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By Levi Zimmerman
The Mineral Point and Iowa-Grant boys basketball teams faced off in a SWAL matchup Thursday night that resulted in a 56-42 Pointers win.
In their first meeting, Mineral Point captured a 54-43 victory in what was a defensive struggle.
The Panthers gave them all they could handle, but the Pointers' cohesiveness and ball movement proved to be difference-makers.
Mineral Point welcomed back sophomore leading-scorer Eli Lindsey Thursday.
Lindsey missed the last approximately two weeks due to an apparent foot or ankle injury.
Mineral Point took a 31-22 lead into halftime after frustrating the Panthers' offense.
Junior point guard Landon Thousand led with 11 of his 16 points in the first half, including a three-pointer and going two-for-two from the free throw line.
Senior 6'4' forward Luke Kisgen followed closely with 10 points in the first half.
Junior Alex Ross added eight points, including drilling a pair of three-pointers.
Iowa-Grant was led by senior 6'6' Alex Popple, who scored all 10 of his points in the first half.
Junior Ashton Schmitz added seven points with a three-pointer and a couple two-point baskets in the first half.
Mineral Point went ahead by as much as 15 points in the second half of play.
Lindsey was a key contributor in the final 18 minutes, as he scored 11 points to lead the Pointers to victory.
Kisgen added seven points and ended the night with 17 points, including making five-of-eight free throws.
Thousand was also in double figures with 16 points and went three-for-five from the free throw line.
Ross was the fourth Pointer in double figures, as he scored 10 and went two-for-two from the charity stripe.
Mineral Point shot 11-for-17 from the line as a team.
Schmitz led Iowa-Grant with 18 points, including two, three-pointers.
Although his team lost, Panthers head coach Nolan Krentz said he was proud of the way they continued to fight back, not going down easy.
"Despite being down 31-22 at halftime and by as many as 15 points in the second half, I thought we battled throughout the game," Krentz said. We were able to get as close as nine points at 45-36 down the stretch, but Mineral Point closed strong with an 11-6 run. I thought we gave great effort on the defensive end tonight, but Eli Lindsey and Luke Kisgen proved too much for us inside," Krentz stated.
"Offensively, I thought junior Ashton Schmitz did a really good job for us, attacking and knocking down shots while senior Jeran Rux gave us several extra possessions with his hustle and offensive rebounding," he stated.
Mineral Point head coach Dan Burreson said the Pointers were glad to see number 10 back on the court.
"Obviously, it was good to have Eli back on the floor. He gives us a lot more options on both ends of the floor. He led us tonight in rebounds with 12 and assists with five," he said.
Burreson also credited several other players with quality performances Thursday.
"It was a really good job defensively from Bryce Vamstad, Landon Thousand and Cooper Palzkill. It was a solid performance from Landon Thousand with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Solid performance from Alex Ross as well with five rebounds and three assists to go along with 10 points. Luke Kisgen did a nice job offensively," Burreson stated.
With the win, Mineral Point improved to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the SWAL.
Iowa-Grant moved to 7-10 overall and 2-6 in the SWAL.
SCORE BY HALVES
Mineral Point 31 25 56
Iowa-Grant 22 20 42
BOX SCORE
MINERAL POINT 56: (fg-ft-tp) Kennicker 0-0-0, Ross 3-2-10, Thousand 6-3-16, Vamstad 0-0-0, Lindsey 6-1-13, L. Filardo 0-0-0, Kisgen 6-5-17, Radtke 0-0-0, Palzkill 0-0-0. Totals- 21-11/17-56. Fouls-13
IOWA-GRANT 42: Schmitz 8-0-18, Steffl 1-3-5, Pennekamp 0-0-0, Cartwright 1-0-3, McIntosh 0-0-0, Popple 5-0-10, Rux 2-2-6, Hoge 0-0-0. Totals- 17-5/7-42. Fouls-15
3-point goals:
MINERAL POINT (3)- Ross 2, Thousand 1
IOWA-GRANT (3)- Schmitz 2, Cartwright 1