The Week in Review SPASH Boys basketball: Nick Bennett poured in 29 points to lead the Panthers in a 68-53 win over Marshfield last Friday. SPASH (4-1 overall, 3-1 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference) jumped to a 26-9 advantage after one quarter, but Marshfield crawled back and got within four with just over six minutes left. The Panthers then put the game away, closing with a 16-5 spurt. Bennett was 9-of-16 shooting from the field (2-of-3 from 3-point land) and hit 9-of-10 free throws. Casey Taggatz was the only other SPASH player in double figures, scoring 15 points. He was 5-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Girls basketball: The Panthers got defensive last Friday and improved to 3-1 in the WVC with a 30-26 win at Marshfield. After both teams scored eight points in the first quarter, SPASH held the Tigers to just one point in the second and opened a 17-9 halftime lead. But Marshfield came back and held the Panthers to four points in the third to cut SPASH's lead to 21-16. Janel McCarville paced SPASH with 12 points and Michele Rosicky added 11. Hockey: Antigo handed SPASH (5-1 in WVC) its first loss of the season Tuesday night, with a 1-0 blanking of the Panthers at Antigo. SPASH had more shots on goal than the Red Robins (29 to 14), but Antigo goalie Bob Berg made saves on them all. Antigo's Aaron Fassender scored his team's only goal in the third period. The Panthers erupted in the second and third periods and went on to win at Wausau East, 9-0, Saturday. Zach Irons, Josh Kujawa and Joe Pavelski each scored a pair of goals while Noah Johnson, Adam Kostichka and Derrick Schultz all lit the lamp once. SPASH goalie Shaun Kruzitski had 20 saves and Eric Everson got one in relief. SPASH disposed of Rhinelander last Thursday, 3-0, at the K.B. Willett Arena. Marty Schultz, Josh Pagel and Jake Swenson all scored in the Panthers' win. Kruzitski had an easy night in goal, making only 10 saves. Boys swimming: Only eight points separated the third-place Panthers from first at the Oregon Relay Invitational Saturday. SPASH, which had six second place finishes, scored 90 points. Fort Atkinson took first with 98 points and Delavan-Darien was second with 94. Finishing in the runner-up spot were the 400-yard intermediate relay (Jacob Nantell, Geoff Thill, Jon Ronzani and Ryan Burhite), the 200 medley (Corey Prince, Thill, Ronzani and Ten Conachen), the 200 freestyle (Nantell, Matt Trautschold, Conachen and Prince), the 200 freestyle (Chris Hosking, Brian Stroik, David Trautschold and Ryan Schultz), the 500 freestyle (Nantell, Matt Trautschold, Ronzani and Thill) and the 300 backstroke (Dave Curtis, Burhite, Nantell and Prince). Wrestling: The Panthers got three straight pins from their upper weights and edged Merrill 33-32 last Thursday at SPASH. Jed Haas (171), Josh Beyerl (189) and Robb Kolodziej (275) all pinned their opponents to close the dual, improving SPASH to 2-0 in the WVC. The Bluejays jumped to an 18-0 lead but Adam Kurzynski (130) and Brian Stremkowski (135) gave SPASH its first two wins, both by fall. Ty Pope (145) won by decision. Pacelli Boys basketball: Josh Owens scored 25 points as Pacelli (1-5) picked up its first win of the season Saturday night, topping Chippewa Falls McDonell 48-30 in its Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference opener. The Cardinals pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Owens' hot shooting. The senior point guard connected on three 3-pointers and had a fast-break layup to give Pacelli a 41-27 advantage with five minutes left. Owens, who was 9-of-21 from the field, hit 6-of-11 from 3-point land. He was the only Cardinal to score in double figures. Defending state champion Park Falls exploded in the third quarter and handed Pacelli its fifth straight loss last Thursday, 69-38 at Park Falls. Pacelli was within five, 23-18, at halftime before Park Falls went on a 32-8 run in the third quarter. Jim Czaplinski led Pacelli with 15 points. Girls basketball: Pacelli (2-5) fell behind early and came back at Iola-Scandinavia Tuesday, but couldn't get past the Thunderbirds, 48-44. I-S jumped to a 21-10 lead after one quarter but the Cardinals rallied and got within two, 38-36, to start the fourth quarter. The Thunderbirds then outscored Pacelli 10-8 in the final period. Lindsey Radomski led the Cardinals with 16 points and Laura McCorkell had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Chippewa Falls McDonell erased a 20-point deficit and came back to defeat Pacelli in both