Spartans win big; get No. 1 seed

The Superior High School boys basketball team improved to 17-2 with a 59-35 win at Chippewa Falls Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans also found out over the weekend that they were awarded the No. 1 seed for the upcoming WIAA playoffs and will host the winner of No. 9 Chippewa Falls and No. 8 Wausau West at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22.

On Saturday the Cardinals led 14-9 after the first quarter, but the Spartans turned things around with advantages of 14-6 in the second quarter and 22-7 in the third.

Saturday’s win also wrapped up a week that saw Superior defeat Duluth Denfeld on Tuesday and then clinch the Lake Superior Conference championship with a win over Hermantown on Thursday.

“It’s been a long week and we are definitely beat up by this stretch of games,” SHS coach Dave Kontny said. “It took a bit to get going on both ends Saturday, but I thought our pressure was the difference and again we were led by two different guys in scoring, which is nice to see.”

Nick Mehlum led the Spartans with 16 points, with Anthony Valentine added 12 points and Jordan Hughes 11.

“Our kids played hard and with a lot of energy,” Kontny said. “It was a very physical game, probably the most physical game we have been in all year. We had five bags of ice going around the team on the bus ride home and that’s never good.

“But I’m proud of my kids, they kept their composure and made some big plays when we needed to.”

Chippewa Falls (0-20) was led by Aaron Knez’s six points.

Up next for Superior is Duluth East on home Tuesday and at Grand Rapids Thursday.

The Spartans snapped a five-game losing streak to East with a 69-58 win in Duluth on Jan. 31.

SPARTAN SPIN: Superior’s JV improved to 17-2 with a 58-38 win Saturday. McKenzie Schwarz and Jeb Kimmes had 12 points each and Connor Gray added 11. … The SHS freshmen improved to 18-0 with a 54-27 win . Brandon Myer had 14 points and Devin Borstad and Brett Lozon added eight points apiece. … Chippewa Falls plays at Wausau West on Tuesday, Feb. 19. … The winner of the game in Superior will face the winner of the No. 5 Eau Claire North at No. 4 Eau Claire Memorial game on Saturday, Feb. 23 (at the higher seed). The sectional semifinals are Feb. 28 in Marshfield and the sectional final is March 2 in Stevens Point.

Superior 9 14 22 14 — 59

Chippewa Falls 14 6 7 8 — 35

Superior — Ben Erickson 7, Jordan Hughes 11, Nick Mehlum 16, Derek Kontny 5, Erick Tunell 5, Bryan Sanders 3, Anthony Valentine 12.

3-pointers: Tunell. Free throws: 8-of-11.

CF — Dustin Franz 3, Aaron Knez 6, Nate Kalien 4, Alex Ignorski 2, Aaron Houle 3, Mark Woodcock 4, Eric Hitt 4, Justin Ignarski 4, Jake Sperry 3, Amos Mayberry 2.

3-pointers: Knez 2, Franz, Knez, Houle, Hitt, Sperry. Free throws: 3-of-5.

Tags: sports, updates, superior, spartans, basketball