EAU CLAIRE — The Aquinas High School boys basketball team used good defense and balanced scoring to open its season with a 75-52 nonconference victory at Eau Claire Regis on Thursday.
The Blugolds (1-0) took a 31-19 halftime lead and used double-figure scoring from four players to take down the Ramblers.
Junior Logan Becker scored 10 of his team-high 19 in the second half, and senior Trey Bahr had 14 of his 18 after halftime for Aquinas.
Sophomore Calvin Bahr scored 15 and senior Brayden Young 12 for Aquinas, which plays a 5:45 p.m. game at Bangor on Saturday.
Arcadia 71, Black River Falls 66
ARCADIA — The Raiders (1-2, 1-0) lost a big first-half lead and came back from a nine-point deficit despite heavy foul trouble against the Tigers (0-2, 0-1).
Sophomore Braylon Backaus scored a game-high 37 points for Black River Falls, which scored 38 of 46 points at one stretch to turn a 43-22 deficit into a 60-51 lead. The Raiders were led by senior Kaiden Rotering scored 21, and his 3-pointer with 1:40 left pushed a one-point lead to four.
Rotering and Deklyn Grzadzielewski both had three fouls in the first half and picked up fourth fouls a minute apart with about 12 minutes to go, but the Raiders found a way to claw back into the game.
Sophomore Trevor Pronschinske made four big 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points for Arcadia, and senior Ted Teske added another 12. Backaus made five 3s and senior Cecil Lopez scored 10 of his 14 in the second half for the Tigers.
Onalaska Luther 58, Westby 32
WESTBY — Junior Brady Greeno scored a team-high 17 points with a pair of 3-pointers and 11 of those in the first half for the Knights (2-0), 1-0) in their conference opener.
Senior Synclair Byus also made two 3s and finished with 15 points for Luther, which had a 31-12 lead after the first half. Senior Will Huelskamp added 10 for the Knights.
Sophomore Griffin Nelson scored eight points for the Norsemen (1-2, 0-1).
West Salem 77, Viroqua 47
WEST SALEM — The Panthers (2-0, 1-0) had a 32-point lead by halftime to kick off a new Coulee Conference season with a victory.
Senior Kyle Hehli scored all 22 of his points in the first half and made five 3-pointers. Senior Carter Pontius added 11 points and junior Tyler Labus 10 for West Salem in its second one-sided victory of the season.
The Blackhawks (0-2, 0-1) received 12 points apiece from senior Benson McDowell and sophomore Kolten Peterson and 10 from senior Matthew Weston.
Marshfield 61, Central 34
The RiverHawks (1-1) were outscored by 23 points in the second half of a loss at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium.
Sophomore Gabe Servais scored a team-high eight points and grabbed four rebounds for Central, which made 6 of 25 shots for 24 percent in the second half after staying within 24-20 after one half.
Menomonie 72, Logan 51
MENOMONIE — The Rangers (0-2) were on the wrong end of a 25-2 run over the final six minutes of the first half against the Mustangs.
Senior Jacob Hackbarth scored a team-high 19 points, and senior Bradley Check added 11. Freshman Tommy Check also scored 10 for Logan, which played Menomonie even in the second half.
OTHER AREA SCORES
Holmen 73, Wisconsin Rapids 48 (story to be posted on couleesports.com)
Ithaca 64, La Farge 48
Seneca 77, Wauzeka-Steuben 41
North Crawford 55, Kickapoo 45
Alma Center Lincoln 61, Neillsville 51