teams' conference opener, 53-42 Saturday. The Macks rallied in the final 12 minutes of the game, outscoring Pacelli (2-4 overall) 39-17. McCorkell had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Radomski added 10 points for Pacelli. Wrestling: Three wins in the final four matches were enough for Pacelli to get past host Abbotsford-Colby, 37-33 Tuesday night. Tim Snow (160) won by pin and Neil Jurgella (171) and Matt Schulist (189) picked up win to clinch the victory. The Cardinals got a win by pin from James Duncan-Zook (125) and forfeit wins from Mike Kaczmarek (103), Franz Klein (119) and Tim Schwarz (130). "We were lucky to come out of here with a win tonight," Pacelli coach Jay Yenter said. "We went to our backs too many times again tonight. There were matches at 152 and heavyweight that we should have won. But they both made one mistake and got caught to their backs and lost." A trio of Cardinals finished second and Pacelli was fourth overall Saturday at the Phillips Invitational. Pacelli scored 129 points, just nine behind fourth place Edgar (138). The host school won the meet with 257. Tim Snow (160 pounds), Matt Schulist (189) and Ben Kissel (275) all got runner-up honors in their respective weight classes. Franz Klein (119) and Neil Jurgella (171) were third. "With the exception of our seniors, we did not wrestle well at all today," Yenter said. "There were a number of close matches that could have gone either way and we didn't win any of them." Almond-Bancroft Boys basketball: The Eagles remained unbeaten (3-0) in Central Wisconsin Conference small division play with a 55-45 victory at Tigerton last Friday. A-B (3-1 overall) jumped to an early 12-5 lead after the opening quarter and entered the fourth with a 34-29 advantage. The Eagles then held on and converted their free throws. Blake Schultz scored 13 points for A-B and Kent Dernbach had 11. The Eagles had 22 turnovers. Girls basketball: A-B rallied in the third quarter and pulled away from visiting Tigerton, 43-34 last Friday. The Eagles (5-2 overall, 4-0 in CWC small), behind a 21-4 run in the third, turned a six-point Tigerton lead into a 34-23 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Sarah Berry took over the glass in the third, grabbing 14 of her 21 rebounds in the quarter. Andrea Cummings paced A-B with 16 points and Stephanie Jenz had 12. Amherst Boys basketball: The Falcons (4-0) used a 10-0 run to start the third quarter and ran away with a 77-45 win at home over Rosholt (3-1) Tuesday. Amherst's full-court press helped extend its 38-22 halftime advantage to 48-22 in the early goings of the third quarter. Eleven of 12 Falcons scored points, led by Dylan Page's 20 points. He also had seven rebounds. Jesse Konkol and Eden Weller both had 12 points. No Hornets players reached double figures, as Joe Kluck and Bryce Domask led Rosholt with eight points each. A big second half catapulted the Falcons to a 69-35 rout at Wittenberg-Birnamwood last Friday. After taking a 34-27 lead into the locker room, Amherst outscored the Chargers 35-8 in the second half. That included a 19-3 third quarter run. W-B shot just 3-of-26 in the second half. Page scored 33 points and had 10 rebounds while Weller added 15 points. Girls basketball: The Falcons doubled up on Wittenberg-Birnamwood in the first half last Friday and cruised to a 53-40 win at home. Amherst built a 35-17 lead after two quarters and carried a 43-23 advantage into the fourth quarter. Meghan Simkins led the Falcons with 22 points and nine rebounds. Anne Stanislawski grabbed 11 boards and had eight points. Wrestling: The Falcons (2-2) dropped a 59-15 dual meet last Thursday to Bonduel. The Bears won 10 of the 13 matches, including nine by pin. Al Bohm (119), Randy Ward (145) and Joe Dambroski (171) picked up wins for Amherst. Rosholt Boys basketball: The Hornets fell to Amherst, 77-45 Tuesday night at Amherst (see Amherst boys basketball). Wrestling: Rosholt traveled to Plainfield last Thursday and dealt the shorthanded Tri-County squad a 66-6 defeat. Tri-County put six wrestlers on the mat to Rosholt's 12 and each team forfeited the 112-pound weight class. "While meets are difficult for those not wrestling, the importance of those who are wrestling should not be lost," Rosholt coach Alan Carter said. Casey Giese (103), Scott Walenski (140), Mike Sarenpa (145), Shawn Sarenpa (152) and Senica Omernick (275) all recorded pins. Ryan Boll (125), Geoff Yenter (130), Bob Omernick (135), Aaron Yenter (160), Jon Betker (171) and Dustin Wiza (189) won by forfeit.