I'm Phil Me for WRC Osports. First of all, a recap of some boys basketball that happened
on Tuesday night. The Richland Center boys basketball team claimed victory at Evansville,
advanced to the second round of the tournament. I asked head coach Brian Poles about that
game.
It was great game for us. It was close game throughout. I think there was one point in
the first half. We went down seven and we were kind of teetering and we were able to
score, cut it to five. We kind of regrouped and was able to chip away and ended up. It was
just a three point game at half time. It was a relatively clean game for us. Turnover wise,
which I think kept us in the game. Coming down the stretch, we were just able to make the
play. It was an opposite of maybe a few of our closer games earlier this year where we
seemed to be able to play from in front. In front being one basket. A lot of times it
was a one possession game. It was a really hard fought game. Evanville, Kudos to them.
On their home court, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy contest, but our guys made
the play down the stretch. We made just enough free throws and then, you know, in the last
30 seconds, we got two really big stops defensively and was able to secure the rebound. So it's
a really, really fun night whenever you're in the playoffs, it's fun. And then to win on
the road like that, bus ride home was really fun. So the kids enjoyed it. We're looking
forward to getting another chance Friday night.
The Hornets play at Platteville in the second round of the WIAA tournament. Also on Tuesday
night during their win against Cassville, Ithaca, Jr. Devon Eime, reached the 1000 point
plateau in his high school career, joining Sammy Clary, who went over the 1000 point plateau
for Ithaca early on in the season. WRC Os' Adam has come up with Devon Eime following
his accomplishment. So Devon, congratulations on reaching 1000 points. When you were in
middle school playing ball and then transitioning to high school, is this something that you
ever thought would be possible? You know, I thought it would be possible at one point.
I didn't think it'd come this soon. I mean, I got to think the team. They give me the ball.
I mean, they give me a good opportunity to score. So I definitely thought one point would
be possible. Not only did you reach 1000 points last night, but your team also picked
up the victory in the playoffs. You'll get to continue on. What does that mean to you
and your team and what are your aspirations heading into round two? Obviously that's great.
I mean, the whole point of the game was to win, right? The 1000 was just an added bonus.
So I mean, it's great. I think it's a good booster towards playoffs. I think we're going
to go on a deep run. Congratulations. And we appreciate you joining us, Devon.
Thank you. Devon, I'm with Adam Hess. The Bulldogs play at Highland in the second round
of the tournament coming up on Friday night. By way, they're victory over the University
of Northwestern Saturday and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championship game.
The yellow jackets of UW Superior Women's Basketball team earned the conference's automatic
bid into the 2025 NCAA Division three women's basketball tournament. River Valley graduate
Charlotte Firstal is a sophomore on the team. And I spoke with her yesterday about the teams
accomplishments. Last year we did really well in conference. We went, we only lost one
game in conference. And this year, we lost three games in conference. So it was a little
bit more difficult, but we did end up getting the coach champion trophy. So we did still
end up on top. And then we ended up first round in our, in our UMAC, our first year in
our UMAC tournament. And then we ended up winning that. And now we're going to the national
tournament, which is really cool. And not a lot of teams get to say that they do that.
So no doubt. So you had into the postseason a little bit. And who do you play in the first
round? So we go two stouts were in monomony. But we play Whitman College from Walla Walla
Washington. So they definitely have a hike compared to our two hour or so hike. But we don't
really know much about that. I mean, obviously we know more about them now than we did three
days ago. But it's kind of just a new opponent. We've never played them. They don't really
have any common opponent. So we're kind of going into it blind. Obviously we can watch
film. But we don't really know what West Coast ball is like, I guess. So we're going to find
out soon. How many games do you have to win this weekend if you're going to advance
then? So there's a game Friday and a game Saturday. So if you win Friday, you play on Saturday.
So the goal is to come out with two wins this weekend. And then worry about what's next.
