MIFFLIN — Jackson Vigen’s career-best shooting night rallied the troops.
The junior guard made four second-half 3-pointers and scored 18 of his career-high 20 points in the final 18 minutes to spark host Iowa–Grant’s 62–56 comeback victory over Cuba City last Tuesday night.
Isaiah Oswald scored eight of his 10 points in the first half as the visiting Cubans (2–2, 1–1 SWAL) built a 34–27 first-half lead. But Vigen and the Panthers caught fire in the second half.
Senior point guard Caleb Hill scored seven of his 13 points in the final 18 minutes and Vigen connected on 6 of 7 free throws, as well as 4 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc.
As a team, Iowa–Grant made 9 of 25 (36 percent) 3-pointers in the game, while coach Jerry Petitgoue’s Cuba City team failed to make a single shot from behind the arc.
Senior Chad Thomas posted a double–double of 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for the winners. Senior Erik Raimer added six points and seven boards, and classmate Charlie Richards had five points, four rebounds and a team-high seven assists.
Nathan Timmerman scored 11 of his team-high 18 points in the second half for Cuba City, but it wasn’t enough to stave of I–G’s comeback. Sean McVay had 11 points in a losing effort.
Iowa–Grant’s SWAL game at Boscobel was snowed out Friday and moved to Monday.
Coach Ryan Hill’s Panthers improved to 3–1 on the season and 3–1 in the Southwestern Wisconsin Activities League with a 51–40 victory over the host Bulldogs in Monday’s make-up game.
Thomas poured in a season-high 19 points to lead the Panthers, as the victorious visitors outscored Boscobel 25–19 in the second half.
Hill scored eight of his 13 points in the first half to stake the Panthers to a 26–21 halftime lead. Vigen scored six points and senior guard Charlie Richards added five points in the win. Freshman Michael Winders and senior Peyton chipped in three points apiece and senior Gerrit Hunt had two.
Senior Dallas Marks scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bulldogs (1–5, 1–3 SWAL) in the loss. Marks leads the conference in scoring at 24.2 points per game.
Iowa–Grant traveled to River Valley (0–4) for a non-conference game Tuesday night. The Panthers will return to action Friday, Dec. 30 at the one-day, four-team River Ridge tournament. Weston, Albany and the host Timberwolves are the other three teams.
Iowa–Grant won the River Ridge tournament a year ago with a 69–50 championship game victory over Albany.
Iowa–Grant 62, Cuba City 56
(from Tuesday, Dec. 13 @ Iowa–Grant)
Cuba City 34 22 — 56
Iowa–Grant 27 35 — 62
Cuba City (2–2, 1–2) — Blake Robson 2, Brayden Holzemer 6, Ryan Hoppenjahn 4, Nathan Timmerman 18, Jacob Wagner 5, Sean McVay 11, Isaiah Oswald 10. Totals – 20 16-25 56.
Iowa–Grant (2–1, 2–1) — Caleb Hill 13, Erik Raimer 6, Jackson Vigen 20, Charlie Richards 5, Chad Thomas 11, Michael Winders 5, Gerrit Hunt 2. Totals — 22 9-13 62.
3-point goals — CC: 0; IG: 9 (Hill 3, Vigen 4, Richards 1, Winders 1). Total fouls — CC: 17, IG: 19. Fouled out — CC: Wagner.
Iowa–Grant 51, Boscobel 40
(from Monday, Dec. 19 @ Boscobel)
Iowa–Grant 26 25 — 51
Boscobel 21 19 — 40
Iowa–Grant (3–1, 3–1) — Caleb Hill 13, Jackson Vigen 6, Charlie Richards 5, Chad Thomas 19, Michael Winders 3, Payton Simon 3, Gerrit Hunt 2. Totals — 20 6-9 51.
Boscobel (1–5, 1–3) — Kolton Wallin 4, Jordan Molzof 2, Dallas Marks 20, Justin Miller 13, Andrew Knowles 1. Totals – 16 5-12 40.
3-point goals — IG: 5 (Hill 2, Vigen 1, Richards 1, Simon 1); B: 3 (Miller 3). Total fouls — IG: 13, B: 14. Fouled out — none.