point so well,” said Platteville head coach Mike Huser. “He never really mentioned or said anything about joining the 1,000-point club at PHS, but it is a really great accomplishment for him individually. Of course, Lucas being so humble, would be the first to thank all of his teammates both current and in the past for helping him achieve the milestone. He did this the right way as well. He has put in a tremendous amount of time and effort and has improved over the course of his four years at PHS.”