WEST SALEM — The West Salem High School boys basketball team had to be ready to defend Friday night and proved up to the challenge.
The Panthers hosted a Black River Falls team that averaged 88 points per game over its first six, but West Salem put on a shooting display of its own in what became a 95-50 Coulee Conference victory.
The Panthers (3-0, 1-0 Coulee) scored 18 of the first 22 points to take control and never let it go. Eleven players scored, and the team pushed the tempo and threw down four dunks in the first half.
Senior Nate Dillaber scored a team-high 21 points and buried four of his team’s 11 3-pointers. Junior Elliott Corcoran matched those four 3-pointers and added 19 points for West Salem.
Senior Carter Labus also had 16, sophomore Carter Alexander 12 and junior Drew McConkey 10. McConkey scored all of his points in the first half and Alexander 10 of his in the second.
Black River Falls junior Braylon Backaus entered the game averaging more than 36 points per game and finished with 30. He had 13 in the first half with West Salem’s Spencer Kammel anchoring his coverage and McConkey and sophomore Tavaryies Henderson helping out.
Backaus spent a chunk of the half on the bench after picking up his third foul with 9:42 on the clock. Black River Falls fell to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Central 68, Sparta 40
LA CROSSE — The RiverHawks (3-1, 2-0 MVC) rolled to their third win in a row behind three double-figure scorers who combined for 44 points at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium.
Junior Gabe Servais scored a team-high 19 and made 2 of 5 3-point attempts in a game Central led 41-21 at halftime. Servais also had four rebounds and two assists.
Junior Will Schilling added 13 points and junior Anthony Jones 12 for the RiverHawks, who made 7 of 18 3-point attempts and 9 of 13 free throws. Jones also had four rebounds and Schilling four assists.
Caledonia 94, Wabasha-Kellogg 55
CALEDONIA — The Warriors (4-1, 2-0 Three Rivers) bounced back from a nonconference loss at Holmen last weekend and scored at least 90 points for the third time this season.
Junior Jacoby Hammell’s 20 points led five Caledonia scorers in double figures. He had 12 of those during a 54-point first half.
Sophomore Grant King added 14 points and senior Evan Milde 13. Sophomore Colin Stemper and junior Anthony Hahn added 12 apiece with Stemper making two of his team’s six 3-pointers.
