PATCH GROVE — With Potosi coming into last Tuesday night’s Six Rivers West conference boys’ basketball contest with a record of 4–0, and the host Timberwolves sitting just one game behind at 3–1, anything was bound to happen once these two teams took the court for a 36-minute battle.

Fans certainly were not disappointed in the effort giving by both teams, as they made for an exciting finish that saw Potosi remain unbeaten with a 66–56 victory over River Ridge.

Last Tuesday night’s contest saw the two teams tied with just under five minutes to play, with Potosi outscoring their opponent 21–11 down the final stretch.

Early in the first half, Potosi maintained a narrow lead over the Timberwolves until midway through the half when they increased their margin to 10 points.

The Chieftain’s largest lead of the first half came with 1:36 to play when they led the Timberwolves 29–17 just before taking a 29–19 halftime lead into the locker room.

The second half was filled with momentum-changing scoring runs by both teams, which concluded with Potosi making the final push.

River Ridge came out in the second half with a 6–0 run to pull within 29–25, which was then followed by a 10–2 run by the Chieftains to take a 39–27 lead with 10:53 to play.

The Timberwolves then answered with a 16–4 scoring run, which tied the game at 43–43 with 5:30 to play on a 3-pointer by senior guard Ty Bloom.

River Ridge took their first lead of 47–45 with 3:56 showing on the clock, when Bloom knocked down two free throws, setting up what appeared to be an exciting four-minute finish.

River Ridge’s lead lasted a mere 21 seconds though, as Potosi’s Will Bierman buried a 3-pointer to give the Chieftains a 48–47 lead, which they never relinquished.

Bierman’s 3-pointer was quickly followed by a 3-point play by Alex Udelhofen, giving Potosi a 51–47 advantage in less than a minute from when River Ridge took the lead.

In the final three minutes, Potosi outscored the Timberwolves 15–9, making 11 of 15 free throw attempts and capitalizing on two offensive rebounds and two River Ridge turnovers.

In the final two minutes though, River Ridge made things interesting with three 3-pointers from junior Brett Moravits, the third making the score 62–56 with 11 seconds to play.

Udelhofen led Potosi with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals and went 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

Sophomore center Nick Edge chipped in 14 points and four blocked shots, while Will Bierman added nine points and dished out a team-high four assists.

River Ridge sophomore Cole Crubel led the Timberwolves with 18 points, while Moravits chipped in 14, getting nine in the final two minutes.

Senior Gavin Steiber also finished in double figures with 12 points, as did Bloom, who had 11.

On Thursday night, Potosi improved to 6–0 in league play with  a 60–43 victory over host Highland (1–6, 5–8).

Udelhofen and Ryan Kruser each posted 12 points in the win, while Spriggs chipped in 10, and Curtis and Edge each had eight. Udelhofen also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and dished out eight assists, while Kruser and Edge each had a team-high two steals.

Coach Uppena’s squad dominated on the glass, where they pulled down 38 total rebounds to Highland’s 21.

This past Monday night, the Chieftains picked up a 52–50 non-conference victory over host Iowa-Grant, improving their overall record to 10–4. 

No other stats were made available prior to press time.

NEXT: The Chieftains will host Belmont (0–11, 0–7) this Thursday night, then will travel to Shullsburg (7–6, 4–2) next Tuesday night.

Potosi 66, River Ridge 56

(from Tuesday, Jan. 16 @ Patch Grove)

Potosi 29 37 —  66

River Ridge 19 37 —  56

Potosi (8–4, 5–0) — Alex Udelhofen 16, Will Bierman 9, Brady Curtis 5, Jaydon Carbone 2, Ryan Kruser 6 Nic Spriggs 4, Austin Schmitz 4, Ethan Groom 6, Nick Edge 14, Ben Udelhofen 2. Totals - 23-52 12-20 66.

River Ridge (6–6, 3–2) — Cole Crubel 18, Brett Moravits 14, Gavin Steiber 12, Ty Bloom 11, Colton Clark 1. Totals — 22 6-12 56.

3-point goals - P: 5 (Edge 2, Bierman 1, Kruser 2); RR: 6 (Crubel 2, Moravits 3, Bloom 1). Team fouls - P 16, RR 18. Fouled out — none.

Potosi 60, Highland 43

(from Thursday, Jan. 18 @ Highland)

Potosi 33 27 — 60 

Highland 23 20 — 43  

Potosi (9–4, 6–0) — Alex Udelhofen 12, Ryan Kruser 12, Nic Spriggs 10, Brady Curtis 8, Nick Edge 8, Will Bierman 5, Ethan Groom 3, Ben Udelhofen 2. Totals — 25 5-8 60.

Highland (5–7, 1–5) — Linscheid 11, Paola 9, Welsh 8, Halverson 8, Kutzke 5, Patzner 2. Totals — 18 5-7 43.

3-point goals — P: 5 (Kruser 2, Spriggs 1, Bierman 1, Groom 1); H: 2 (Welsh 2). Team fouls — P 10, H 7. Fouled out ­­­­— None.