PLATTEVILLE — Visiting Prairie du Chien gained the upper hand in the race for this year’s Southwest Wisconsin Conference title with a 68–51 victory at PHS on Friday night.
The Blackhawks made shot after shot, finishing the game a sizzling 61.8 percent from the field (21 of 34) and made 20 of 26 free throw attempts to dictate the pace of the game.
Platteville fought tooth and nail until the buzzer, cutting PdC’s 13-point second-half lead to just five at 56–51 on a Braden Nies 3-pointer with 2:47 left to play. But the Blackhawks closed the game on 13–0 run.
Josh Lenzendorf’s 3-point play pushed the lead to eight at 59–51 and the visitors made 9 of 12 from the line in the final 2:10 to close out the victory.
“I thought Prairie shared the ball extremely well,” said Hillmen head coach Mike Huser. “They were able to play in rhythm on offense and get shots on their terms. We generally, for the most part this season, have been able to dictate the tempo at which the game is going to be played, but Prairie did a good job of stretching the floor and we didn’t have many breakdowns on defense, but when we did they made shots.”
Lenzendorf made four 3-pointers in the win and finished with a game-high 23 points. Wesley Schwager added 13 points, including an impressive two-handed dunk in the first half, and four boards.
Senior Dillon Shinee had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Hillmen.
Prairie du Chien improved to 13–2 overall and 7–0 in the SWC with just three conference games remaining.
Platteville fell to 12–5, 6–1, but will get another shot at the Blackhawks on Tuesday in Prairie du Chien.
First, coach Mike Huser’s Hillmen will have to take care of business Friday at home against Richland Center (7–9, 3–5 SWC). Platteville also has a non-conference game against Black Hawk (14–3) on Saturday.
“Back in November, this was one of our goals to be competing for a conference championship in February and we are now in the thick of it,” added Huser. “Friday was disappointing, but we play Prairie again on Tuesday, so they are excited for another opportunity to play a very good team. The next three games will be challenging, but right now we are concentrating on the process of continuing to get better at all areas of the game.”
The Hillmen bounced back with a 70–63 non-conference win at Brodhead Monday night.
Nies hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points, and Blevins added 21 points as the Hillmen improved to 13–5 overall.
Prairie du Chien 68, Platteville 51
(from Friday, Feb. 3 @ Platteville)
Prairie du Chien 32 36 — 68
Platteville 27 24 — 51
Prairie du Chien (13–2, 7–0) — Gavin Gillitzer 1, Chas Sagendahl 9, Jacob Mallat 1, Evan Teynor 5, Cory Check 5, Nate Banasik 8, Josh Lenzendorf 23, Jonathan Dyer 3, Wesley Schwager 13. Totals — 21-34 20-26 68.
Platteville (12–5, 6–1) — Donovan Blevins 13, Braden Nies 12, Cade Rorhbach 5, Brock Schambow 2, Dillon Shinee 19. Totals — 20 7-15 51.
3-point goals — PdC: 6 (Teynor 1, Lenzendorf 4, Dyer 1); P: 4 (Nies 3, Rohrbach 1). Total fouls — PdC: 12, P: 16. Fouled out — none.
Platteville 70, Brodhead 63
(from Monday, Feb. 5 @ Brodhead)
Platteville 22 48 — 70
Brodhead 31 32 — 63
Platteville (13–5) — Donovan Blevins 21, Braden Nies 22, Cade Rorhbach 2, Alex Traxler 6, Dillon Shinee 13, Conner Riley 6. Totals — 29 9-16 70.
Brodhead (5–11) — Justice Tway 24, Alex Reimer 3, Parker Johnson 14, Tyler Flannery 4, Brekan Day 18. Totals — 27 6-9 63.
3-point goals — P: 3 (Nies 3); B: 3 (Riemer 1, Johnson 2). Total fouls — P: 11, B: 17. Fouled out — none.
