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GAME OF THE WEEK (prep basketball): Six Rivers All-Star Basketball Classic
West girls, East boys win at 13th annual Six Rivers All-Star Classic
West girls
THE 2018 Six Rivers West All-Star girls basketball team included, front row, from left to right: Kylie Esser, Nicole Teutschmann, Faith Ubersox, Hannah Udelhofen, Maria Breuer and Rachael Herrick. Back row: Sophie Langkamp, Brianna Leahy, Kassandra Palzkill, Briana Ernst, Emma Lawrence, Abby Kaiser, Allison Ploessl and Head Coach Nathan Russell. Missing from photo is Assistant Coach Tim Strang.

SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (June 27–July 3)

SIX RIVERS CONFERENCE ALL-STAR BASKETBALL CLASSIC

JUDA — For the third year in a row, the West girls and the East boys team came away victorious at the Six Rivers Conference All-Star Basketball Classic.

The West girls’ All-Star team defeated their East counterparts 62–50 to improve their all-time record to 10–3 in the 13-year history of the event, while the East boys’ All-Stars broke away early and cruised to a 99–57 win to also move to 10–3 all-time at the Classic.

In the fifth annual 3-point shooting contest, the East shooters set a new record with 62 made treys as they buried the West, 186–165, to end the West’s two-year reign as 3-point champions.

The true winner of the night was American Family Children’s Hospital, which received a generous donation of over $1,372 on behalf the Six Rivers Conference from the proceeds of the gate and concession sales. In the 13-year history of the All-Star event, the Six Rivers Conference has donated more than $19,000 to the Children’s Hospital.

“What a noble amount to contribute to the American Family Children’s Hospital, and a telling testament as to the influence of the conference,” said Black Hawk girls’ basketball coach and event organizer Michael Flanagan. “A huge shout out comes out to all who made last night’s event a success.”

Girls’ All-Star Game: West 62, East 50

Potosi’s Abby Kaiser, the 2017-18 Six Rivers West Player of the Year, scored a team-high 14 points and Shullburg’s Brianna Leahy– the West’s 2015-16 Player of the Year– chipped in with 11 points to lead the West All-Stars to a 62–50 win over the East All-Stars at the 13th annual Six Rivers Classic.

The teams swapped the lead five times early until a pair of free throws by Belmont’s Briana Ernst put the West ahead to stay at 10–9.

Lawrence followed with seven straight points to pump the West’s advantage to 17–9 midway through the first half, and the West outscored the East 12–11 the rest of the way to take a 29–20 lead into the intermission.

The West maintained a double digit lead for much of the second half, extending it out to as many as 21 at 50–29.

The East went down firing, connecting from 3-point range on their final seven baskets to cut the deficit back to 12, but the West held on to post their third straight win in the series.

The West went 12-for-16 from the free throw line in the second half to hold off the East, and they finished 18-for-23 at the line for the game. The East only shot 4-for-8 at the stripe.

The West also knocked down 19 2-point baskets compared to the East’s five 2-point field goals, while the East sank 12 3-pointers compared to just two made treys by the West.

Kaiser scored eight of her 14 points in the second half, and Leahy tallied nine of her 11 points in that same period, including a 5-of-6 effort at the foul line, to guide the West to victory.

Lawrence and Langkamp each hit a 3 and scored nine points apiece for the West, while Ernst and her Belmont teammate Kassandra Palzkill each added six points in the win.

Barneveld’s Taryn Pickarts connected on five second-half treys to finish with a game-high 15 points for the East.

Barneveld’s Grace Schultz added three 3s to net nine points, while Roth and Hagen hit two 3s apiece and added eight and six points, respectively, for the East.

Shullsburg head coach Nathan Russell improved to 4–0 all-time in his All-Star Game appearances after guiding the West to a win for the second straight year, while Coach Flanagan slipped to 1–5 as the East All-Star coach after suffering his second straight loss to his friend.

 

2018 Six Rivers Girls All-Star Game

West 62, East 50

(from Friday, June 29 @ Juda)

West................ 29  33 — 62

East................. 20  30 — 50

West — Faith Ubersox (Shullsburg) 1, Abby Kaiser (Potosi) 14, Emma Lawrence (Benton) 9, Kassandra Palzkill (Belmont) 6, Briana Ernst (Belmont) 6, Nicole Teutschmann (Shullsburg) 0, Brianna Leahy (Shullsburg) 11, Allison Ploessl (River Ridge) 0, Rachael Herrick (River Ridge) 0, Sophie Langkamp (Potosi) 9, Maria Breuer (River Ridge) 4, Kylie Esser (Highland) 2, Hannah Udelhoven 0. Totals — 21 18-23 62.

East — Mackenzie Byrne (Juda) 2, Brianna Hagen (Black Hawk) 6, Maddie Roth (Juda) 8, Grace Schutz (Barneveld) 9, Hannah Herbst (Black Hawk) 2, Brook Kahler (Albany) 0, Jessica Walker (Barneveld) 0, Taryn Pickarts (Barneveld) 15, Courtney Skaife (Barneveld) 3, Hailey Kammerer (Juda) 0, Brooklyn Hogan-Weier (Barneveld) 5. Totals — 17 4-8 50.

