Fall Creek basketball begins season with pair of wins
The Fall Creek boys basketball team started the season with a non-conference, and their first conference, victory against tough opponents.
Starting their week, the Crickets claimed a win over the Elk Mound Mounders, who made it all the way to the WIAA Division 3 state tournament in Madison last March before losing to Lodi in the state semi-finals. The Crickets got out to a very fast start with an 11-0 advantage just minutes into the start of the game.
However, Elk Mound kept fighting back. That, coupled with early foul trouble by Fall Creek, allowed the visitors to keep creeping back on the scoreboard. By the end of the first period they had cut the lead to four, trailing Fall Creek by just 13-9.
Period two was a back and forth affair as Fall Creek steadily built their lead back to double digits. They never could quite get away from the pesky Mounders, but led 28-18 at intermission and seemed to have gained control of the game.
Even though Fall Creek outscored the visitors just 11-6 in the third stanza, they seemed to completely dominate play. Matt Anderson’s two-hand dunk midway through the period got the Cricket fans into the game. It seemed to ignite the the team as well, as the Crickets built a 26-point cushion just two minutes into the final period of play.
Fall Creek pulled their starters with nearly five minutes left of the game. The reserves maintained the lead as they cruised to a season opening 22-point win, 54-32 in the Crickets’ favor. Anderson led the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Braden Walbeck followed with 15, including three baskets from behind the arc.
Fall Creek made eight 3s throughout the game. Brayton Meyer had a pair of 3-point bombs and had eight total points. Devin Kinsella added six, with two shots behind the arc as well.
Conference rivals face off
Fall Creek then traveled to Osseo-Fairchild where the two teams squared off Friday, Dec. 5 in the opening West Cloverbelt Conference game for both schools.
The two teams tied last year for the top spot in the conference race and were coming off wins in their last contests. O-F defeated the Augusta Beavers by seven points the previous Tuesday night, while the Crickets dropped Elk Mound by 22 tallies. It appeared both teams were primed for an early season showdown.
Fall Creek got off to a fast start with stunningly accurate shooting while their defense created a number of turnovers the Crickets cashed in on. Junior Cody Folkers had eight points in the first quarter, which got Fall Creek out and running. The visitors led by a 19-8 score after the first eight minutes of play and kept up the intense defensive pressure. The Crickets started to pull away as they led 27-12 midway through the second period.
However, the athletic Thunder team was not about to let things get away from them. O-F went on an 8-0 run and cut the margin to 27-20 with just over three minutes left before halftime when Fall Creek converted inside and out and finished the period on a run of their own 11-3, and went to intermission with a comfortable 38-23 advantage over the home team.
The Crickets were determined to not let the accurate shots of the Thunder team back into the game as they made successful baskets difficult for the home squad.
Fall Creek outscored O-F 17-9 in the period as Anderson and Walbeck combined for 14 of those points. Going into the final period, Fall Creek led 55-32 and the scoring was very even in the final quarter as both teams played a lot of players. Fall Creek held a slim 15 - 14 scoring advantage in the final minutes of play as they coasted to the 70-46 win.
Anderson led in scoring with 23, Walbeck with 16 while Folkers had 12. The team went 13-19 from the charity strip, while the Thunder shot a strong 8 - 10 from the line. O-F made four 3-point shots, while FC made three.
The Crickets are set to take on the Regis Ramblers at home Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
