Arcadia downed by Westby, Sparta

The quest for the Arcadia boy basketball team’s first conference win of the season trudges ahead after a loss to Westby early last week. That was followed up by a lopsided loss to Sparta in non-conference play a few days later.

The Raiders (3-9, 0-4), who are also looking to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time this winter, face a stern Coulee test when they hit the road to take on West Salem Thursday at 7 p.m. They then dip back into non-conference play by traveling to Whitehall Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

Westby 53 Arcadia 45

A sloppy start resulted in a deficit that the Raiders never could quite claw themselves out of last Tuesday at the Wanek Center.

The Norsemen (6-4, 1-2) got the game started on a 14-0 run and Arcadia’s first points of the night didn’t come until nearly nine minutes had bled off the clock. Westby led 33-9 with over two minutes remaining in the first, though the Raiders at least ended the half on a 9-0 run to trim the deficit to 33-18 at the break.

Arcadia kept the good vibes rolling to start the second half, using a 9-2 stretch to cut that Westby lead to eight and, after a Norsemen counterpunch, responded well again to slice the deficit to 43-39 after junior Trevor Pronschinske’s triple with 8:40 left.

That would be the closest the Raiders could get in their comeback effort, however, as the Norsemen held on for the win.

Arcadia junior Carter Wegman poured in 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss, while Pronschinske finished with eight points. Westby was led by juniors Griffin Nelson and Maddux Fencl with 17 and 13 points, respectively.

Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Grzadzielewski 1/8-3/3-1-4-5; Wegman 7/13-5/5-7-2-21; Pronschinske 3/7-0/0-2-3-8; Sanchez 1/4-1/2-4-2-3; Blaschko 0/4-2/2-5-3-2; Slaby 2/7-1/1-5-1-6; Updike 0/0-0/0-1-0-0

Sparta 79 Arcadia 44

The Raiders never totally got off the ground in a non-conference defeat at the hands of the Spartans (6-4) this past Friday at the Wanek Center.

Sparta built up a decisive 44-16 halftime advantage that, unlike the Packers one day later, they rode to a comfortable victory.

Leading scorers for Arcadia were sophomore Deklyn Grzadzielewski with 12 points, senior Jerson Sanchez with 11, Wegman with eight and Pronschinske with six. Sparta senior Kayden Kaat went off for 29 points and junior Everett Laufenberg with 11.

Arcadia (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)— Grzadzielewski 4/11-2/2-3-0-12; Wegman 3/9-0/0-1-1-8; Pronschinske 2/10-0/0-4-1-6; Sanchez 5/5-1/1-4-0-11; Blaschko 2/5-0/0-3-1-4; Slaby 0/5-0/0-5-0-0; Shock 0/0-0/0-0-1-0; Aguilar Cruz 0/0-0/0-1-0-0; Roque Hernandez 1/1-0/0-0/0-3