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MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U CO-GAME OF THE WEEK (SWAL Boys Basketball): Southwestern 79, #1 Mineral Point 77, OT
Wildcats hand #1 Pointers their first loss
Keleher
Southwestern junior point guard Aiden Keleher hit five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 21 points to lead the Wildcats to a 79–77 overtime victory at D4 #1-ranked Mineral Point last Friday night. (file photo by Casey Lindecrantz / Tri-County Press)

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Jan. 14–21)
SWAL BOYS BASKETBALL: Southwestern 79, #1 Mineral Point 77, OT

By A.J. Gates, Tri-County Press, Herald Independent

Wildcats hand #1 Pointers their first loss

MINERAL POINT — As if it wasn’t already known amongst the coaches and players in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League, let this be your warning, coach Clint Nemitz and his Southwestern boys basketball squad do not shy away from a challenge.

Six weeks after suffering a 69–49 home loss to Mineral Point, coach Nemitz and his Wildcats traveled to Mineral Point last Friday night, where they handed the undefeated Pointers a 79–77 loss in overtime.

While the victory gave the Wildcats a SWAL record of 5–3 and an overall mark of 12–3, the state’s top-ranked division 4 squad from Mineral Point fell to 7–1 in league play and 10-1 overall.

“For these guys to go into Mineral Point and beat a team that was undefeated against a lot of really good teams says so much about these kids,” said coach Nemitz of the win.

A relatively crazy week for the Wildcats really began on Thursday, Jan. 9, with a five-point loss to neighboring Cuba City. From there, Southwestern traveled to Fennimore, where they squeaked out a 59–52 victory over the Golden Eagles last Tuesday evening, before taking on the top-seeded Pointers.

“Coming off an emotional loss to Cuba City at home, we played at Fennimore in a game that I thought felt kind of trappy,” explained coach Nemitz. “Our guys were a little sluggish, and Fennimore gave us a lot of problems. However, with it being a Tuesday–Friday schedule, it gave us an extra day to prepare for Mineral Point, which was extremely important,” Nemitz added.

In those two days of practice leading up to Friday  night’s game, coach Nemitz emphasized the importance of breaking the Pointer’s pressure, which has plagued the Wildcats in the past.

Both teams seeming had found their range early in the contest, as 3-pointers were raining down on both ends of the court, making for a close contest early in the opening minutes of the first half.

The Pointers then created a little distance, taking an eight-point lead midway through the half, only to see Southwestern end the session with a run of their own to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room.

Knowing the Pointers were going to come out with their pressure defense in the second half, coach Nemitz’ halftime speech prepared his Wildcats for what was to come in the next 18 minutes.

“The kids did an absolutely incredible job attacking the 1–3–1 and 1–2–2 zone defenses,” Nemitz said. “Finding teammates the entire time and being aggressive.”

In the second half, junior point guard Aiden Keleher caught fire from the outside, extending Southwestern’s lead to as many at 18 points midway through the final half.

“It was a shooting performance from Aiden that we had seen a couple times this year, and he showed up when it mattered most,” coach Nemitz said of his point guard.

Early on in the second half, it seemed everything was going Southwestern’s way, as they got timely 3-pointers from seniors Austin Furlong and Everett Droessler, along with the inside-outside game of junior Caden DeMuth, and a spark off the bench from sophomore Carsen Splinter.

“Everyone was dialed in,” said coach Nemitz.

As good teams often do though, Mineral Point clawed there way back into the game in the final eight minutes, getting some huge 3-pointers from Jaxson Wendhaussen, and a much improved effort from their players in the post. The Pointers eventually recaptured the lead late in the contest, but left just enough time for a little Southwestern magic at the end.

During a timeout, coach Nemitz drew up a play to get the ball into the hands of Droessler, who has hit a number of big shots for the Wildcats in his career. As he has done in the past, Droessler came up big yet again, hitting a huge shot from the corner to give Southwestern a 79-77 lead with only seconds to play.

The Pointers had the final shot, which was defended perfectly by the Wildcats, who held on for the upset victory.

“Not often does a road team go to overtime and win after blowing a lead, so I was extremely happy with the way the guys defended that last possession,” said coach Nemitz. “Through a series of switches, we ended up with our best defender on the ball with the clock winding down and Jack Runde against anyone with the game on the line is one I would bet my mortgage on.”

With four players scoring in double figures, and another one point away, it was Keleher leading the Wildcats with 21 points, followed by Droessler with 18, DeMuth 14 and Furlong 10. Chipping in nine points was Splinter off the bench. Jack Runde pulled down a team-high six rebounds, while Droessler dished out a team-high eight assists to go along with two steals.

The Wildcats concluded the contest making 30-of-51 (59%) shot attempts, including 13-of-22 (59%) from 3-point range. They were 6-of-12 (50%) from the free throw line and committed just nine turnovers.

“Nothing is guaranteed in the future by beating Mineral Point, but just the growth these guys made in one week from Cuba City to Mineral Point, I can’t do anything but smile,” said coach Nemitz.


Southwestern 79, Mineral Point 77
(from Friday, Jan. 17, at Mineral Point)
Southwestern...42 37 - 79
Mineral Point.....38 39 - 77
Southwestern - Remi Lawrence 3, Aiden Keleher 21, Carsen Splinter 9, Austin Furlong 10, Everett Droessler 18, Cayden DeMuth 14, Bryce Pearce 4. Totals - 30-51, 6-12 79.
Mineral Point - Jaxson Wendhausen 20, Eli Lindsey 19, Drew Aschliman 22, Tucker Dannenberg 5, Keaton Dempsey 5, Jacob Phillips 6. Totals - 26 15-27 77.
3-point goals - SW: (13-22) Keleher 5, Droessler 3, Furlong 2, Lawrence 1, Splinter 1, DeMuth 1; MP: Wendhausen 5, Lindsey 2, Aschliman 2, Dannenberg 1. Team fouls - SW 20, MP 15. Fouled out - Splinter (SW).