EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Casey Lindecrantz, Tri-County Press / Republican Journal and Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal
Max Lucey, Sr., G, Cuba City boys basketball
BOSCOBEL — In their only game of the week and in what would be in the shadow of their legendary head coach Jerry Petitgoue announcing he’d be retiring following the end of the season, the Cuba City (11–4, 6–2 SWAL) varsity boys’ basketball team had its best performance of the season last Thursday against Boscobel, when the Cubans put on an absolute clinic in their 98–36 win over the Bulldogs (2–14, 1–7).
“You know, we played one of our better games of the year,” said Petitgoue. “Max [Lucey] is getting healthy. Everybody seems to be filling in their role; and they know what it is.”
The one player who understands their role almost better than anyone else, is senior Max Lucey. Lucey came into the game needing 25 points to hit the 1,000-career-points mark, and in his usual fashion, he did exactly what he needed to with a 28-point performance on the night, leading the team in scoring in the process yet again.
Lucey got to that 28-point performance via an 11-for-18 night from the floor, including six-of-seven from inside the arc, and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc in addition to one-of-two from the free throw line. Lucey capped his performance with two rebounds, four assists, and five steals.
Along with Lucey, Riley Rosenkrantz (18 points), Reese Rosenkrantz (14 points), and Cody Houtakker (13 points) all cracked double digits as Cuba City pushed for a 54-22 lead that did nothing but extend in the second half.
“We play very tough defense,” said Petitgoue. “We got out and were able to break quite a bit, and when the shots are falling, everything looks great. We put up 98 points and it was a running clock.
“[Boscobel] gave the effort, the talent just wasn’t there in that particular game,” said Petitgoue. “Max got his 1,000 points, they played the box and Lucey still got 28 points. The Rosenkrantz brothers got 18 [Riley] and 14 [Reese] points and Cody [Houtakker] got 13. When you have four guys in double figures, you’re sitting pretty good.”
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Chandler Batcherlor, Sr., C, Dodgeville boys basketball
The 7-foot-1 senior dominated last Thursday's SWC boys game at Platteville, finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks to lift the second-place Dodgers to a 61–54 double overtime victory and into a first-place tie in the conference. After Platteville senior Derek Digman misfired on a 3-pointer with 1:33 seconds left, Batchelor grabbed the defensive rebound, then tied the game on the other end with a layup over Platteville’s own 6-foot-9 giant Zach McClain with 1:08 left. Then, after Platteville ran the clock down and set up a final player, Batchelor then blocked sophomore Lucas Ludlum’s potential game-winning layup with four seconds left, and the Hillmen survived a half-court heave from Noah Pittz that nearly went in.
Charlotte Ferstl, Sr., C, River Valley girls basketball
The 6-foot-3 Ferstl scored a career-high 31 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and sealed a 64–60 victory over Richland Center last Friday night with a two free throws with 8.4 seconds left. The free throws were the Blackhawks' only points in the last four minutes. The UW–Superior commit is averaging a SWC-best 17.8 points and 16.6 rebounds per game for the Blackhawks (7–12, 3–5 SWC).
Luke Kramer, Sr., 152, Rhett Roenig, Sr., 138, Brogan Brewer, Sr., 170 and Blake Thiry, So., 195 Prairie du Chien wrestling
Kramer and Thiry each went 5–0 to lead the Division 2 #1-ranked Blackhaws (20–4) to a perfect 5–0 mark at the inaugural SWC Duals Tournament last Saturday at Dodgeville. Kramer recorded a tournament-best four pins in 6:01 and a 9–1 major decision at 152 pounds, while Koenig (138), Brewer (170) and Thiry (195) each produced three pins for Prairie du Chien, which claimed a fourth-straight SWC duals title Saturday.
Brooke Von Glahn, Sr., Mackenzie Champion, Sr., and Macie Galle, So., Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster gymnastics team
After battling midseason injuries and illness, the PBL gymnastics team is back to full strength. Two Mondays ago, Von Glahn (34.025), Champion (33.5) and Galle (33.275) finished first, second and third to lead the Hillmen (3–0 SWC) to a 131.0–125.235 SWC dual meet victory over the Dodgeville co-op. Last Saturday, the trio led PBL to a second-place team finish at the six-team River Valley Invitational. Von Glahn won the uneven bars (9.3) and finished second in the all-around (35.35), Galle won the vault (9.0) and placed seventh in the all-around (33.3), while Champion was fourth on the vault (8.55) and tied for eight in the all-around (33.25) to lead the Hillmen.
Taylor Williams, Fr., G, Lancaster boys basketball
Williams has had a hot hand as of late. After scoring a career-high 17 points in a SWC loss to Platteville two Friday ago, Williams poured in a new career-high 18 points in a 57–50 win over Richland Center last Thursday, then scored a team-high 16 in a 73–46 non-conference win at Argyle Monday night as the Flying Arrows improved to 4–13 on the season and 2–4 in the SWC.
