Pointer boys cruise over Johnson Creek

By John Dalton

In a Saturday matinee game at Mineral Point, the Pointers led from start-to-finish and won with ease in a non-conference game 76-53 over Johnson Creek.

Captains Drew Aschliman and Keaton Dempsey again let the Pointer’s in scoring with 18 and 15 points respectively.  Seven Pointers scored in the contest and the team connected on eleven 3-point shots with Aschliman and Aiden Patterson hitting three each.  It was a complete game effort overall with many players contributing.  

“Our contributions from guys that maybe don’t always have big scoring numbers were really good,” said Mineral Point Head Coach Bret McGraw.  “Thorin Vamstad had a really good game, was very aggressive, caught the ball and shot it very confidently.  Brylen Lee and Cole Ripp are guys that just over the course of a few games have given us points, but that’s what they are capable of a lot of times and that is what I think make us a pretty good team.”  

Indeed, other players did play well in this contest.  Vamstad drove hard to the rack on scored on a couple of occasions, and he also connected on two, 3-point shots.  Aiden Patterson connected on three treys, and Ripp and Lee each scored 8 points.  

For coach McGraw, he likes what he sees in his team as the season now turns into February.  “I think if you have a team and defensively if you only have to focus their efforts on only two guys that makes it pretty easy. So if we have other guys on their scouting report that they have to worry about I think that makes it even better for us,” he said.  

“I really like their approach in practice, in games, when things have gotten tough, and we’ve played in a number of close games in that stretch, they’ve hung on together and that’s what I really like when we get in a tight game they don’t worry about it. They just keep playing, and that is a credit to those guys and how close they’ve become throughout the year,” McGraw said.  

Mineral Point has now won nine straight games.  They played Riverdale on Tuesday night, and you can find that story in this edition of the paper.  The 6-1 (12-3 overall) Pointers will travel to Darlington on Friday to play the 6th ranked Redbirds 8-0 (13-2) in Division 4 in a key conference game in the SWAL.Tipoff for the game is at 7:15. 

For video highlights of the Mineral Point-Johnson Creek game, go to The Democrat or The Dodgeville Chronicle Facebook page.

Box Score

Mineral Point   39 – 37 – 76

Johnson Creek 20 – 33 – 53

Mineral Point (fg-ft-tp): Drew Aschliman 6-3-18, Keaton Dempsey 7-0-15, Thorin Vamstad 5-2-13, Aiden Patterson 3-0-9, Cole Ripp 4-0-8, Brylen Lee 3-0-8, Tyce Sylvester 2-0-5.

3-pointers: Aschliman 3, Patterson 3, Lee 2, Vamstad 1, Dempsey 1, Sylvester 1. 

Johnson Creek (fg-ft-tp): Brady Fincutter 3-5-12, Jonathan Kamuchey 5-0-12, Ethan Broich 4-0-12, Kace Freimund 3-0-6, Wyatt Wagner 0-4-4, Carlos Martinez 1-0-3, Kenny Siewert 0-2-2, Max Chowanec1-0-2.

3-pointers: Broich 4, Kamuchey 2, Fincutter 1, Martinez 1.