EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Jack Misky, Sr., F, Cuba City boys basketball
Cuba City senior Jack Misky led the Division 4 #1-ranked Cubans (12–0, 8–0 SWAL) in scoring in three of their four SWAL wins over the span of a five-day period and highlighted his action-packed week by becoming the latest member of the Cubans’ 1,000-Point Club with a 26-point performance in the win over Fennimore on Thursday night.
The UW–Milwaukee track and field signee led the Cubans in scoring in three of their four games and finished in double figures in all four contests to finish the week with 1,042 career points. Misky scored 14 points and had seven rebounds and two blocked shots in the Cubans' 80-70 victory over Division 3 #8-ranked Darlington (10–4, 6–1) at CCHS on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Then, he posted a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds in a 62-46 win over Fennimore (7–4, 4–3), 62–46, at home on Thursday, Jan. 21, and registered another huge double-double performance for the Cubans with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three assists and a blocked shot in a 77–62 win at Mineral Point (12–3, 5–3) on Friday, Jan. 22. Finally, to wrap up the week, Misky finished with a game-high 15 points in an 84-41 rout of Riverdale (2–8, 0–6) at CCHS on Saturday, Jan. 23.
Misky, who leads the undefeated Cubans with 223 points this season, joins with his older sister, Elizabeth, to form only brother-sister duo in school history to reach the 1,000 point milestone.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Layla Alt, Sr., F, Shullsburg girls basketball
Alt averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4 assists in a pair of SRW victories over Highland last week to help the Miners (14–6, 7–0) take a commanding lead in the conference standings. Alt had 20 points and 5 boards in a 57–50 win at Highland last Monday, then posted nine points and 12 rebounds in a 47–37 victory over the visiting Cardinals (11–7, 4–2) Thursday night.
Maddie Cooley, Sr., F, Platteville girls basketball
Cooley averaged 14 points on 64.2 percent (18 of 28), 6.3 rebounds and 2 assists to lead the Hillmen (9–5) to three straight wins last week. She finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in a 61–56 win at D4 #3 Mineral Point last Tuesday, then poured in a career- and game-high 18 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in a 75–56 win over Richland Center Thursday night before posting 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in a 62–48 win over Monona Grove Saturday.
Claire Faulkner, Sr., G, Fennimore girls basketball
Faulkner made 11 of 19 shots and erupted for a career-high 26 points, had five steals and four rebounds in a 52–33 win at Southwestern last Thursday night.
Wes Keller, Sr., F, Richland Center boys basketball
Keller scored a game-high 21 points on 10 of 15 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead SWC-leading Richland Center (10–2, 5–1), which was without leading scorer junior Tyler Rizner, to a 60–40 win over visiting Richland Center Friday night. Keller is averaging 16.9 points and a team-best 10.9 rebounds per game.
Lance Nichols, Sr., F, River Ridge boys basketball
Nichols played perhaps his best game of the season according to coach Tom Nieses last Tuesday night, scoring 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and finished with five blocked shots, four rebounds and two assists in a 53–52 non-conference victory at Fennimore. Nichols also scored 13 points, grabbed six boards and blocked two shots in a 65–59 victory at D5 #5 Wauzeka/Steuben (11–2) on Saturday, and 11 points and five rebounds in a 56–41 win at Pecatonica last Friday night.
Brooke Von Glahn, So., Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster gymnastics team
Von Glahn won the uneven bars (8.35) and the floor exercise (8.65), and placed third in the all-around (32.925) to lead the Platteville/Lancaster team to a second-place finish at last Saturday's Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton/Darlington Invitational. The Hillmen split into two teams (Pla/Lan and Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster) for the competition and finished both second and fourth in the team standings behind champion Prairie du Chein/Fennimore.
