Boys basketball team wins one, loses one

The River Valley Blackhawks boys basketball team had two conference games this past week. The first was a home game against Lancaster.  In the first half of that game the Blackhawks dominated putting up 46 points to the Flying Arrow’s 33. Lancaster then fought back in the second half and put up 32 points to River Valley’s 19. This tied the game at 65-65 and sent the boys into overtime. In overtime River Valley got an extra four points to Lancaster’s 7. Lancaster won the game 72-69.  Top scoring players for River Valley were: Zach Gloudeman with 15 points, Will Bailey with 14 points, Tyler Nachreiner with 14 points, and Preston Hying with 13 points.  “I thought we had our best offensive half of the season in the first half against Lancaster,” said River Valley head coach Luke Thatcher. “We did not execute on defense in either half and the shots quit falling in the second. I felt Lancaster wanted that game more, and they deserved to win the game. We will need to turn up our intensity and urgency to close teams out in the future.” Next up for the Blackhawks was another home game, this time against the Prairie du Chien Blackhawks. River Valley came out strong in the first half leading 24-11. In the second half River Valley continued to play hard putting up 29 more points to Prairie du Chien’s 25. This gave River Valley the win 53-36. Top scoring players for River Valley were: Nachreiner with 18 points and Gloudeman with 15 points. “I was very proud of how our guys responded to losing on Tuesday,” said Thatcher. “Our offense is still not firing on all eight cylinders, but defensively I was very pleased with our rotations. I think we caused some frustration in their guards, and they were never able to settle in. I’m very pleased with our development over the last few weeks.  Inconsistency with personnel has made it interesting, but our focus and want to grow has been right there. I’m excited to see where we can go with this. We have great kids that aren’t afraid to put the work in.” River Valley has an SWC record of 3-2. This week the boys went to Reedsburg on Tuesday, will travel to Platteville on Thursday, and travel to Mineral Point on Saturday.