Wisconsin Dells jumps out early and coasts to victory

In a game that was a battle of two first place teams, in the south central conference, Wisconsin Dells was able to control this one from beginning to end and a appear to be back in control of the conference. From the beginning it was evident that Mauston was going to have trouble with the size and length of the Dells defenders. Mauston is an undersized team but, they play very hard and are a very scrappy team. Mauston never seems to have much for size or talent but, they always play extremely hard which can be an attribute to their coach. Wisconsin Dells didn't play the greatest game either but, nine three point shots allowed them to get the win without playing great.

In the first quarter both teams seemed a little shaky making lots of unforced turnovers and just simply throwing the ball away. Every time a team would make a stop they would come down and give the ball right back to the other team. Dells was playing a 2-3 zone defense which caused Mauston some trouble but, they were able to penetrate the zone and get some easy layups. On the other end Dells had one thing clicking for them and that was the three point shooting of 6'4 senior Justin Ward who hit three straight threes at one point and had five three pointers for the first half which led to 17 first half points for Ward. Wisconsin Dells took the 34-21 half time lead.

In the second half Ward cooled off and only scored three points in the second half but, the rest of the team picked up the slack. 6'2 freshmen Shane Wimann had a big game running the court well and finishing around the rim and hit a three. Mauston was nearly shut out in the third quarter as they were only able to score three points the entire third quarter before they finally got things going in the fourth. In the first three quarters Mauston was only able to score 24 points and then in the final quarter they were able to net 25 points doubling their total in one period. Leading the charge was 5'10 senior Jeff Erickson who scored 15 points in the game 11 from the free throw line and the majority coming in the fourth quarter. Mauston was able to score so much do to some poor fouling and passing by the Dells. Dells was able to seal the game though with some hot shooting from another freshmen in 5'8 MJ Delmore with scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter with two three pointers and was 4-4 from the line in the fourth. Dells was able to cap off a 62-49 win and knock Mauston out of the three way tie for first in the conference and there is now a two way tie between Wisconsin Dells and Wautoma.

Top Players
Justin Ward 6'4 senior Wisconsin Dells- Absolute gunner from the outside uses his size and length to shoot over small defenders.
Shane Wimann 6'2 freshmen Wisconsin Dells- Does not look like a freshmen at all on the court and can knock down the three, is very smooth from the free throw line, and runs the court very well and is always looking to score.
MJ Delmore 5'8 freshmen Wisconsin Dells- Very good shooter that can knock down the three as well as the free throw shot.
Jeff Erickson 5'10 senior Mauston- Always moving without the ball, always seems to find the opening in the defense.

Box Score (starters in italics)
Wisconsin Dells- Ward 20 Wimann 16 Delmore 10 Bobby Blaschke 6 Nate Gibson 6 Kyle Stowers 4 Michael Dickman 0 Josh Elftman 0
Mauston- Erickson 15 Brady Nelson 9 Joel Heesch 9 Trevor Reichhoff 6 Dustin Manthe 6 Josh Wrezinski 2 Chris Wilkinson 2 David Linsmeyer 0

After watching this game it appears that Wisconsin Dells is nearly a given to win the South Central Conference and with their impressive freshmen class Dells will be very very good in two or three years. Also Mauston has a very good freshmen in 6'1 Joel Heesch who has a ton of talent and athleticism but, right now is only a freshmen and shoots a little too much.