River Valley over Wisconsin Dells

This game provided a little preview into regional play as River Valley is the one seed in the regional while Wisconsin Dells is the two seed in the same regional, their is a very good chance that these two teams could meet again. River Valley came into the game with only one lose while the Chiefs had only three losses and had won 13 games in a row.

This was senior night for the Chiefs so they started their five seniors, two of which don't see much court time. This may of hindered the Chiefs a bit as they came out of the box very slow as they were down 7-0 before the Dells coach brought in their normal starters. The River Valley lead grew to 17-4 after the first quarter as Dells still continued to struggle and they weren't able to get things going until they were down 22-4. Throughout the River Valley big run they were led by their sophomore point guard 6'0 Noah Baryenbruch who was knocking down the floaters the entire first half and back court teammate 5'9 senior Craig Johnson seemed too quick for the Dells defenders and were able to get in the lane with ease. In the second quarter Wisconsin Dells finally got themselves going by looking to their big man 6'9 junior Nate Gibson. Gibson probably had one of his best games of the year as River Valley decided to play behind him which allowed Gibson to catch the ball in a great position and just turn and shoot over the smaller defenders. Gibson teamed with the Dells usual star 6'0 senior Jade Royston to score the balk of the Dells first half points.

In the third quarter Wisconsin Dells turned up the defensive pressure led by Royston by getting numerous steals and limiting River Valley's shot attempts. In the second half River Valley was looking to senior 6'4 Justin Bindl to score on the inside, where he used his quickness to score. The game plan of going to Bindl was working well until he picked up his fourth fouled which landed him on the bench and River Valley's offense sputtered. Wisconsin Dells was able to take the lead late in the game and River Valley came back to tie it at 46 a piece setting up a great ending. With 18 seconds left Wisconsin Dells had the ball and they went to their main man Royston and he got fouled shooting with 4.6 seconds left. Royston knocked down the first but, missed the second and River Valley sophomore 6'4 Alex Richard got the rebound and drove the length of the court. Richard pulled up for a runner about a foot inside the three point line where he was fouled by a Dells defender. Richard calmly went to the line and knocked down both free throws with no time left to give River Valley the lead.

Top Players
Jade Royston 6'0 senior Wisconsin Dells- As always Royston was the leader scoring 19 points. This was one of the first games where I've seen Royston playing some great defense and had a handful of big steals.
Nate Gibson 6'9 junior Wisconsin Dells- Best game I've seen him play was able to score at will on the inside.
Noah Baryenbruch 6'0 sophomore River Valley- Did a nice job of running the team and had a very nice floater going tonight.
Justin Bindl 6'4 senior River Valley- Did a great job of battling with Gibson on the inside, had a very good game on the offensive side.
Alex Richard 6'4 sophomore River Valley- Had the game winning free throws and added 10 points what more can you say.

Box Score
Wisconsin Dells 47- Royston 19 Gibson 15 Jimmy Alvin 5 Michael Morse 3 Bobby Blaschke 2 Jake Hall 0 Zach Batchelor 0 Kyle Stowers 0
River Valley 48- Bindl 13 Baryenbruch 11 Richard 10 Johnson 10 Lucas Bauer 4 Joel Benson 0 Nick Radlinger 0

This was a great game and I believe if these two teams match up again it will be a great game but, these two playing again isn't a guarantee as this regional is very evenly matched and six of the seven teams are pretty solid teams. River Valley, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, Reedsburg, Prairie Du Chien, and Mauston all have legitimate chances to win the regional. Tomorrow night I have Madison East verse Madison Memorial and then not sure what game I'll be at Friday and then after that it's state tournament time.