Sports

Coach Luke Thatcher’s River Valley Blackhawks boys basketball squad was dominant last Tuesday on the way to win number one of the season, 72-29, at Wisconsin Heights.

The taste of victory was experienced by the Badger Lightning girls hockey squad for the first time in this young season last Thursday, an exciting 3-2 overtime win over the Janesville Bluebirds in Baraboo.

After several weeks of pre-season workouts and preparation, the first competition of the season is this weekend for the River Valley High School gymnasts. Amber Seffrood is in her third season as head coach for the program and has a roster of seven girls this season, down from 15 last season but at about the same number as the year previous.

It was a satisfying week for those associated with the Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells/Mauston high school boys hockey co-op after notching a pair of wins on the road, one in league play and one outside the Badger Conference.

A busy week for the River Valley girls kicked off with a convincing 67-47 win at Riverdale on Tuesday. Valley built a 35-25 halftime lead and upped the lead throughout the second half on the way to a 20-point victory, improving to 3-1 overall for the season.

Reedsburg faced a couple of area rivals this past week on the basketball court on the home floor, but the Beaver girls came up short in a Badger Small loss to Sauk-Prairie and a non-conference loss to the Baraboo Thunderbirds.

Reedsburg faced perhaps it toughest opponent of the high school boys basketball season in the very first game last Friday, on the road against state-ranked Mount Horeb. Reedsburg started okay but the Vikings eventually took control and cruised to a 68-35 win to kick off not only the regular season but the conference season as well.

The Reedsburg Beavers won in their first ever girls wrestling dual on Friday night with a 36-18 win over Portage at RAHS. Reedsburg had four forfeit wins while Nevaeh Walter at 132 pounds and Bella Garcia at 165 pounds both won, head-to-head, with pins. Portage won three of the five actual matches that took place.

River Valley faced some tough competition on the wrestling mat last Tuesday as the Blackhawks hosted duals vs. Cuba City and defending state champ Mineral Point. The Blackhawks lost both duals, 43-18 vs. Cuba City and 70-10 against the Pointers but some individual wrestlers earned victories last Tuesday.

It was a case of close but no cigar for the Ithaca/Weston girls basketball team on Tuesday night last week, dropping a close 46-45 decision at Weston against the New Lisbon Rockets.