POTOSI — Belmont’s Raine Voigts is rapidly closing in on the 1,000-point mark for his career, but achieving that milestone will have to wait for another day.

     For now, the senior forward will be more than happy to celebrate a key Six Rivers West victory over rival Potosi in Monday’s showdown between first-place teams.

     Voigts scored a team-high 21 points, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and delivered a clutch three-point play with 1:38 remaining that gave the Braves the lead for good in a 64–61 victory at Potosi.

     Fellow senior Lane Kamps went  6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 52 seconds to preserve the victory after Voigts go-ahead three-point play. Kamps also made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points and eight boards.

     “It was a classic high school game,” said Belmont head coach Glenn Gaulke. “It was loud, intense and extremely competitive. We were glad to win. It’s always tough to win at Potosi and we feel fortunate to steal a win from them.”

     A putback basket and free throw by senior Quinn Cushman and a fast break layup by Voigts gave the Braves a 14–11 lead at the 11:07 mark of the first half.

     Potosi responded with a 16–5 run over the next six minutes to take a 27–19 lead. Sophomore Nic Spriggs scored five points in the burst, senior point guard Tyler Udelhoven buried one of his four 3-pointers and senior Nate Friederick capped it with a basket in the paint on an inbound play.

     Voigts scored five straight points for the Braves, but Alex Udelhofen scored on a fast break basket with 10 seconds left in the half to make it 29–24 at intermission.

     Tyler Udelhoven and senior Trenton Bauer hit 3-pointers early in the second half as the Chieftains opened the half on a 12–3 run to take their biggest lead of the night at 41–27 with 14:14 left.

     In a game of big runs, Belmont answered with a 15–4 spurt of their own.

     “We were not shooting well, but really turned up our defensive intensity,” said Gaulke. “And finally some shots started going down.”

     Kamps hit back-to-back triples to get it going, Cushman made an athletic tip-in and a nice drive to the basket and senior forward Josh Logsdon’s basket pulled the Braves within a point a 45–44 with 7:38 left.

     Bahr hit a pull-up jumper and Belmont finally tied the game at 48 when Voigts putback his own miss with 4:52 left.

     The teams traded baskets and the Braves took its first lead since midway through the first half at 52–51 when Voigts scored in the lane.

     Alex Udelhofen buried a clutch jumper on the next trip down court as Potosi regained a one-point edge, but Bahr swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Belmont a 55–53 lead.

     Friederick tied the game with a basket in the lane, before Voigts converted the tide-turning three-point play with 1:38 left to make it 58–55.

     “Raine is a gamer and finds ways to score,” added Gaulke. “Raine’s scores also came from some great passing by teammates.”

     Potosi twice missed the front end of the bonus and committed a turnover in the next minute and Kamps made 3 of 4 from the line to push the lead to 61–55.

     Tyler Udelhoven drilled a three-pointer with 26.5 seconds left, then after two more Kamps split a pair from the line, Jake Udelhoven drilled a three to pull the Chieftains within a point at 62–61 with 16 seconds left.

     Kamps made both in a pressure situation to account for the final score.

     “Lane is a fantastic free throw shooter in practice and I think he has great focus in game’s also,” said Gaulke. “He responded exactly how I thought he would. Clutch game by Lane.”

     Cushman blocked Friederick’s potential game-tying 3-pointer out of bounds with two seconds left, and Jake Udelhoven’s desperation 30-footer at the buzzer came up short.

     Bahr finished with nine points, eight rebounds and eights assists for Belmont. Cushman and Lodgson added seven points apiece.

     Jake Udelhoven finished with a team-high 16 points to lead Potosi. Tyler Udelhoven made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

     The Braves improved to 13–6 overall and 8–2 in conference, one half game ahead of Shullsburg (15–4, 7–2 SRW). Meanwhile, Potosi fell out of a three-way tie for first and sits at 10–9 overall and 7–3 the Six Rivers West.

     Belmont now controls its own destiny in its quest for this year’s conference title. The Braves will travel to Cassville (8–11, 5–4) Friday night before closing the regular season at home against Benton on Thursday, Feb. 25. They will also host Argyle in a non-conference game on Monday.

Braves hammer River Ridge

     Last Thursday, Voigts scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 66–47 win at River Ridge. Voigts currently has 995 career points.

     Kamps and Bahr added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists each.

Potosi blasts Benton

     Friederick posted 16 points and a season-high 18 rebounds in a 72–35 blowout win over Benton last Thursday night.

     Senior Jake Langkamp also finished with a double–double of 12 points and 10 boards. Jake Udelhoven added 12 points and Tyler Udelhoven passed out a game-high 10 assists.
 
Belmont 64, Potosi 61
(from Monday, Feb. 15 @ Potosi)
Belmont        24    40     —  64
Potosi            29    32     —  61
Belmont (13–6, 8–2) — Quinn Cushman 7, Lane Kamps 20, Jon Bahr 9, Raine Voigts 21, Josh Logsdon 7. Totals — 22-58 15-19 64.
Potosi (10–9, 7–3) — Alex Udelhofen 11, Trenton Bauer 3, Nic Spriggs 5, Jake Udelhoven 16, Nate Friederick 12, Tyler Udelhoven 14. Totals — 24 6-9 64.
3-point goals — B:  5 (Kamps 4, Bahr 1); P: 7 (Spriggs 1, Bauer 1, J. Udelhoven 1, T. Udelhoven 3). Team fouls — B: 12, P: 16. Fouled out — none.

Potosi 72, Benton 35
(from Thursday, Feb. 11 @ Potosi)
Benton            25    10     —  35
Potosi              33    39     —  72
Benton (2–14, 1–8) — Aaron Coffey 8, Joel Fawcett 4, Jeremiah Bailey 6, Brooks Tiedman 6, Wyatt Bastian 8, Tyler Hilby 3. Totals — 12 6-12 35.
Potosi (10–8, 7–2) — Alex Udelhofen 9, Trenton Bauer 6, Nic Spriggs 6, Jake Udelhoven 12, Ryan Schmitz 5, Nate Friederick 16, Jake Langkamp 12, Tyler Udelhoven 6. Totals — 30 3-7 72.
3-point goals — B:  5 (Coffey 1, Tiedman 2, Bastian 2); P: 9 (Bauer 2, Spriggs 2, J. Udelhoven 2, Schmitz 1, T. Udelhoven 2). Team fouls — B: 12, P: 12. Fouled out — B: Kyle Pulvermacher.

Belmont 66, River Ridge 47
(from Thursday, Feb. 11 @ Patch Grove)
Belmont            35    31     —  66
River Ridge      23    24     —  47
Belmont (12–6, 7–2) — Cole Johnson 5, Quinn Cushman 8, Lane Kamps 12, Jon Bahr 12, Raine Voigts 19, Nick Willborn 6, Josh Logsdon 4. Totals — 25-47 10-12 66.
River Ridge (5–12, 3–5) — Ben Ertz 12, Brett Moravits 3, Preston Clark 6, Caleb Irish 10, Isaac White 2, Gavin Stieber 14 Totals — 20-52 5-8 47.
3-point goals — B: 6 (Kamps 2, Bahr 2, Willborn 2); RR: 2 (Moravits 1, Irish 1). Team fouls — B: 10, RR: 15. Fouled out — none.