3-pointers: West 2 (Lawrence 1, Langkamp 1); East 12 (Pickarts 5, Schutz 3, Hagen 2, Roth 2).

 

Boys’ All-Star Game: East 99, West 57

Five players scored in double figures led by Barneveld’s Kauy Fargo, the 2017-18 Six Rivers East Player of the Year, with 18 points as the East routed the short-handed West 99–57 in the boys’ Six Rivers Classic.

The West All-Stars, who had just seven available players, were led by Spriggs with 15 points.

Trailing 3–0 early, the East poured in 12 unanswered points to jump into the lead and they never looked back. Their lead swelled to 25–5 thanks to some deadeye 3-point shooting.

The West closed the gap back to 14 with four minutes remaining in the opening half, however the East tacked on 10 more points to their lead before the intermission to head into the half up 53–29 and then extended their lead out to 34 points just four minutes in the second half to erase any hope for a West comeback.

Three-point shooting and dunk attempts ruled play the rest of the way as the East rolled to the second largest margin of victory (42 points) in All-Star Game history.

The East buried 40 field goals in the game, including 18 from beyond the 3-point arch with eight different players hitting two or more treys in the onslaught. Juda’s Cole Fortney and Black Hawk’s Jason Treuthardt each netted three 3s for the East.

Fortney finished with 15 points and Juda teammate Haffele added 14 for the East, who also got 10 each from Argyle’s Brent Ritschard and Black Hawk’s CJ Leuzinger.

Treuthardt and Pecatonica’s Evan Prust scored nine apiece and Ignatius tallied eight for the East.

Redman scored 13 points for the West. Potosi’s Alex Udelhofen added eight, Belmont’s Jacob Wedig contributed seven and Potosi’s Austin Schmitz netted six on the night.

Black Hawk head coach Charlie Anderson guided the East to the victory in his All-Star game debut, while Potosi’s Mike Uppena slipped to 0–2 as the West’s coach.

 

2018 Six Rivers BoysAll-Star Game

West 99, East 57

(from Friday, June 29 @ Juda)

West................ 29  28 — 57

East................. 53  46 — 99

West — Ty Bloom (River Ridge) 2, Alex Udelhofen (Potosi) 8, Ryan Redman (River Ridge) 13, Nic Spriggs (Potosi) 15, Austin Schmitz (Potosi) 6, Jacob Wedig (Belmont) 7, Brandon Kinyon (Cassville) 3, Team 3. Totals — 23 1-4 57.

East — Brent Ritschard (Argyle) 10, Jason Treuthardt (Black Hawk) 9, Keegan Haffele (Juda) 14, Evan Prust (Pecatonica) 9, Jon Errthum (Albany), 4, Kauy Fargo (Barneveld) 18, Cole Fortney (Juda) 15, Jacob Slaney (Barneveld) 2, Jonas Ignatius (Barneveld) 8, CJ Leuzinger (Black Hawk) 10. Totals — 40 1-8 99.

3-pointers: West (Redman 3, Spriggs 3, Udelhofen 1, Wedig 1, Kinyon 1, Team 1); East 18 (Treuthardt 3, Fortney 3, Ritschard 2, Haffele 2, Prust 2, Fargo 2, Ignatius 2, Leuzinger 2).

 

3-Point Shoot-Out: East 186, West 165

Black Hawk’s Brianna Hagen and Juda’s Maddie Roth outscored Benton’s Emma Lawrence and Potosi’s Sophie Langkamp 93–81 during the girls’ round to lift the East out to the lead, and then Barneveld’s Jonas Ignatius and Juda’s Keegan Haffele matched their partners by outscoring the West team of Potosi’s Nic Spriggs and River Ridge’s Ryan Redman, 93–84, to seal their record-setting 186–165 victory. The East now leads the all-time series 3–2.

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK (College Football): Wisconsin Badgers open fall camp at UW–Platteville
Wisconsin returns to Platteville to prepare for nation’s #1-ranked toughest schedule
Dillon Jones
Redshirt freshman running back Dilin Jones works on ball security during positional drills at Monday’s practice at UW–Platteville. Jones appears to be the favorite to start at tailback this year. He rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries a year ago before being redshirted. - photo by A.J. Gates

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 30–Aug. 6)
College Football: Badgers open fall camp at UW–Platteville

By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent / Tri-County Press / The Platteville Journal

Wisconsin returns to  Platteville to prepare for nation’s #1-ranked toughest schedule
PLATTEVILLE — Third-year head coach Luke Fickell and his Wisconsin Badger football team arrived in Platteville last Monday evening, and took to the field for their first of 10 practices at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium Tuesday morning.

Fickell and the Badgers, who will be in Platteville until Sunday, will hold one practice open to the public on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $5 with free admission to those 12 and under.

After going 5–7 last season and missing out on being bowl eligible for the first time since 2001, coach Fickell enters the 2025 season with a two-year record of 13–13 at Wisconsin.

