MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Feb. 7–14)
SWAL BOYS BASKETBALL: #6 Mineral Point 75, #3 Cuba City 62
By Tom Gunnell, Tri-County Press/Republican Journal
MINERAL POINT — For the second time this season, Mineral Point used a stunning second-half rally to sink Cuba City in a battle of state-ranked SWAL boys’ basketball teams at MPHS on Thursday, Feb. 10.
The Division 4 #6-ranked Pointers outscored the D4 #3-ranked Cubans by a 44–17 margin over the 14 minutes of play to erase from 14-point deficit and run away with a 75–62 victory.
Mineral Point (19–2 overall) moves into sole possession of first-place in the SWAL at 10-1 and the Cubans (19–2) slide into second-place at 9–2 with just three league games remaining. Both teams have games remaining against third-place Darlington (16–4, 9–3), while the Pointers also face Southwestern and Boscobel and the Cubans play Fennimore and Riverdale.
In their first meeting at Cuba City on Jan. 7, the Cubans held a 29–13 lead at the half before the Pointers rallied for a 52–50 win.
On Thursday, Coach Jerry Petitgoue’s Cubans opened up a 35–29 halftime lead and then started the second half off on a 10–2 run to build up a 45–31 advantage.
Mineral Point’s Joah Filardo took over from there, scoring 24 of his game-high 31 points in the second half, including six straight during a 14–2 scoring burst that brought the Pointers back into the game with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The hosts grabbed the lead on back-to-back baskets by Leyton Bowers and Bodie Bossert, went ahead 60–54 on back-to-back baskets by Filardo with four minutes to play, and then outscored the Cubans 15–8 down the stretch to pull away.
Senior Mason Reese sank five 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 19 points to lead four Cubans in double figures. Senior Carter Olson scored 15 points, senior Ian Hinderman netted 13 points and junior Max Lucey chipped in with 10 for the Cubans.
Olson and Lucey, the Cubans’ two leading scorers this season, were held without a field goal in the second half by the Pointers.
Bowers scored 19 points, Bossert tallied 13 and senior Dominik McVay added eight for MP.
Next up, the Cubans have a SWAL game at Riverdale on Friday, Feb. 18.
Cuba City………... 35 27 – 62
Mineral Point…. 29 46 – 75
Cuba City– Carter Olson 15, Carter Niles 1, Mason Reese 19, Ian Hinderman 13, Max Lucey 10, Cody Houtaker 4. Totals — 18 19-26 62.
Mineral Point– Ward 2, Bowers 19, McVay 8, Bossert 13, Filardo 31, Acherman 2. Totals – 28 16-18 75.
3-point goals– CC 7 (Olson 1, Reese 5, Lucey 1), MP 3 (Bowers 1, Filardo 2). Total fouls– CC 16, MP 17. Fouled out– None.
