EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Erin Knowles, Jr., G/F, Bosocbel girls basketball
WISCONSIN DELLS —Junior Erin Knowles scored a team-high 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, had six steals and passed out four assists to lead Boscobel to a 65–34 non-conference victory over Benton Saturday at Just A Game Field House.
Knowles came into the game needing only 12 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. She reached that milestone with 7:50 to go in the half as she hit the second shot from the free throw line to get her 1,000th career point.
Knowles’ older sister Sarah Knowles also surpassed the 1,000-point mark last year in a non-conference game at Seneca.
“Erin, and all of her teammates, work hard everyday at the free throw line,” said Boscobel head coach Erik Kinney. “It was nice to see her step up to the line and knock the shot down. The fans got pretty loud when they saw the free throw go through. It felt like a home game with all our fans.”
The game was temporarily stopped so Knowles could celebrate with her coaches, teammates, and fans then the team went back to work.
“It is quite a milestone and quite an accomplishment for Erin. She is the quickest player to a 1,000 points in the school’s history. More importantly, her 1000th point extended our lead to 15 points, we were able to stretch the lead to 20 by halftime. Individual awards are even better when you are able to celebrate them with a team victory. We came here needing a W. We were fortunately able to do that, and we picked up a nice 1,000 point milestone along the way.”
“We got off to a good start against Benton,” said Kinney. “We used early ball pressure to create some nice scoring opportunities. We were able to get a nice lead going into halftime. We shot 44 percent from inside the arch and 38 for the half so we were pleased. We continued to play well in the second half to secure the victory. The girls did a nice job keeping their focus and energy throughout the game which was nice to see.”
Several young Boscobel players and fans were in attendance at the JAG for the Wilderness Classic Tournament. They came for the annual Wilderness tournament. It was the seventh trip for the seniors and sixth trip for the juniors, who have been coming to the Dells tournament since they were middle schoolers.
“It was good to see our seniors all together on the floor at the end of the game,” added Kinney. “Katie (Kinney), Teah (Ward), and Sharde (Copus) have all been coming to the JAG Fieldhouse to play basketball since they were in fourth grade. The first game they played together at the JAG was on the main Court of Champions so it was nice to see them out there together again Saturday. Last year’s seniors and this year’s seniors started the JAG tradition several years ago. We have kept it going ever since. It was nice to see them all walk off the floor together and get a nice applause from our crowd with about 2.8 seconds left to go in the game.”
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Gavin Wunderlin, Jr., G/F, Potosi boys basketball
Potosi junior Gavin Wunderlin led all scorers with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free throw line to lead the Chieftains to a dominating 73–55 Six Rivers West victory over Benton last Tuesday night. Coach Mike Uppena’s squad currently sits second in the Six Rivers West conference standings with a record of 6–1, and are half a game behind league-leading River Ridge (6–0), who still has a make-up game to play with Highland. Wunderlin then finished the night with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 in Friday's 68–45 win at Highland.