Hawks fall at Lancaster, nearly upset Westfield
Senior Steven Duha (52) rises up to float the ball off the glass for a basket during the second half of Saturday’s non-conference road game at the Westfield Pioneers. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
PdC sophomore Mike Jazdzewski fires a pass in front of the Westfield bench. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Sophomore Cayden Sutter hauls in a pass as he drives down the lane. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
The Prairie du Chien boys basketball team hit the road last Friday and Saturday nights for a pair of games.
First up last Friday, Feb. 19 was a trip to Lacaster to take on the conference leading Flying Arrows and it was the host Arrows defeating the Hawks 84-50 to improve to 7-2 in the SWC, while PdC fell to 0-9.
The Hawks were led in scoring by sophomore Cayden Sutter with nine points. He was followed by senior Sam Kramer with eight points.
Rounding out Prairie’s scoring tally was senior Garrett DeHart, senior Steven Duha and sophomore Mike Jazdzewski (six points each), seniors Brock Folsom and Ashton Landt (five points each), sophomore Brice Krachey (three points) and sophomore Parker Bedward with two points.
The Hawks were back on the road the following evening when they traveled to Westfield High School in Marquette County for a non-conference battle with the Pioneers of the South Central Conference.
Despite falling behind 11-2 to start the game, the Hawks managed to out score the Pioneers 19-18 to end the first half as Westfield held onto a 29-21 lead at the intermission.
The second half saw more of the same as each time one team appeared about to go on a run, the other team would go on a run of their own.
Trailing 52-49 with 4:18 remaining in the second half, the Hawks got a defensive rebound and march down the court and appeared to have a made basket and a free throw when a charging foul was called against the Hawks, swinging momentum back the Pioneers.
The Hawks would cut the deficit to five twice in the final 50 seconds in the game but were unable to get over the hump as Westfield made just enough of their free throws down the stretch to defeat the Hawks 64-56. Westfield improved to 11-11 with the win, while PdC fell to 1-22 with the loss.
Prairie produced one of their most balanced and productive scoring outputs of the season as eight different players scored in the game, including three in double figures.
Leading the way in scoring for the Hawks was Folsom and Kramer with 12 points each, while Sutter added 11 points. Folsom had a double-double in the loss as he grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in the game.
Rounding out the scoring tally for the Hawks was Duha with nine points, DeHart with five points, Krachey with three points and Landt and Jazdzewski with two points each.
Prairie du Chien is back home this Thursday night when they host Dodgeville to conclude the regular season. The Hawks will honor their five seniors that night: DeHart, Duha, Folsom, Kramer and Landt.
Postseason brackets were released this past Sunday and the Hawks received the 12th seed in their D4 sectional grouping and will travel to fifth seed Cuba City in a regional quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, Mar. 3. This will be the first postseason boys basketball game between the two former SWAL conference rivals since 1990.
