MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Jan. 13–20)

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Potosi/Cassville girls run winning streak to six games.

POTOSI — The Potosi/Cassville girls basketball team used a full court 1-3–1 press to overwhelm the visiting River Valley Blackhawks 59–30 in a non-conference game last Tuesday night.

The Chieftains forced more than 30 turnovers in the rout and finished the game with 23 steals. The home team raced out to a 34–16 halftime lead and never trailed en route to a fifth straight win.

Four different Chieftains scored in double figures, led by senior Anna Kartman’s game-high 15 points.

“The girls played well against River Valley,” said Potosi/Cassville head coach Brad Bierman. “Our defense continues to be strong and we limited our turnovers to 15 for the game.”

Kartman shot an efficient 6 for 8 from the field, and grabbed six rebounds and three steals. Fellow senior Logan Hubbard finished with 14 points, including 6 for 10 from the free throw line, snatched seven rebounds and a team-high six steals. Junior point guard Mykaylia Bauer made a pair of 3-pointers en rout to 11 points, and also tallied two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Senior Lilly Post chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Potosi/Cassville improved to 6–4 on the season, while River Valley fell to 1–12.

Monday night the Chieftains turned in another dominating performance with a 73–41 victory over visiting Southwestern. 

Potosi/Cassville’s full court pressure once again cause fits for its opponents. Coach Bierman’s surging co-op forced the struggling Wildcats (2–9) into more than 30 turnovers and finished the contest with 23 steals en route to a sixth-straight victory. It was also the third straight game that Potosi/Cassville recorded 20-plus steals and forced more than 30 turnovers.

The Chieftains are outscoring their opponents by an average of 60–31.2 while averaging 19.5 steals per contest.

The four Potosi/Cassville seniors all scored in double figures and nine of the team’s 11 players tallied at least three points in the latest victory over Southwestern. Senior Sydney Fecht made 3 of 5 3-point attempts and finished with a career-high 13 points, four steals and three assists to lead the way. Hubbard also scored a co-game-high 13 points to go along with a team-high six steals, five rebounds and three assists for the winners. Kartman finished with 12 points on an efficient 6 of 10 shooting from the field, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and passed out four assists. Post finished with 11 points, five boards and two steals.

Junior Jessica Noonan added none points and five steals, while Bauer, freshman Emily Bierman and junior Kylie Reuter scored four points apiece, and junior Skylar Otte drilled a 3-pointer.

“We are playing well as a team right now,” said coach Bierman. “All four seniors in double figures last night. We are limiting turnovers and playing solid defense.”

The Chieftains’ Six River West game at Benton was postponed Friday night due to COVID-19 issues in the Zephyrs’ program. It has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6. Potosi/Cassville will travel to River Ridge (3–3, 0–2) Thursday night, which recently had a two-week team quarantine of its own. 

The Chieftains will also host Mount Horeb Saturday at 1 p.m. Saturday’s regularly-scheduled non-conference game with Rio was cancelled.

Potosi/Cassville will also travel to Belmont Monday night for its fifth game in eight days.

Looking ahead to the playoffs

The WIAA rearranged the playoff assignments last week, to rebalance all five divisions due to a number of urban schools not being able to compete this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Potosi/Cassville was one of those teams directly affected by the WIAA decision, as the Chieftains were moved from Division 5 up to Division 4 and was placed in the same five-team regional with SWAL schools Mineral Point (9–4), Cuba City (10–5), Darlington (7–8) and Southwestern (2–9). Boscobel (5–10), Fennimore (8–7), Iowa–Grant (2–14), Riverdale (6–7) and River Ridge (3–3) are in the other regional in the half-sectional.

“As far as moving up to Division 4, we are just glad they are running a tournament and giving us the opportunity,” said Bierman. “Our original D5 sectional would have been very challenging and you’re going to run into good teams in the tournament no matter what division you are in. There were some good teams from D4  like Lancaster and LaCrosse Aquanis that moved up to D3, so it seems like it all kind of balanced out. With all of the quarantining going on right now we are just hoping to be healthy and able to participate in the tournament.” 

Potosi/Cassville 59, River Valley 30
(from Tuesday, Jan. 12 @ Potosi/Cassville)
River Valley 16 14 —  30
Potosi/Cassville 34 25 —  59
River Valley (1–12) — Brooke Anderson 6, Jewell 2, Emily Esser 11, Charlotte Ferstl 4, Ava Liegel 5, Zaemisch 3. Totals — 10 6-14 30.
Potosi/Cassville (6–4) — Mykaylia Bauer 11, Jessica Noonan 2, Lilly Post 10, Logan Hubbard 14, Ally Ihm 1, Anna Kartman 15, Emily Bierman 5, Kylie Reuter 1. Totals — 20-51 16-30 59.
3-point goals — RV: 4 (Anderson 2, Esser 2), P: 3-14 (Bauer 2, Bierman 1). Team fouls — RV: 21, P/C: 10. Fouled out — RV: Brickl.

Potosi/Cassville 73,  Southwestern 41
(from Monday, Jan. 18 @ Potosi)
Southwestern 18 23 —  41
Potosi/Cassville 42 31 —  73
Southwestern (2–9) — Alisa Rameker 6, Hannah Lacey 11, Lucy Freiburger 8, Mallory Kaiser 13, Grant 2, Splinter 1. Totals — 16 5-16 41.
Potosi/Cassville (7–4) — Mykaylia Bauer 4, Jessica Noonan 9, Lilly Post 11, Skylar Otte 3, Logan Hubbard 13, Anna Kartman 12, Sydney Fecht 13, Emily Bierman 4, Kylie Reuter 4. Totals — 30-66 7-9 73.
3-point goals — S: 4 (Ramaker 2, Lacey 1, Freiburger 1), P/C: 6-20 (Noonan 2, Otte 1, Fecht 3). Team fouls — S: 12, P/C: 19. Fouled out — none.