LANCASTER — A week after rallying for a three-point conference win, Coach Mike Huser’s Platteville Hillmen did it again, this time on the road.
Platteville battled back from four-point deficit with six minutes to play and escaped Lancaster with a 65–62 Southwest Wisconsin Conference road win last Friday night.
“It was another really tough conference win on the road,” said Huser. “Give Lancaster credit they shot the ball really well and made some plays throughout the game. I thought our guys really persevered on the road in a tough environment against a conference rival that was really ready to play us.”
The Hillmen improved to 9–3 overall and remained in a first-place tie with Prairie du Chien atop the SWC at 5–0 in league play. Platteville and PdC will meet for the first time this year Friday, Feb. 3 at Platteville, then again on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at Prairie du Chien in a makeup game from Dec. 16.
“We are excited to still be unbeaten in the conference, but as we have said before there is still a lot of basketball to be played with the second half of the conference schedule just getting started,” added Huser. “We have to stay focused on the next game continue to improve in the coming days and weeks.”
The Flying Arrows (5–8, 1–5 SWC) led 52–48 with just over six minutes left Friday night.
Platteville to cut it to 52–50 on a layup by junior guard Donovan Blevins and tied it on a short jump shot by senior small forward Alex Traxler.
Lancaster regained a brief 54–52 on two free throws by junior Austin Mumm, but senior Dillon Shinee’s putback on the once again tied the game.
Traxler had a steal on the ensuing possession and Blevins converted a pair of free throws to give Platteville a 58–56 lead. The Hillmen never trailed after that.
Senior Braden Nies buried a clutch 3-pointer with 1:30 lead to give Platteville a 63–60 lead. The Hillmen extended their lead to five with a pair of free throws.
Lancaster’s Jaylen Schmitz hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to make 65–62 and after Platteville missed both free throws with nine seconds left, Schmitz got off a desperation 3-pointer that glanced off the rim at the buzzer.
Shinee finished the game with a monster double–double of 16 points and 16 rebounds and hit a key 3-pointer just before the half to cut Lancaster’s nine-point lead to just six at the half, 35–29.
Blevins finished with a game-high 18 points and four rebounds for Platteville and Nies added 13 points and two assists. Sophomore point guard Cade Rohrback hit a pair of 3-pointers and chipped in eight points and two assists.
Mumm scored a game-high 21 points to lead Lancaster. Schmitz added 11 in the loss.
Monday night, Platteville fell to 9–4 on the season with a 61–45 loss to undefeated Shullsburg, the second-ranked team in Division 5.
Senior guard Noah Wand hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Miners (13–0). Senior point guard Hunter Matye, the reigning Six Rivers West Player of the Year, added 17 for the winners.
“Shullsburg is a really solid basketball team that has the record they have for a reason,” said Huser. “They were able to take advantage of a few breakdowns we had and that was ultimately the difference in the game. I didn’t think their length bothered us that much, but their scorers were able to make a few more plays than us. I would believe they will go deep in the upcoming WIAA tournament with their athleticism and length. This was a good non-conference game for us in a tough environment with a full gym and it had a tournament atmosphere to the night. I believe these types of games will help us moving forward.”
Nies scored a team-high 16 points to lead the Hillmen in defeat. Blevins and Shinee also reached double figures with 10 points each and Rohrbach chipped in seven.
Platteville will host River Valley (3–8, 1–5 SWC) Friday night before hosting Cuba City (3–8) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
Platteville 65, Lancaster 62
(from Friday, Jan. 20 @ Lancaster)
Platteville 29 36 — 65
Lancaster 35 27 — 62
Platteville (9–3, 6–0) — Donovan Blevins 18, Braden Nies 13, Cade Rohrbach 8, Alex Traxler 2, Dillon Shinee 16, Zach White 4, Conner Riley 4. Totals – 24 12-22 65.
Lancaster (5–8, 1–5) — Evan Gates 2, Austin Mumm 21, Jordan Reuter 7, Drew Reuter 6, Josh Hentrich 5, Evan Straka 9, Larry Moore 1, Jalen Schmitz 11. Totals – 23 9-14 62.
3-point goals — P: 5 (Nies 2, Rohrbach 2, Shinee 1); L: 7 (Mumm 1, D. Reuter 2, Straka 1, J. Schmitz 3). Total fouls — P: 16; L: 16. Fouled out — none.
Shullsburg 61, Platteville 45
(from Monday, Jan. 23 @ Shullsburg)
Platteville 13 32 — 45
Shullsburg 22 39 — 61
Platteville (9–4) — Donovan Blevins 10, Braden Nies 16, Cade Rohrbach 7, Brock Schambow 2, Dillon Shinee 10, . Totals – 16 10-15 45.
Shullsburg (13–0) — Lance Lierman 3, Alex Wand 2, Hunter Matye 17, Jeremiah Bailey 6, Noah Wand 20, Joseph Meyer 10, Cameron Doyle 3. Totals – 21 17-31 61.
3-point goals — P: 3 (Blevins 2, Rorhbach 1); S: 4 (Wand 4). Total fouls — P: 24; S: 18. Fouled out — none.