His original seven-year contract worth $54.6 million was extended this past February by one year, good until March of 2032.

Being the 18th highest paid coach in the FBS, and the fifth highest paid coach in the Big Ten, Fickell will be put to the test this season, as Wisconsin faces the No. 1 toughest college football schedule in the country for the 2025 season.

Among Wisconsin’s 12-game regular-season schedule are home games against Ohio State, Iowa, Washington, Maryland and Illinois. Their road schedule is even more daunting with games at Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, Indiana and Minnesota.

According to the latest preseason poll by the Associated Press, Ohio State enters the season ranked No. 1 in the country, Oregon is No. 3, Indiana No. 10, Illinois No. 16 and Alabama No. 17.

In a recent poll of Big Ten reporters, the Badgers were picked to again finish 12th in the Big Ten field of 18 teams. 

The Badgers need to win at least six games to be bowl eligible this year, and only one win against an FCS opponent counts toward that total.

The foundation for the upcoming 2025 season is now being laid down in Platteville, where the nine other practices open only to the media, offer a glimpse at some of the veterans returning to the Wisconsin program, and also many of the new faces that will be looked upon to play significant roles this coming season.

Gone to the NFL are Jack Nelson (OT) and Hunter Wohler (S), while Braeden Locke (QB), Tawee Walker (RB) and Will Pauling (WR) are among those who transferred out of Wisconsin to other college programs.

Also gone is offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who was fired last November after his “Air-Raid” offense ranked 107th nationally in scoring last season.

Hired in his place is new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, who spent last year as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Kansas. Grimes also held coaching positions at Baylor, BYU, LSU, Virgina Tech, Auburn, Colorado, Arizona State and Boise State.

With the hiring of Grimes, the Badgers appear committed to getting back to their offensive roots of physical line play up front and a steady dose of the run game. Hopefully the misdirection plays and spread formations inside the red zone will be replaced with a hard-nosed power rushing attack between the tackles.

It’s been said that offensive linemen like playing for Grimes, who allows the big men up front to be the aggressors at the line of scrimmage.

Under center for the Badgers this season will be transfer quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who last year at Maryland completed 273-of-420 pass attempts for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

His back-ups look to be senior Hunter Simmons and sophomore Danny O’Neil. Simmons is a transfer from Southern Illinois and O’Neil a transfer from San Diego State.

Among the top receiving targets for Edwards will be returner Vinny Anthony, who caught 39 passes last season for a team-high 672 yards and four TDs.

Joining him out wide looks to be a combination of Chris Brooks Jr. and Ohio State transfer Jayden Ballard, while Trech Kekahuna will be playing in the slot left vacant by Pauling who transferred to Notre Dame.

If there is one player on the Badger’s offense to keep an eye on this season, it has to be Trech Kekahuna (#2). As a redshirt freshman, Kekahuna caught 25 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns, but entered his name into the transfer portal at the end of lasat season. 

A phone call and meeting with Grimes convinced him to stay in Wisconsin, and the redshirt sophomore has been turning a lot of heads at fall camp ever since. Badger fans will be glad Kekahuna is wearing red and white and not the yellow and green of the Oregon Ducks, who also offered the speedster a scholarship out of high school.

Lining up at tight end are Tucker Ashcraft and Lance Mason, while Jake Renfro (C), Joe Brunner (LG) and Riley Mahlman (RT) look to anchor the offensive line.

With last year’s leading rusher in Tawee Walker transferring to Cincinnati, the starting running back position appears to belong to Dilin Jones, with Darrion Dupree, Gideon Ituka and Cade Yacamelli getting some reps.

Jones, who according to 247sports, is the second-highest rated running back recruit in program history next to John Clay, appeared in three games during his redshirt season last year, rushing for 88 yards on 16 carries. 

There appear to be a few more questions than answers on the defensive side of the ball early in the season, where the three anchors of the defensive secondary look to be Christian Alliegro (LB), Preston Zachman (S) and Ricardo Hallman (CB).

Most of the defensive question marks appear to be on the defensive line, where of the 21 transfers signed by the Badgers during the offseason, seven were defensive linemen. There were also two transfers added at linebacker, two at cornerback and two at safety.

After giving up an average of 165 rushing yards per game, defensive coordinator Mike Tressel looked for more size up front coming into the 2025 season, and it appears he found it.

Of the 11 defensive linemen listed on this year’s roster, seven are 300 pounds or heavier, with another at 299 and one more at 295. The average weight in the defensive line room is 305 pounds, with the shortest standing at 6’2” and the tallest at 6’5”.

At the head of the line during defensive drills were Ben Barten (6’5”-323), Charles Perkins (6’2”-316), Jay’Viar Suggs (6’3”-299) and Parker Petersen (6’4”-315).

Anchoring the linebacker crew looks to be Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis, while the secondary will be lead by safeties Preston Zachman and Austin Brown along with cornerback Ricardo Hallman.

While it’s true the Badgers have the No. 1 toughest schedule in college football this season, I’m convinced after spending a few days at fall camp that they have some pieces in place that could surprise some people.