Arcadia rallies to beat Westby, moves to 2-0 in Coulee play
On the heels of a comeback win, the Arcadia boys’ basketball team is off to a 2-0 start in conference play and riding a three-game winning streak as we creep closer to the end of the calendar year.
The Raiders (3-2, 2-0 Coulee) earned both their wins last week out on the road, steamrolling Eleva-Strum and then erasing a double-digit halftime deficit to defeat Westby two days later.
After hosting Luther in another league matchup on Tuesday, Arcadia welcomes in the Aquinas Blugolds for a non-conference tilt in their final game before Christmas.
Arcadia 62 Westby 57
The Raiders looked like they were on the fast track to a loss when they fell behind by 19 in the first half last Tuesday in Westby. But instead of packing it in, Arcadia clawed its way back and pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Everything was going the way of the Norsemen (1-4, 0-2 Coulee) in the early going as they raced out to a 29-10 lead a little over 10 minutes into the game. The Raiders survived that early onslaught and chipped away bit throughout the remainder of the opening half before going into the locker room facing a slightly more manageable 39-27 deficit.
Arcadia spent most of the second half nipping at Westby’s heels before finally seizing a 54-53 lead on freshman Deklyn Grzadzielewski three-pointer with 3:43 left in regulation.
With the game later tied at 55-55, junior Max Blaschko fired off a three that was off the mark. However, his miss careened off the backboard and into the hands of senior Kaiden Rotering, who promptly laid it in for the 57-55 lead with 1:23 to go.
The Raiders were collectively 5 of 8 from the line the rest of the way to put the win on ice.
Rotering poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Grzadzielewski contributed 22 points to the cause to help lead Arcadia. Seniors Nolan Smith and Ted Teske added seven and six points, respectively, with Teske also hauling in a game-high nine rebounds.
Westby sophomore Maddox Fencl led his team with 17 points.
Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 6/10-6/10-3-3-22; Rotering 9/17-4/5-8-4-23; Teske 2/9-2/2-9-5-6; Pronschinske 0/3-0/0-5-0-0; Wegman 2/4-0/2-2-1-4; Smith 1/2-5/10-5-2-7; Blaschko 0/2-0/0-4-3-0.
Arcadia 71 E-S 31
In their latest non-conference test, Arcadia went on the road and hammered Eleva-Strum (0-5) for a 40-point blowout win.
The Raiders built up a sizable 41-20 halftime advantage and didn’t let up in the second half, outscoring the Cardinals 30-11 over the final 18 minutes as well.
Rotering nearly matched Eleva-Strum’s offensive output himself, as he scored 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting and recorded six rebounds to boot.
Additionally for the Raiders, sophomore Carter Wegman tallied 12 points, Blaschko chipped in 10 points and Teske cleaned up on the boards with 14 rebounds while also scoring seven points.
Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 2/11-0/0-4-0-5; Rotering 10/17-3/3-6-0-25; Teske 3/9-1/3-14-2-7; Conner 2/4-0/0-2-0-4; Pronschinske 1/3-0/0-1-1-3; Slaby 0/1-0/0-1-1-0; Olmos 0/0-0/0-1-1-0; Wegman 5/12-1/1-5-2-12; Smith 2/4-1/2-6-3-5; Blaschko 3/8-1/2-3-1-10.