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SWNEWS4U.COM ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Dillon Garthwaite
Dodgeville junior scores career-high 29 points in win at Platteville
Garthwaite
Dodgeville junior Dillon Garthwaite pumped in a game-high 29 points, including 12 in a critical 16–2 second-half run, to lead the visiting Dodgers to a 63–48 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory Friday night at PHS. - photo by Jason Nihles

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

Dillon Garthwaite, Jr., F, Dodgeville boys basketball
PLATTEVILLE — Dodgeville junior Dillon Garthwaite pumped in a game-high 29 points, including 12 in a critical 16–2 second-half run, to lead the visiting Dodgers to a 63–48 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory Friday night at PHS.

“Dillon Garthwaite is a really tough matchup for everyone that they play,” said Platteville head coach Mike Huser. “He made some great individual plays and when a scorer like that gets going it is tough to stop him. I was very impressed with how performed over the course of the entire game. I thought we played hard and our effort was great, but now we have to put everything together to get us to a point where we consistently do things right.”

Platteville's Devin Digman scored a pair of baskets early in the second half as the host Hillmen tied the game at 27–27, then Garthwaite took over.

He scored in the post, then after Pittz hit a pull-up jumper, the smooth 6’4” wing converted a 3-point play to give Dodgeville a seven-point lead. He then snatched a rebound on Platteville’s next possession and went coast-to-coast for an easy layup. He assisted on a basket by Garrett Busch the next time down court, then after rejecting a Heer shot attempt scored in the paint on a turnaround jumper over a Platteville double team.

After a driving layup by Platteville's Wyatt Heer ended the Dodgers’ burst, Garithwaite concluded his five-minute explosion with another three-point play to give the Dodgers a 43–29 lead with 10:30 left to play.

The Hillmen responded with 10 straight points of their own, on a Heer 3-pointer, a Digman post move and five straight points by Sparkman, but after a Dodgeville timeout Pittz and Garthwaite had the answer.

Pittz drilled his four 3-pointer of the game, and Garthwaite scored back-to-back baskets to push the Dodgeville lead to 50–39 with 6:36 left to play. Platteville only got as close as seven, at 55–48 on a 3-pointer with 1:37 left, the rest of the game.

Garthwaite, who is averaging 17.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, scored a career-high 29 points to lead the victorious Dodgers, (4–6, 1–2 SWC). He also scored a team-high 16 points in a 54–43 loss at Prairie du Chien last Tuesday and 12 in a  43–42 non-conference loss to Sauk Prairie on Saturday.


HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order): 
Braden Crubel, So., G, River Ridge boys basketball
The River Ridge sophomore guard continued his post-Christmas tear with a game-high 18 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds in Tuesday's 57–54 non-conference victory over Southwestern to help the Timberwolves improve to 11–0 no the season. Crubel hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points in a 77–27 win at Barneveld, Dec. 30, then matched that with 24 points in a 59–41 win at Benton last Tuesday. He also scored 12 points in a 77–26 win over Cassville last Friday. Crubel, who lead the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game, is averaging 19.5 points, 3 assists and 2.3 rebounds, while shooting 55.6 percent (30 of 54) in his last four games.


Blake Dax, So., 170, and Cal Dorota, Jr., 195,  Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling
Dax and Dorota each recorded three pins to lead the host Panthers (6–1, 3–1 SWAL) to three dual victories at last Friday night’s Iowa–Grant Quadrangular. Dax and Dorota helped the home team score team victories over SWAL rival Riverdale, 42–24, as well as non-conference victories over Weston/Ithaca, 49–30, and Pecatonica/Argyle, 48–28. Dax and Dorota both remained unbeaten and improved to 7–0 on the season.


Lily Krahn, Jr., PG, Prairie du Chien girls basketball
Krahn filled up the box score with a game-high 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in a dominating 62–32 non-conference victory over visiting Shullsburg Tuesday night. She made 11 of 19 shot attempts, including 6 of 11 from beyond the 3-point line. Krahn also averaged 22.3 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in three victories last week. he scored 20 in a 56–40 victory over Lancaster (11–2, 4–2 SWC, ranked #8 in Division 4) last Tuesday, 27 in a 54–38 win at Richland Center Thursday and 21 in a 43–35 win over Waunakee on Saturday. Krahn is averaging a conference-high 22.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the undefeated Blackhawks (10–0, 4–0 SWC, #2 in Division 3)


Ryan McCartney, Sr., 195, and Allen Cohen, Sr., 220,  Lancaster wrestling
McCartney and Cohen both went 3–0 with three pins to lead the Flying Arrows (5–3, 3–1 SWC) to a pair of victories at last Friday night’s Prairie du Chien Southwest Wisconsin Conference Quad. McCartney and Cohen helped the Arrows score victories over Richland Center, 70–6, and River Valley, 60–18, after a 50–21 loss to the host Blackhawks to begin the night.  On the year, McCartney is 9–0 in varsity matches and 13–0 overall (including exhibition matches), while Cohen is 8–0 in varsity matches and 13–2 overall.


Brynlee Nelson, Sr., PG, Fennimore girls basketball
Nelson has found her grove. After struggling with her shot early in the season, Nelson has scored more than 20 points in four straight games to lead the surging Golden Eagles (6–7, 6–3 SWAL) to four victories. Nelson had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals in a 47–40 win at Riverdale last Monday. She then poured in a season-high 26 points on 9 of 15 shooting in a 60–32 blowout win over Cuba City last Thursday. She led the way with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in a 70–31 rout of Boscobel Saturday, then scored 24 points in a 67–37 rematch victory over visiting Boscobel on Tuesday. Nelson, a two-time first-team All-SWAL selection, is averaging 24 points on 37 of 76 shooting (48.7 percent) and 4.3 steals per game during Fennimore's four-game winning streak.


Camryn Nies, So., PG, Platteville girls basketball
Sophomore point guard Camryn Nies made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points, with six assists and four steals to lead Platteville to a 67–55 comeback victory over the Cheesemakers (1–2), snapping the three-game skid. Two nights later Nies scored a game-high 17, including four clutch free throws in the closing minute to lift the Hillmen to a 60–46 Southwest Wisconsin Conference victory at Lancaster Thursday night in a battle for second place in the league standings. Nies’ hot hand early in the game helped Platteville build a commanding 28–12 with 3:52 left in the first half against the Arrows, as she buried three first-half triple and helped hold Lancaster leading scorer Kiley Kelly to just one field goal, and six points, in the first half. Nies finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in Thursday's win, then had another nice all-around game with 14 points, four steals, three assists, three rebounds and two made three-pointers in a 61–42 SWC road win at River Valley on Saturday.


Tyler Rizner, Jr., G, Richland Center boys basketball
Rizner hit a pair of open 3-pointers and made a breakaway layup, and finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Hornets (9–1, 4–0 SWC) to a 63–57 SWC road victory at Lancaster (10–3, 3–1 SWC) in a battle of first place teams. Rizner also scored a game-high 22 points in a 67–42 SWC victory at Platteville last Tuesday night.