Four players finished in double figures Jan. 10 as Amherst’s boys’ basketball team handed Iola-Scandinavia a 61-49 defeat on the Falcons’ home court.
It was the first meeting of the season between the Central Wisconsin 8 Conference rivals, with the rematch scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Iola.
Both teams came into the game with 3-1 records in conference play. The Thunderbirds outscored the Falcons 16-11 in the first quarter, but Amherst returned the favor with a 14-9 advantage over the next eight minutes to send the teams into the locker room at halftime tied at 25-25.
The T-Birds took a 32-29 lead early in the third quarter on a Kristian Welch three-pointer and consecutive baskets from Evan Fuhs, but the Falcons responded with an 11-0 run to take a 40-32 lead late in the period. The T-Birds’ only points in the final 6:20 of the quarter came on a pair of Braiden Garbe free throws.
John Prahl hit the first of his three threes in the game to cut the Falcons’ lead to four points, but a 13-0 Falcon run helped put the game out of reach.
Welch and Prahl led the T-Birds with 16 and 14 points, respectively, but combined for only 15 during the first three quarters. Amherst’s Tyler Biadasz led all scorers with 17 points, while teammates Hayden Blackford and Garrett Groshek added 14 each and Connor Zblewski chipped in with 10.
The T-Birds fell to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in league play, while Amherst improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the CWC-8.
“We had a little bit of a lapse there in the third and fourth quarters,” coach Sam Bertsch said. “This was our first real big test other than the (Stevens Point) Pacelli game and we need to step it up against the big teams if we’re going to do well in conference.”
The T-Birds hosted Manawa Jan. 14 and will head to Weyauwega for a 7:30 p.m. CWC-8 matchup with Weyauwega-Fremont Friday, Jan. 17.