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Nies lights it up in consolation victory
Senior guard has 30 points, 11 steals in win over River Ridge (Ill.)
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Senior Braden Nies scored a career-high 30 points and had 11 steals in Plattevilles 7367 victory over River Ridge (Ill.) last Wednesday at the Mineral Point Holiday Tournament.

MINERAL POINT — Platteville senior Braden Nies had it all working on both ends of the court in last Wednesday evening.

Nies scored 17 of his career-high 30 points in the second half and recorded a career-high 11 steals to lead the Hillmen to a 73–67 victory over River Ridge (Ill.) in the consolation game of the Mineral Point Holiday Tournament.

Nies made 13 of 23 attempts, including 3 of 7 from 3-point land en route to his new career-high. He also grabbed three rebounds and passed out a team-high four assists.

Last Tuesday, Nies scored 10 points, five boards and three assists in a narrow 56–50 loss to Black Hawk in the opening round. The Warriors (6–1) went on to defeat the host Pointers 65–61 in Wednesday’s title game.

“I thought we regrouped and played with much more passion Wednesday, on the short day of rest,” said Hillmen head coach Mike Huser.  “We forced 25 turnovers and Braden Nies was really the catalyst for our ability to score in transition.”
Junior guard Donovan Blevins added 15 points and was very disruptive on defense.  Sophomore Cade Rohrbach did a nice job of running the team in his first career start and distributing the basketball. He finished with 10 points and three assists.

“We were able to get a lead, but give River Ridge credit they kept coming at us and we couldn’t quite put them away, until the very end,” added Huser.  “In all, the tournament was good for us as get ready for our next stretch of games.I sense we are more hungry team to get better coming out of the Christmas break.”

Senior Alex Traxler had a fine game with 13 points and four assists in Tuesday’s loss to Black Hawk.

Platteville (6–2, 2–0 SWC) will next travel to Richland Center on Friday night. The Hillmen will then travel to Mount Horeb on Monday.

Mineral Point Holiday Tournament
Black Hawk 56, Platteville 50

(from Tuesday, Dec. 27 @ Mineral Point)
Platteville            27    23     —  50
Black Hawk        28    28     —  56
Platteville (5–2) — Donovan Blevins 12, Braden Nies 10, Cade Rohrbach 2, Alex Traxler 13, Ethan Bernhardt 3, Dillon Shinee 6, Connor Riley 4. Totals — 22-55 2-5 50.
Black Hawk (5–1) — Jett Rufenacht 2, Josh Meier 13, Michael Flanagan 2, Conner Meyer 20, C.J. Leuzinger 19. Totals – 21 9-13 56.
3-point goals — P: 4 (Nies 2, Traxler 1, Bernhardt 1); B: 5 (Meyer 2, Levzinger 3). Total fouls — P: 15, B: 13. Fouled out — none.

Mineral Point Holiday Tournament
Platteville 73, River Ridge (Ill.) 67

(from Wednesday, Dec. 27 @ Min. Point)
Platteville                38    35     —  73
River Ridge (Ill.)    29    38     —  67
Platteville (6–2) — Donovan Blevins 15, Braden Nies 30, Cade Rohrbach 10, Alex Traxler 6, Dillon Shinee 10, Connor Riley 2. Totals — 31-55 7-17 73.
River Ridge — Heidenreich 4 5, Speer 10, Crist 11, Tilly 2, Thomas 14, Huring 11, Pratt 2, Kutz 12. Totals – 25 11-13 67.
3-point goals — P: 4 (Nies 3, Rorhbach 1); B: 6 (Heidenreich 1, Speer 1, Crist 1, Thomas 2, Huring 1). Total fouls — P: 15, B: 22. Fouled out — RR: Kutz.