FENNIMORE — A week ago, Fennimore was a one-loss team ranked seventh in the state in Division 4, sitting in a first-place tie in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League.
Entering tonight’s SWAL rematch with Darlington, coach Tom Needham’s Golden Eagles are licking their wounds.
Ninth-ranked Mineral Point came to town last Tuesday night and, despite Fennimore racing out to an early 18–3 lead, left town with a 93–81 victory and sole possession of first place.
The Pointers (13–4, 9–1) closed the half on an 18–6 run, fueled by a pair of deep 3-pointers from sophomore point guard Isaac Lindsey, to take a 45–39 halftime lead.
“We got off to a great start in the first half, but some foul trouble hurt us later on in the half,” said Needham.
Fennimore seniors Liam Kenney and Dakota Govier both played sparingly in the first half due to three fouls each.
Point lost its standout point guard with 6:55 left in the game when Lindsey was whistled for his fifth foul.
But senior forward Chance Wendhausen stepped up in Lindsey’s stead, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the second half.
Fennimore cut the deficit to two points at 69–67 on a Kellen Kenney layup and a pair of Kenney free throws with 5:39 left. But Wendhausen scored on three-straight possessions and freshman Brayden Dailey capped Point’s 8–0 run with a two-handed flush that made it 77–67 with 3:49 left.
Kellen Kenney scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the final four minutes, but the Pointers made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 35 seconds to close out the 12-point win.
Junior guard Garrett Wendhausen finished with four 3-pointers and 22 points off the bench to lead the Pointers. Dailey finished with a pair of dunks and 19 points, and Lindsey added 18 before he fouled out.
“They are such a hard team to match-up with, they have shooters, plus they can all get to the rim, so they cause a lot of trouble defensively,” said Needham. “But I thought our kids played hard the entire game.”
Kellen Kenney finished with 23 points, nine assists and five rebounds in the loss to lead the Golden Eagles.
Junior Reid Larson finished with 18 points and six rebounds, but Point held the Fennimore sharp shooter to six points in the final 23 minutes.
Freshman Adam Larson added 15 points and two rebounds in his first career start. Govier chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Friday night, Fennimore ran into a buzz saw at Cuba City.
Sophomore Brady Olson scored a game-high 23 points, classmate Jackson Noll added 20 points and freshman Jack Misky finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Cubans (10–6, 6–3) blitzed the visiting Eagles 74–49.
Cuba City built a 34–16 halftime lead and Fennimore was never in the game.
“Cuba came out and did some things to us defensively that we had a hard time with,” said Needham. “We struggled on both ends of the floor and we didn’t really shoot the ball very well. They were definitely ready to play. Playing down there is not an easy place to play.”
Govier posted a double–double of 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead Fennimore. Liam Kenney also scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.
Monday’s non-conference game at River Valley was postponed due to snow and will be made up at a later date.
NEXT UP: Fennimore will look to get back on track tonight at home against a very good Darlington (11–5, 7–3) team in a battle of second place teams. The Eagles will then travel to last place Riverdale (0–15, 0–10) Tuesday night.
#9 Mineral Point 93,
#7 Fennimore 81
(from Tuesday, Jan. 30 @ Fennimore)
Mineral Point 45 48 — 93
Fennimore 39 42 — 81
Mineral Point (12–4, 8–1) — Brayden Dailey 19, Mason Dailey 3, Chance Wendhausen 14, Isaac Lindsey 18, Garrett Wendhausen 22, Liam Stumpf 6, Wes Berget 9, Eric Heisner 2. Totals — 34 17-21 92.
Fennimore (14–2, 7–2) — Reid Larson 18, Adam Larson 15, Kellen Kenney 23, Liam Kenney 6, Cory Lenzendorf 4, Cole Needham 3, Dakota Govier 12. Totals — 30 14-18 81.
3-point goals — MP: 8 (B. Dailey 1, M. Dailey 1, Lindsey 2, G. Wendhausen 4), F: 7 (R. Larson 3, A. Larson 3, Needham 1). Total fouls — MP: 17, F: 18. Fouled out — F: L. Kenney, Govier. Technical fouls: F: Govier, MP: B. Dailey.
Cuba City 74,
#7 Fennimore 49
(from Friday, Feb. 2 @ Cuba City)
Fennimore 16 33 — 49
Cuba City 34 40 — 74
Fennimore (14–3, 7–3) — Reid Larson 3, Adam Larson 3, Liam Kenney 4, Cory Lenzendorf 6, Cole Needham 9, Dakota Govier 12. Totals — 17 10-12 49.
Cuba City (10–6, 6–3) — Blake Robson 11, Jackson Noll 20, Jack Misky 18, Preston Bousley 2, Brady Olson 23. Totals — 23 22-28 74.
3-point goals — F: 5 (Kenney 1, Lenzendorf 1, Needham 3), CC: 6 (Robson 3, Noll 2, Misky 1). Total fouls — F: 19, CC: 14. Fouled out — none.
