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
Zeke Zuberbuhler, Jr., G, Darlington boys basketball
LIVINGSTON — With the threat of an upset from Mineral Point in the rear view, the Redbirds are in the clear. They proved that with road victories at Lancaster (12–8) on Feb. 10, 76–64, Iowa–Grant (13–7, 6–5 SWAL) two nights later, 62–48, and River Valley (11–11) on Feb. 16, 76–48.
The conference matchup was the milestone game for #6 Darlington (19–2, 12–0) junior Zeke Zuberbuhler, who crossed the 1,000-point mark with a 20-point game-leading effort. He also had seven rebounds, five assists and five steals for the winners. Last Tuesday, Zuberbuhler scored a game-high 27 points and had three rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 76–64 win over SWC champion Lancaster (14–8, 7–2 SWC).
In Monday's 76–48 rout of River Valley, the junior guard had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. One night later, Zuberbuhler scored a team-high 16 points and had five assists and three rebounds as the Redbirds improved to 12–0 in league play and clinched at least a share of this year's SWAL title with a 71–45 blowout win over visiting Boscobel (7–14, 2–11 SWAL).
Zuberbuhler is averaging a team-high 15.4 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game so far this year.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Broker Buschor, Sr., F, Darlington boys basketball
Buschor posted 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks Tuesday night as the Redbirds improved to 12–0 in league play and clinched at least a share of this year's SWAL title with a 71–45 blowout win over visiting Boscobel (7–14, 2–11 SWAL). He also tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in a 76–48 non-conference win at River Valley Monday night. Buschor had 11 rebounds and a season-high 19 rebounds in a 62–48 SWAL win over Iowa–Grant last Thursday night. Buschor is averaging 14.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game for the first-place Redbirds.
Brandon Davis, Sr., PG, River Ridge boys basketball
Davis poured in a game-high 33 points on 12 of 17 from the field and a perfect 8 of 8 at the free throw line, and had eight rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks in a 75–75 Six Rivers West win over Shullsburg last Friday night. He then tallied 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 58–56 overtime win over first-place Potosi/Cassville (14–7, 13–2) Tuesday night. Davis opened last week with a 18-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist performance in an 86–55 blowout win of visiting Highland Monday, Feb. 9.
Mya Milz, Sr., G, Black Hawk girls basketball
Milz erupted for a game-high 38 points on 14 of 21 shooting, and had nine rebounds and six steals in a 47–36 Six Rivers East win over Juda lastTuesday night. She also scored a game-high 35 points, and had eight rebounds and six assists in a 60–43 loss to Potosi/Cassville last Friday night. She also
Manahttyn Udelhofen, Sr., PG, Potos/Cassville girls basketball
Udelhofen scored a game-high 20 points, had 11 rebounds, nine assists and five steals to lead the Chieftains to a 68–37 win at Benton last Tuesday night. Last Friday, she scored a game-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 60–43 win over Black Hawk. Udelhofen then posted a game-high 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 61–56 win over Dodgeville Tuesday night. The PC senior averaged 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game over Potosi/Cassville's three-game winning streak.
