WEST SALEM — The West Salem High School boys basketball has dealt with adversity this season.
Injuries to seniors Kyle Hehli and Nathan Karr forced the Panthers to shift their lineup and rotation earlier this season, and the unexpected departure of junior Landon Michlig less than a month ago changed things permanently.
While Hehli and Karr are back and healthy, that trend will continue for West Salem after Saturday’s impressive 72-43 nonconference victory over visiting Fox Valley Lutheran. The victory was an important one over a team it will battle over WIAA Division 2 sectional seeding, but it was also important due to injuries suffered by sophomore Drew McConkey and senior Nathan Dillaber.
McConkey was on crutches with an ankle injury after the victory, and Dillaber was dealing with a broken nose. Both injuries came in the second half and after the Panthers (12-3) had a comfortable lead over the Foxes (9-4).
“I guess one thing we’re proud about when it comes to this team is how it has persevered,” West Salem coach Mark Wagner said. “We also lost (senior) Luke Baginski (for the season) due to a football injury before our season even started.
“It’s been one after another and next man up for us.”
Hehli and Dillaber scored 21 points as the Panthers beat FVL for the second straight time. West Salem also beat the Foxes in last season’s sectional semifinals. Hehli and Dillaber combined to make seven of the Panthers’ nine 3-pointers and each scored 14 points in the first half.
“We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things,” said Hehli, who is averaging 20.2 points per game with 34 3-pointers this season. “We have confidence in guys 1 through 15, and we think we can win with anyone we put on the floor.”
The Panthers made four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of Saturday’s game and built a 24-8 lead. FVL came back to get within 29-19, but another West Salem burst gave it a 37-21 lead after one half.
The advantage only expanded from there as West Salem — a qualifier for the state tournament in each of the past three years — posted its fifth straight victory.
Karr had eight of his 10 points in the second half to give the Panthers a third double-figure scorer.
“This is a really big win because we haven’t had a lot of big wins,” Hehli said. “We needed this one for some confidence, I think, and we had a really good defensive performance to hold them in the 40s.”
The Panthers rebounded well, especially on the offensive end. One first-half possession was extended though four offensive boards.
Wagner was happy with the performance because it came at the end of a week that included two days off from school — one a holiday and the other due to extreme cold — and Hehli thought it was a good springboard into the upcoming schedule, which includes games at Caledonia (15-2) on Thursday and at home against La Crosse Central (7-3) on Feb. 4.
The Panthers lost to Caledonia earlier this season, and their other two defeats have come at the hands of Division 1 programs from Hudson and Verona. Those three teams have a combined record of 36-11.
Hehli liked the spark his Panthers received from an 88-58 win over Onalaska Luther on Jan. 10 because it was a convincing win over a rival that won a Division 4 state title in 2023. Wagner said he liked what he saw during the 72-66 loss to Hudson in River Falls because it was a very competitive game while Hehli was injured.
“At first, our kids didn’t adjust well to not having Kyle, but I thought we played a really nice second half against a really good team,” he said. “I thought it showed a lot to our team and showed that it can compete with a team at that level without our best player.
“That’s certainly a great sign.”
