BLACK RIVER FALLS — The Luther High School girls basketball team is refusing to exit the championship race in the Coulee Conference.
The Knights (12-8, 7-3 Coulee) are still one game behind two teams in the loss column after handing Black River Falls a 75-49 defeat for their third victory in a row.
Luther is a game-and-a-half behind first place Arcadia (9-2), one game behind second-place Viroqua (8-2) and a half-game behind third-place West Salem (8-3) with two conference games remaining.
The Knights will play at Westby (7-13) on Friday and at G-E-T (2-19) on Feb. 19. Wins in those games and any loss by Arcadia and Viroqua would pull Luther to the top.
Sophomore Natalie Hackbarth made three 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Knight against the Tigers. Hackbarth had 8 first-half points and made all of her 3s in the first half.
Sophomore Brinley Schmitz added 15 points and sophomore Cara Unke nine.
Aquinas 78, Winona Cotter 45
LA CROSSE — Senior Sammy Davis had 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots as the Blugolds (20-2) won their eighth game in a row.
Aquinas — ranked fourth in Division 3 for this week’s Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — set the tone with 24 steals. Junior Ava Fernholz had five and senior Alaina Elias and junior Eva Willenbring four each. The Blugolds also outscored the Ramblers 45-25 in the second half.
Fernholz made three 3-pointers and added 13 points for Aquinas, which can clinch the outright MVC championship by beating Logan (5-16) on Thursday. Willenbring scored 10 and had eight assists.
Arcadia 66, West Salem 59
ARCADIA — The Raiders (15-7, 9-2 Coulee) took over sole possession of first place in the Coulee with just one game left to play.
Arcadia leads Viroqua (8-2) by a half-game and the Panthers (12-8, 8-3) by a full game.
Senior Josie Brudos scored 27 points for West Salem, which plays at Viroqua on Friday. The Panthers will have to beat the Blackhawks, then hope the Blackhawks beat Arcadia next week to force a shared title.
Brudos has made 12 3-pointers and scored 83 points (27.7 per game) over her past three games.
Sophomores Ava Hendrickson and Anna Witte each scored nine points for West Salem.
C-FC 67, Melrose-Mindoro 52
MELROSE — Senior Anna Radcliffe scored a team-high 25 points with 15 of them in the second half for the Mustangs (10-11, 8-9 Dairyland-Large).
Melrose-Mindoro scored just 21 first-half points and found itself down by 16 before trying to cut the deficit after halftime.
Senior Calysta Bautch added nine points for the Mustangs.
La Crescent-Hokah 68, Logan 57
LA CRESCENT — The Rangers (5-16) couldn’t pull off their second win in a row after defeating Viroqua on Monday.
The Lancers (9-16) snapped a three-game losing streak.
