GAME OF THE WEEK: Boys Basketball

WIAA Sectional Playoffs

Senior Donovan Blevins and the Platteville Hillmen will face second-seeded Edgerton in a WIAA Division 3 Sectional Semifinal Thursday night at Oregon at 7 p.m. Blevins became Platteville's fourth member of the 1,000-point club when he scored a game-high 21 points on 9 of 10 shooting in Friday's 5739 regional final victory over River Valley.

Senior Donovan Blevins and the Platteville Hillmen will face second-seeded Edgerton in a WIAA Division 3 Sectional Semifinal Thursday night at Oregon at 7 p.m. Blevins became Platteville's fourth member of the 1,000-point club when he scored a game-high 21 points on 9 of 10 shooting in Friday's 5739 regional final victory over River Valley.

Jason Nihles

Updated: Mar 7, 2018, 6:21 PM

Published: Mar 7, 2018, 6:24 PM

GAME OF THE WEEK (March 8–14)

BOYS BASKETBALL: WIAA Sectional Playoffs

This Week’s Other Area Conference Games

Division 3: #1 Platteville (19–5) vs. #2 Edgerton (19–5), at Oregon, Thursday, 7 p.m., (Extreme 107.1 FM)

Platteville hammered Southwest Wisconsin Conference rival 57–39 in Saturday’s night’s WIAA Division 3 regional final. Senior forward Donovan Blevins became the fourth player in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career with a turnaround hook shot late in Saturday’s blowout.

It was the second straight regional title for the top-ranked Hillmen, who also won the program’s first conference title since 1996–97 this winter.

Platteville advances to face Edgerton, in a WIAA D3 sectional semifinal Thursday night at Oregon at 7 p.m. The Crimson Tide (19–5) won its regional title with a 61–48 victory over Lodi Saturday night. Edgerton, which tied for second in the Rock Valley South, is a defensive minded-team similar to Platteville that is allowing just 51.7 points per game. Senior guard/forward Jacob Fox averages 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to lead the Tide.

“Edgerton is a really well-coached, disciplined basketball team,” said Huser. “They have similar personnel to our team and with the style of play they execute we will have to be at our best. They have an outstanding record and have been consistent all season. In looking at the match up, it would appear to be very even as would be expected this time of year. It is exciting to be going back to the sectionals and being able to continue to participate in the WIAA tournament this deep into March.”

Blevins leads the Hillmen in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). Junior point guard Cade Rohrbach averaged 10.4 points and 3.4 assists per game.

Platteville’s season ended in the D3 sectional semifinals a year ago with a 45–43 loss to Adams–Friendship.

Division 4: #1 Mineral Point (19–4) vs. #6 La Crosse Aquinas (13–12) at Richland Center, Wednesday, 7 p.m., WGLR (97.7 FM)

SWAL champion Mineral Point defeated 8-seed Necedah, 64–52 last Friday, then steamrolled conference rival Darlington 75–50 in Saturday night’s WIAA Division 4 regional final. Sophomore point guard Isaac Lindsey poured in a game-high 26 points, freshman Brayden Dailey added 24 and the Pointers cruised after building a 42–23 halftime lead.

Point will face tournament Cindarella, sixth-seed La Crosse Aquinas tonight at 7 p.m. Aquians beat 11-seed Coulee Christian 71–54, 3-seed Wisconsin Heights 73–67, and 7-seed Onalaska Luther 57–37 to win its regional after a 10–12 regular season, which ended with a six-game losing streak. The Blugolds finished sixth in the Mississippi Valley Conference, playing against Division 1 teams like La Crosse Central and Onalaska, which will square off in a Division 1 Sectional Semifinal Thursday night.

Conley Malone (17.2 ppg), Brandon Merfeld (17.2 ppg) and Randy Jacobson (12.3) all average double figures for Aquinas.

Division 5: #1 Seneca (22–2) vs. #7 Southwestern (13–12), at Mineral Point, Thursday, 7 p.m., WGLR (97.7 FM)

Southwestern earned a spot in Thursday’s Division 5 sectional semifinals with a dramatic 60–59 buzzer-beating victory over 2-seed Potosi Friday night, then a holding 3-seed De Soto scoreless the final 3:30 in a 47–44 comeback victory in Saturday night’s regional final. The Wildcats will now battle top-seeded Seneca, the champion of the Ridge & Valley Conference. Dylan Rieken (11 ppg), Shaun Cooper (8.8 ppg) and Grant Jochum (8.2 ppg), Friday’s hero, lead Southwestern in scoring. After Potosi missed a pair of free throws with eight seconds left, Jochum drilled the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Indians (22–2) are led by senior Noah Allen (19.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.1 apg) and junior Jared Payne (16.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 7.4 apg). Seneca beat conference rival Wauzeka–Steuben 61–51 Saturday night to win a third straight regional title.

GIRLS BASKETBALL: WIAA State Tournament

Division 5: #1 Black Hawk (27–0) vs. #9 Wausau Newman Catholic (21–6)

Black Hawk will be making their first state appearance since their three-year run from 2009 to 2011 and, after receiving the top-seed in D5, the Warriors will face a familiar foe in #4-seeded and #9-ranked Newman Catholic (21–6) at Green Bay’s Resch Center on Friday, at 9:05 a.m.

The Fighting Cardinals had their way with Black Hawk in their last two state trips, defeating the Warriors, 64–30, in a D4 state championship game in 2010 and knocking off the Warriors, 64–40, in a state semifinal game in 2011 en route to a D5 state title. Newman Catholic is making its 10th state appearance and first since 2013.

