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Mineral Point will play in the championship game of its own tournament thanks to a strong defensive effort that propelled the Pointers past Platteville Monday night 69-36.
Defense was the name of the game as the Pointer boys held the Hillmen to just 13 first half points before rolling to the win.
The victory earned the hosts a date with Southern Door in the championship on Tuesday night. Both squads are currently undefeated on the season.
A free throw from Platteville's Alex Traxler was the first and only lead of the game for the visitors at 1-0. A 9-0 stretch helped the Pointers distance themselves 15-5 by the end of the first quarter as Tarek Oellerich amassed eight points in the frame.
Dylan MacGilvra was the leading Pointer scorer in the second quarter, tallying six points. The Pointer defense held Platteville without a field goal for five minutes to lead 34-13 at the break.
Turner Poad hit back to back three pointers early in the third quarter that squelched any hope of a Hillman comeback. In addition to Poad, the Pointers had a balanced offensive attack in the period that included scoring from Oellerich, Alec Schmitz, MacGilvra, Taylor Ryman, and Sy Staver that kept the hosts in command 53-25 entering the fourth.
Another three from Poad started the fourth before the starters came out of the contest and the entire Pointer bench saw extensive playing time with Nathan Eisenzimmer scoring four points and Hunter Paradis hitting the last shot of the night.
Oellerich led all scorers with 14 points. Pointers that joined him in double digits were Poad with 12 and Schmitz with 11.
Jason Withrow was the lone Hillman in double figures with 12.
"It all started with defense tonight," said Pointer coach Dan Burreson. "We were really committed on that end of the court and didn't allow Platteville to get into a flow offensively."
"Our ball pressure and defensive pressure in the lane was key. We also had great perimeter defense from Sy, Joey Gorgen, Alec, and Turner all night long."
"Dylan came off the bench and gave us a great spark, as did Steven Blume. We need our bench players to stay within themselves when they get into the game."
"We moved the ball well. Those threes from Turner in the third allowed us to extend the game and Sy did a great job all night of finding the open man," concluded the coach.
Southern Door defeated Black Hawk 72-42 in the first game of the evening to remain undefeated on the season.
Black Hawk will face Platteville in the consolation game Tuesday and the unbeaten teams of Mineral Point and Southern Door will battle in the championship following. Results will be in next week's paper.
Mineral Point also hosts Richland Center this coming Monday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
P: 5-8-12-11--36
MP: 15-19-19-16--69
BOX SCORE
PLATTEVILLE (fg-ft-tp) 36: Traxler 0-1/2-1, Nies 0-3/4-3, Schambow 1-0-2, Withrow 5-2/4-12, Thiele 0-1/2-1, Gardner 2-0-4, Kupersmith 3-2/7-8, Bellmeyer 2-0-5. Totals: 13-9/19-36. Fouls: 11. Three pointers: Bellmeyer 1.
MINERAL POINT 69: Staver 2-4/6-8, Gorgen 3-0-8, Oellerich 6-2/2-14, Poad 4-1/2-12, Schmitz 5-1/1-11, Paradis 1-0-2, Eisenzimmer 2-0-4, Ryman 1-0-2, MacGilvra 3-2/2-8. Totals: 27-10/13-69. Fouls: 14. Three pointers: Poad 3, Gorgen 2.