Raiders rack up non-conference wins over Whitehall, Altoona

The Arcadia boys basketball team is heading into the final week of the regular season riding the wave of back-to-back wins against non-conference competition.

The Raiders (12-10) tallied a pair of home wins on consecutive days, rolling past Whitehall and then outdueling Altoona over the weekend.

To wrap up Coulee play and the regular season, Arcadia welcomes in Viroqua on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then hosts West Salem Saturday at 2 p.m. — both at the Wanek Center. A victory in either game clinches a winning record for the Raiders this year.

Arcadia 71 Whitehall 42

A second-half surge turned Arcadia’s single-digit halftime lead against Whitehall (9-13) into a lopsided victory by the time the final buzzer sounded last Friday at the Wanek Center.

In the last third of the opening half, the Norse had the Raider advantage down to 15-14 before Arcadia outscored them 14-7 over the next five-plus minutes to make it 29-21 at the halftime intermission.

That set the tone for an impressive second half by the Raiders that allowed them to pull away for good.

Whitehall was still hanging around and trailing by 10 as the game approached 13 minutes remaining in regulation. Arcadia hammered down on the gas pedal with a 16-4 run that allowed the lead to balloon up to 56-34 with under six minutes left to play and making for a low-stress final few minutes for the Raiders in their first game in 10 days.

Setting the pace for Arcadia were Deklyn Grzadzielewski with 20 points, Carter Wegman with 12 points, four assists and three steals, Ted Teske with 11 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double, Kaiden Rotering with nine points, Max Blaschko with seven points and Nolan Smith with six rebounds.

Whitehall leaders included William Youngbauer with 12 points and three assists, Caydan Johnston with 10 points Bo Killian with eight points and Mason Pientok with six points and five rebounds.

Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 5/11-8/8-4-3-20; Rotering 3/8-2/4-4-1-9; Hernandez 0/1-0/0-1-0-0; Teske 5/6-0/0-12-0-11; Conner 1/1-0/0-1-0-2; Pronschinske 1/4-0/0-1-1-3; Slaby 1/1-1/1-0-0-3; Olmos 0/1-0/0-2-0-0; Sanchez 0/1-0/0-1-0-0; Wegman 5/12-0/0-2-4-12; Smith 2/5-0/0-6-2-4; Blaschko 2/5-2/2-3-3-7.

Whitehall (field goals/attempts free throws/attempts-rebounds-points)—Pronschinske 0/2-0/0-1-0; Platteter 0/4-0/0-3-0; Youngbauer 3/11-6/6-1-12; Killian 3/11-1/2-4-8; Pientok 2/7-2/2-5-6; Evans 0/3-0/0-2-0; Johnston 5/13-0/0-3-10; Przybylla 0/1-0/0-1-0; Soderberg 1/2-0/0-0-2; Semb 0/0-0/0-1-0; Herman 2/2-0/0-4-4.

Arcadia 65 Altoona 60

Despite never totally pulling away, the Raiders held off Altoona (7-15) for a five-point win last Saturday in Arcadia.

After leading 32-26 at halftime, Arcadia maintained its lead throughout the second half. A 9-0 run by the Railroaders sliced their deficit to 47-46 with eight minutes remaining in regulation, only for the Raiders to answer with a 7-2 run over the next five minutes to give themselves a bit more breathing room.

Arcadia’s lead never shrunk to one possession the rest of the way.

Wegman helped lead the charge for the Raiders with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Rotering and Grzadzielewski each tallied 12 points, Smith scored eight points and Teske added seven points and nine rebounds.

Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 4/7-3/6-2-1-12; Rotering 3/9-4/4-3-1-12; Teske 2/3-3/5-9-4-7; Pronschinske 3/5-0/0-1-4-9; Wegman 5/15-1/3-9-2-13; Smith 1/5-6/7-3-4-8; Blaschko 2/4-0/1-1-2-4.