The Spring Valley High School boys’ basketball team held the rival Elmwood/ Plum City Wolves to just 10 made field goals during the 64-33 drubbing in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference opener on Tuesday, Dec. 6, in Spring Valley.

The Cardinals paired a strong defensive performance with a dominant night on the glass, as Spring Valley won the rebounding battle 50-28 and simply overpowered Elmwood/ Plum City with its size and physicality in the paint.

Spring Valley’s success defensively and on the boards helped spur a 23-0 scoring run in the second half that led to the lopsided final margin. With the win, Spring Valley improved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play while EPC dropped to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.

“I’m kind of surprised at the margin of victory, but I felt that if we played well we’d have a good chance to defend our home court,” Spring Valley head coach Rob Bosshart said after the win. “I was happy that we were able to pull away in the second half.”

Spring Valley built a small 9-7 lead through the opening five minutes of the first half. That’s when junior guard Jameson Bauer made a wing three-pointer to start Spring Valley’s scoring run. Sophomore guard Cade Stasiek slashed through the lane and made a tough contested layup and a couple of possessions later, Bauer buried another wing three-pointer.

By the time Spring Valley’s scoring surge ended, the Cardinals had built a 33-19 halftime lead in large part because of Stasiek’s 12-point first-half performance. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the win over EPC. Coach Bosshart spoke about what Stasiek brings to the floor.

“Cade (Stasiek) made some perimeter shots tonight and I think he’s shooting it with confidence,” Bosshart said. “His ability to penetrate and break things down – he’s got good vision and can see double-teams coming. He’s a really good player and is one of the top two or three players in our league even as a sophomore.”

While Stasiek has certainly blossomed into one of the best offensive players in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, statistically speaking, he also remains a sturdy defender with active hands, which helped him grab two steals in the win on Tuesday night.

Stasiek, along with the strong interior presence of sophomore forward Masyn Wolf and senior forward Dodge Sampair took the Cardinals’ defense and rebounding to another level in the second half against the Wolves.

After EPC senior Beau Holt made a three-pointer just over one minute into the second half, the Wolves went on a nine-minute scoring drought in which the Cardinals strung together a 23-0 run to officially put the game away.

Throughout the game, Spring Valley often generated shots by dumping the ball into the post. As soon as EPC sent a double team to prevent easy buckets, the Cardinals kicked it out and began hitting open three-pointers. Bosshart spoke about his team’s offensive versatility.

“We were able to kick it out because they spent so much attention defending the lane, it opened up some shots,” Bosshart said. “We’re not as guard dominant as we’ve been in the last couple of years. We’ve got to take advantage of what we have, which is really big kids on the inside who are good basketball players.”

Stasiek’s 15 points led all scorers for the night. Bauer finished with 13 points and a trio of three-pointers while Sampair and junior Wyatt Goveronski tallied eight points each in the win. Spring Valley shot 24-62 from the floor and 7-17 from beyond the arc.

While Spring Valley had success at both ends of the floor, the Wolves struggled throughout long stretches of the game. Elmwood/ Plum City head coach Kyle Webb spoke about the loss in the conference opener.

“We have a bunch of young men at our disposal who are good athletes but they haven’t seen much of a varsity floor,” Webb said. “We’re still learning. To put it bluntly, we’re not playing super well right now. Every team like (ours) is going to have growing pains and that’s what we’re dealing with. We’ve just got to learn how to mesh and find an offense that works for us.”

Through the first two games of the year, Elmwood/Plum City has struggled to deal with the loss of Luke Webb, a senior on last year’s roster who was the catalyst for the Wolves’ offense and also served as a defensive anchor.

While Elmwood/Plum City will continue to improve and develop as a team, one of the bright spots in Tuesday night’s loss to Spring Valley was senior Devin Pomeroy, who finished with eight points, five rebounds and a block. Webb spoke about Pomeroy’s importance to the roster.

“He’s going to have to be one of our anchors inside because of his size and length,” Webb said. “He can also shoot outside and work inside a bit. He just hasn’t seen a lot of varsity floor and that’s not a knock on him. That’s just him having to learn and I think he will. I thought he played very well tonight.”

After the rivalry game in Spring Valley, the Cardinals defeated Boyceville 62-51 in the second game of the conference schedule before falling to Thorp 63-51 in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals currently hold a 2-2 record and are 2-0 in conference play. Their next game is on Thursday, Dec. 15, on the road against Glenwood City. That game will begin at 7:15 p.m.

After the loss at Spring Valley, the Elmwood/ Plum City Wolves bounced back with a 61-45 win over Glenwood City on Thursday, Dec. 8, before falling 68-61 in a non-conference game against Stanley-Boyd on Saturday afternoon.

Elmwood/Plum City currently holds a 1-3 record and is slated to host conference opponent Mondovi on Thursday, Dec. 15. Tip-off for that game is slated for 7:15 p.m.

Spring Valley sophomore point guard Cade Stasiek crosses midcourt while looking for space to attack the bucket. Stasiek finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the 64-33 win over the rival Elmwood/Plum City Wolves. Photo by Reagan Hoverman