Come to two wins. Personally, have you set the goals? Maybe reach the goals that you
had for yourself this year? I'm not really sure I would say that I have. I definitely
had that have been battling some adversity. I think a lot of people have. But I'm coming
off in pretty good games. I played six games at five or six games in a row where I had
double doubles. And those were kind of important games come that last week when things still
weren't necessarily set in stone on who was winning conference, who was going to get
what season in the tournament. And so I mean, I think as the season went on, my goal
kind of changed for myself. But I'm happier with how the season's going now than I probably
was a couple months ago. Double doubles. Those are nothing to sneeze at, right? Yeah, double
doubles. That was kind of what I was used to doing in my senior year of high school. But it's
been nice to do that. It really contributes to the team. And I mean, it feels good to have in
the stat book. What stat are you most most happy with that you've been able to accomplish so far
this season? My second leading rebounder in the conference. So I think that is probably what I've
been most happy with this season. You're going against some taller players from time to time,
aren't you? Time to time, yes. And honestly, I like playing the taller players rather than the
shorter ones, just because it means that I can play the polls whereas when I have to defend
out on the wing, I'm not as good of a defender. Right. And as far as your studies,
you still looking at the same career choice? Yes, my major is still history and my minor
still instruction. And I think I think I've kind of got it in my head now, but that's what I'm
going to start out with. And then eventually I think I'd like to end up in the school administration
of some sort realm. So we'll see you. We'll see how that goes, but that's the we're sticking with
history. Well, I know you're a long way from home. Would you get home? And I know your fan club
makes a trip to Superior once in a while, don't they? They do travel very well. It was a little harder
this year because our conference games were played Wednesday Saturday, whereas last year they were
played Friday Saturday, but they still do travel very well. And I'm very grateful for them.
Awesome. So best case scenario, if you keep going, how long does this turn of at last?
The end of March. I think I'm not sure exactly the exact date, but the championships played in
Virginia this year. So I guess you could say it's the road to Salem, Virginia, but we're going to
set our goals high and see what happens, I guess. At this point, it's kind of just about having fun.
You know, we got we got the dirty work done and now it's just we've been playing we've been playing
basketball for however many months, and now it's just time to see it all pay off again.
Well, it's been great talking with you. Good luck this weekend. We hope it goes well, and we
hope it continues sailing towards Salem. Thank you so much. You bet. You'll be a Superior
sophomore Charlotte Firstal, her team plays on Friday afternoon. State team wrestling this weekend
gets underway with division one quarter finals tomorrow. Readsburg will be in the mix in the D1
action. Yesterday in sports, we had read a couple of teams wrong that were in the state tournament.
The WIA sent a suppressed release that obviously was maybe from last year at a couple of teams that
are not involved this year, but Phenomore will wrestle Coleman in division two. Also, St. Croix Falls
takes on Kewaskam on Saturday morning at 10 in the other semi final. Why a week of Fremont
wrestles, Usburg and Mineral Point will take on Stratford merchants league bowling top series
gaplet insurance 2780, Walsh's Ace Hardware 2760, Joan Chevrolet 2753, gaplet insurance 1011,
Walsh's Ace Hardware 991, Phoenix Center 988, top series Andy Keller 675, Greg Shepp 659,
Jason Gurner 651, top game Jeff Seckman, a 253, Mike Carpenter, a 248, John Geisler, a 244,
in the merchants league. sophomore John Blackwell's double double powered the Badgers to an important
74 67 win against Minnesota last night. Coach Greg Garg credited the defense. I thought defensively,
other than that flurry where they got a couple threes, you know, and we let them back in the game
when they're up, you know, 11 or whatever's in a chance to extend that. We get let them get back
to getting it tied, but just how we kept our composure in the in the timeouts. I thought we get
better rebounding the ball and think we Mitchell really hurt us on the glass, but we took care of the ball
much better than second half. The Badgers still need another win when Penn State visits the
Cole Center Saturday for the final game of the regular season as they scramble for a top four finish
in the standings. They would mean a double buy in the conference tournament. Marquette dropped
an important big East conference game at Yukon Wednesday night by a score of 72 66. It could make
the road more difficult in the conference tournament. The Huskies scored 10 straight points,
midway through the second half to claim the lead and they held it. And Yana sent it a killpo top
20,000 career points in the box easy 137 107 win over Dallas last night. He says a lot of sweat
and tears goes in behind the scenes. All those moments that I had to sacrifice away from my family
moments that I was in pain and then kept playing moments that I've been disappointed, you know,
not be able to accomplish what I want to accomplish. High moments, moments that have accomplished
great stuff in my career. So I just think about all those things which make this moment even more
more sweet. Last night, the box highest point total of the widest margin of victory for the season.
They will host Orlando Saturday and I'm Phil Ne with sports.