Friday’s winner will advance to the D5 championship game on Saturday at 11:05 a.m. to face the winner of Friday’s other D5 semifinal game between #2-seeded and #3-ranked Bangor (24–3) and #3-seeded and #6-ranked Clayton (24–3).

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK (Six Rivers Baseball): #10 River Ridge 5, #5 Belmont 2

#11 Timberwolves upset #4 Braves to win a share of first baseball conference title

Sophomore Blake Reynolds collected the win on the mound, limiting #4 Belmont to two runs, one earned, on four hits, while striking out five batters and walking four over six innings to lead River Ridge to a 5–2 win over the Braves last Thursday. - photo by A.J. Gates

Sophomore Blake Reynolds collected the win on the mound, limiting #4 Belmont to two runs, one earned, on four hits, while striking out five batters and walking four over six innings to lead River Ridge to a 5–2 win over the Braves last Thursday. - photo by A.J. Gates

Updated: May 29, 2025, 5:54 PM

Published: May 29, 2025, 5:55 PM

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (May 20–27)
SIX RIVERS BASEBALL: #10 River Ridge 5, #5 Belmont 2

By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent

#10 Timberwolves upset #5 Braves to win a share of first baseball conference title
PATCH GROVE — Coming into the 2025 prep baseball season, coach Andrew Redman had a hunch his Timberwolves would be a strong contender for this year’s Six Rivers Conference baseball title.

“We have big goals to compete for our first-ever conference title,” coach Redman said this past April in the Grant County Herald Independent’s Spring Sports Preview.” We expect to finish high in the conference standings and rely on our experience from last season to lead us to a successful season.”

After finishing fourth in the conference standings a year ago with a league record of 4-8, the Timberwolves did in fact secure a share of this year’s conference baseball title with a victory in their final regular-season game of the year played last Thursday night.

With a 5–2 victory over visiting Belmont last Thursday night, coach Redman’s Timberwolves (16–7) team concluded the regular season with a league record of 14–2, claiming a share of this year’s conference title along with the Braves (17–5, 14–2).

Belmont, who entered the contest with a league mark of 14–1, could have taken sole possession of the conference crown for themselves with a win Thursday night, but the Timberwolves had other ideas.

“Coming out on top is a great feeling, knowing how much work our players and coaches have put into this,” said third-year head coach Andrew Redman. “My first two years as a head coach we won a total of seven conference games combined. This season alone we doubled that total with 14 conference wins, which was good enough to tie for the top spot.”

“The Six Rivers conference is loaded with great teams, and for us to claim one of the top spots is truly remarkable,” Redman added.

Aside from winning the first conference baseball title since the school’s inception in 1995, this year’s baseball team has also won the most games in a single season, and currently holds an overall record of 16-6 heading into the WIAA postseason tournament.

As they have done all season long, the trio of Blake Reynolds, Carter Copsey and Cael Koenig were at the forefront of last Thursday night’s win over Belmont, doing with their bats, their fielding and their arms.

Reynolds, who pitched the first six innings and collected the win on the mound, limited the Braves to two runs, one earned, on four hits, while striking out five batters and walking four.

Copsey came in to finish the game, pitching a scoreless seventh, striking out one batter and walking one.

At the plate, it was Koenig who led the Timberwolves, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. The team’s other four hits were scattered among Carter Copsey, Andre Nies, Noah Copsey and Brandon Davis.

After a scoreless tie for two and a half innings, the Timberwolves got on the board in the bottom of the third when Koenig’s one-run single scored Carter Copsey, who led off the inning with a double. Noah Copsey then followed with a one-run single of his own to score Koenig.

The Braves plated a run in the top of the fifth to make it a 2–1 River Ridge lead, but the Timberwolves responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Following back-to-back singles by Nies and Koenig, and an intention walk to Reynolds, Brandon Davis came up big with a bases-loaded two-run single to right field, scoring Nies and Koenig. Reynolds later scored on a wild pitch to give River Ridge a 5–1 lead.

The Braves added one run to their total in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t put anything together in the seventh with Copsey on the mound and the River Ridge defense behind him.

The Timberwolves are no strangers to close games this season, and have won a total of five conference games this season by one-run. They have also proven that, while Reynolds, Copsey and Koenig are undoubtedly the leaders of this team, they also have a stable of other role players that have come up big throughout the season.

“What makes this team special is that everybody takes their turn coming through in big moments,” said coach Redman. “We rely heavily on Blake, Carter and Cael, but three players alone doesn’t make a team. We’ve had several players who took on new or bigger roles this year and they contributed in big time spots.”

“This year our guys really focused on doing their jobs and accepting their roles on the team, which led us to having a successful season,” Redman added. “I’m proud of all our players and this program.”

Heading into the WIAA postseason tournament, the Timberwolves (16–7) hold the No. 2 seed in their division 4 sectional bracket. Following a first-round bye, coach Redman’s squad will host the winner between No. 7 seed North Crawford (10–9) and No. 10 seed Hillsboro (10–7) next Tuesday, June 3. The No. 1 seed in the bracket belongs to Seneca (20–2).

River Ridge 5, Belmont 2
(from Thursday, May 22, at Patch Grove)
Belmont..........000 011 0 — 2 4 2
River Ridge....002 030 x — 5 8 1
Leading hitters - RR: Cael Koenig 4x4. 2B — Carter Copsey (RR). W — Blake Reynolds (6IN,4H,1ER,5K,4BB). L — Austin (4IN,7H,5ER,4K,3BB). Other pitchers - RR: Carter Copsey (1IN,0H,0ER,1K,1BB).

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