---

By Levi Zimmerman
In boys basketball, the seventh-ranked Mineral Point Pointers scored a 70-40 victory over the Iowa-Grant Panthers in a Southwest Wisconsin Activities League contest.
Iowa-Grant went stride-for-stride with Mineral Point in the first half and even took the lead after a three-point field goal by Caden Pennekamp.
But a three-pointer by Joah Filardo canceled that.
The Panthers' junior forward Alex Popple tied it at nine with a two-point basket, but Mineral Point's Eli Lindsey gave the Pointers back the lead with a two-point jumper.
The Pointers built a 18-9 lead, with baskets by Lindsey, Filardo, Bryce Acherman and Leyten Bowers.
Filardo, a semi-finalist for the Senior Shooter Award by WSN, scored 13 points in the first half to take his Pointers into halftime with a 34-19 advantage.
Mineral Point's one-three-one zone defense caused problems for Iowa-Grant's offense, who struggled to get clean looks at the rim.
The Pointers continued to build on their lead in the second half, out-scoring the Panthers, 36-21.
Mineral Point saw 11 of their 13 players score.
Filardo led with 21 points, with five, three-point field goals.
Bodie Bossert followed with eight, including a three-pointer.
Owen Ward had seven.
Bowers, Lindsey and Acherman each added six points.
Cooper Palzkill had one of his best performances offensively with five points.
Popple led Iowa-Grant with 13 and was three-for-four in free throws.
Sophomore Cyle Steffl had 10 points and was two-for-two from the strike.
Schmitz ended with eight.
Nolan Krentz, head coach of the Panthers, said he thought his team executed better in one half and not so much in the other.
"We were able to keep the game within a 10-point margin for much of the first half, but we were unable to close the first half as well as we would have liked. We were not able to execute on both sides of the court and that allowed Mineral Point to take a 15-point lead into halftime," Krentz stated.
Though Iowa-Grant didn't play as well as they could have, Krentz credited Mineral Point with being one of the best teams they have faced.
"We went cold on offense in the second half, as Mineral Point built a 30-point lead. Mineral Point is a very talented team on the offensive side of the court and are playing just as well on defense right now. They are as good as any team we have faced all year and are certainly one of the best teams in division four," he said.
With the loss, Iowa-Grant moved to 5-11, overall, and 2-5 in the SWAL.
Dan Burreson, Mineral Point head coach, stated, "We had pretty solid effort defensively all night. We moved the ball well at times, but we just need to cut down on turnovers."
"Joah Filardo had a good night shooting the ball. I thought the guys did a nice job finding him when he was open," said Burreson.
"Nice job on the boards from Owen Ward. Bodie Bossert had a nice night, leading us in assists and steals. Good minutes again tonight from Eli Lindsey and Bryce Acherman. Cooper Palzkill, Luke Kisgen and Drew Hottenstein did some good things as well."
Mineral Point improved to 14-2, overall, and 6-1 in conference.
Both teams will meet again in the regular season, as a previous matchup was postponed.
The Panthers will host the Pointers Monday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY HALVES
Iowa-Grant 19 21 40
Mineral Point 34 36 70
BOX SCORE
IOWA-GRANT 40: (fg-ft-tp) Schmitz 4-0-8, Steffl 4-2-10, Pennekamp 2-0-5, Cartwright 0-0-0, Achenbach 0-0-0, Kuhls 0-0-0, Dailey 0-1-1, Kohlenberg 0-1-1, Popple 5-3-13, Hoge 1-0-2. Totals- 16-7/11-40 Fouls- 8
MINERAL POINT 70: Ward 3-1-7, Bowers 3-0-6, McVay 1-0-3, Lindsey 2-2-6, Goninen 2-0-4, Kisgen 1-0-2, Bossert 2-3-8, Hottenstein 1-0-2, J. Filardo 8-0-21, Jackson 0-0-0, K. Filardo 0-0-0, Palzkill 2-0-5, Acherman 3-0-6. Totals- 28-6/12-70 Fouls- 13
3 point goals:
I-G (1)- Pennekamp 1
MP (8)- J. Filardo 5, McVay 1, Bossert 1, Palzkill 1