Edgar hoops dominates

Wildcat boys and girls’ teams enjoy recent long winning streaks

The Edgar boys basketball team takes pride in playing great defense against its opponents, and its defensive tenacity this season has kept the Wildcats in contention to win the Marawood South Conference championship. Edgar has now won six straight wins.

Edgar held arch-rival Marathon to only 12 first-half points during the Wildcats’ 54-44 road win against the Red Raiders on Tuesday. Junior guard Austin Dahlke led Edgar with 14 points and junior guard Drew Guden added 13 for the Wildcats, which improve to 5-3 in the Marawood South and 8-3 overall this season.

Senior combo guard/ forward Clarke Mouw, a St. Norbert College commit, paced Marathon with 14 points and sophomore guard Jaden Koeller had 11 in the loss to Edgar. The Red Raiders fall to 4-4 in the Marawood South and 4-6 overall.

Edgar also limited Athens to a meager 12 first-half points and only 13 second-half points in its 47-25 home win against the Bluejays on Thursday. Edgar committed 10 fewer turnovers than Athens, and the Wildcats held the Bluejays to a dismal 21.6 percent field goal shooting. Athens falls to 3-4 in the Marawood North and 5-4 overall.

Guden led Edgar with a gamehigh 23 points and junior guard Kyle Brewster added eight in the team’s victory against Athens. Junior guard Konnor Wolf and Brewster paced the Wildcats with three steals apiece.

Edgar senior guard Caden Higgins explained how his team’s been able to string together a six-game winning streak.

“I think it’s just our team defense, because we all work together and hustle,” Higgins said. “We all put forth great effort on defense which transitions to good things on the offensive end.” Wildcats head coach Dave Huss said junior forwards Brayden Baumgartner and Max Larson did an admirable job defending Athens star senior center Cameron Ford, who is averaging 20.2 points per game this season. Huss said his forwards made Ford work hard for his points, by using their strength to match up with him and force him off the low block.

“We pride ourselves on playing good defense,” Huss said. “After our games it’s always a little easier said than done, but I think our players commit to the defensive end; they have the mentality they want to shut teams down.” Edgar’s only two losses this season were to Rib Lake by two points at home in the seasonopening game on Dec. 6 and a triple-overtime defeat to Auburndale at home on Dec. 17. “I told our players we could easily be undefeated right now,” Huss said. Despite its success this season, Edgar still finds itself a few games behind Marawood South leading Stratford. The Wildcats could improve their position in the upper echelon of the conference by beating the Tigers at home this Friday, Jan. 17. Stratford remains undefeated and ranked No. 2 in this week’s wissports.net Division 4 coaches’ poll.

The Marathon boys basketball team upended Prentice, 67-61, on Friday at home. Junior forward Brock Warren led the Red Raiders with 17 points, while Jaden Koeller and Mouw added 13 points each.

Edgar girls down Athens

The Edgar girls basketball team extended its winning streak to four games after its 55-39 home win against Athens on Friday. Junior guard Makenna Guden led the Wildcats with 19 points, while junior forward Gabriella Keim and sophomore guard Skylee Manecke contributed 13 points apiece.

Edgar head coach Betty Urmanski was pleased with her team’s effort in its victory against Athens.

“The game was back and forth throughout most of the first half, but a little surge on defense helped us score some quick points on offense to give us a 37-24 halftime lead,” Urmanski said. “Scoring slowed a bit for both teams in the second half, as we failed to finish some good looks at the basket, but our team did a better job eliminating Athens’ second-half points.”

Sierra Hart paced Athens with 10 points and Kaitlyn Riehle had nine. Crystal Dearth and Riehle led the Bluejays with seven rebounds each.

Edgar improves to 5-3 in the Marawood South and 8-3 overall. Athens is now 3-5 in the Marawood North and 3-9 overall. The good thing for Athens is it remains in contention to win the Marawood North, because the conference is lacking in quality teams this season. For example, Marawood North leader Phillips just lost to Marawood South leader Wausau Newman by 29 points on Friday.

Raiders win

The Marathon girl’s basketball team has won two straight games after edging Stevens Point Pacelli, 49-46, in a road game on Tuesday. Marathon also beat Prentice, 54-32, at home on Friday.

Senior guard Elizabeth Boehm led the Red Raiders with 18 points against the Cardinals, while sophomore guard Allison Wokatsch added 12 and senior guard Kyli Blume had 10.

Boehm also paced the team with 18 points against the Buccaneers, and she also led the Red Raiders with four steals. Wokatsch added eight points, while junior forward Anna Cleven contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Marathon is now 5-3 in the Marawood South Conference and 6-4 overall this season.

“We put forth great effort on defense, which transitions to good things on the offensive end.” Caden Higgins

Edgar senior