The Week in Review SPASH Boys basketball: Nick Bennett had 23 points against his former teammates as the Panthers topped Rhinelander 72-59 last Friday. The senior forward attended Rhinelander schools from third through ninth grades. SPASH's 11-point fourth quarter lead dwindled as the final quarter went on and the Hodags cut it to five with just over a minute left before the Panthers hung on. SPASH led 35-32 after the first half and 50-40 entering the final quarter. John Allee added 16 points and Josh Hall scored 15. Girls basketball: The Panthers used hot shooting and an inside/outside combination in a 61-48 road win at Rhinelander last Friday. SPASH, which shot 53 percent from the field (25-of-47), jumped to an 18-11 lead after one quarter and expanded it in the second half. Janel McCarville poured in 27 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Panthers. Steph Karaliunas scored 12 points. Gymnastics: SPASH improved to 2-1 in the WVC last Thursday, edging D.C. Everest at home 136.45-134.10. Katie Meyer finished third in the all-around, first in the vault and second in the uneven parallel bars. Tracy Knippel was first in the floor exercise. "Our girls pulled through in a challenging meet," coach Mary Olszewski said. "Every meet I see an improvement in performance and attitude. We are strong as a team and we have a lot of depth, as far as talent goes." Hockey: The top-rated Panthers made it look easy Tuesday night in a 9-1 thrashing of No. 2 ranked Wisconsin Rapids. SPASH (8-1 in the WVC) jumped to a 3-0 lead after the first period and also scored a trio of goals in the second and third periods. Eric Anderson (3), Josh Pagel (2), Adam Kostichka (2), Joe Richter and Joe Pavelski all lit the lamp for the Panthers. SPASH goalie Shaun Kruzitski was like a brick wall, stopping 30 of 31 shots. Three straight second period goals helped SPASH get by D.C. Everest 5-1 last Thursday at home. Pavelski, Anderson and Jake Swenson all scored in a 14-minute stretch to put the Panthers ahead 4-1. Josh Kujawa had a goal in the first period and Mark Lutz scored in the third period. Boys swimming: The Panthers won two events and finished second at the Manitowoc Invitational last Saturday. SPASH tallied 264 points while winner Manitowoc scored 390 and third-place Baraboo had 259. Corey Prince won the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard medley relay also got a first place finish. Jacon Nantell grabbed a second in the 50-yard freestyle as did the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Panthers fell to visiting Rhinelander 112-58 in a dual meet last Thursday. Jon Ronzani won two events (50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly) while Prince (100-yard backstroke) and the 200-yard freestyle relay of Ronzani, Matt Trautschold, Ted Conachen and Tim Anderson also finished in first place. Wrestling: Three straight wins at the upper weights clinched SPASH's 37-22 home win over Wausau West Tuesday night. Jed Haas' pin at 171 started the streak and wins by Josh Beyerl (189) and Robb Kolodziej (275) sealed the dual victory for the Panthers (8-2 overall, 4-2 in the WVC). Also picking up wins by pin were Nate Kurszewski (112), Kevin Duda (125) and Ty Pope (140). Jake Calhoun (103) and Mike Bachinski (145) also won their matches for SPASH. The Panthers took nine of 13 matches and roughed up D.C. Everest in a 48-18 home win last Thursday. SPASH picked up six wins by pin when Calhoun (103), Josh Chelberg (119), Ty Pope (140), Mike Bachinski (145), Grey Pope (152) and Haas (171) all stuck their opponents. Kurzsewski (112) and Josh Zinda (160) won by decision while Rob King (135) won by forfeit. Pacelli Boys basketball: Pacelli got behind 10-0 early in the first quarter but then turned things around and topped Eau Claire Regis 47-35 Saturday at home. After a timeout, the Cardinals went on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Following the run, Pacelli went on to outscore Regis 35-25 the rest of the way. Josh Owens paced the Cardinals with 16 points and Kurt Kramer added 15. Nate Swenson pulled in 12 rebounds. Girls basketball: The Cardinals roughed up Eau Claire Regis, 46-31, Saturday at Pacelli. Trailing 11-10 after one quarter, Pacelli got defensive in the second quarter and allowed just one Regis field goal. In the quarter, the Cardinals outscored the Ramblers 12-2 and took a 22-13 halftime lead. Laura McCorkell and Kristin Mitchell led the way for Pacelli with 15 points. Wrestling: Pacelli won only two matches and Tomahawk ran away with a 48-10 dual meet win Tuesday night. The Cardinals picked up a win by pin from Greg Snow (145) and victory by decision from Justin Anderson (160). Pacelli swept five duals and won the Madison La Follette Invite Saturday. The Cardinals beat Evansville 53-18, Hustisford 67-3, Madison Edgewood 69-6, Clinton 42-21 and La Follette 45-24. "We wrestled well today," Pacelli coach Jay Yenter said. "Even in the matches that we lost, the guys wrestled well. We did a good job of staying off of our backs." Mike Kaczmarek (103), Franz Klein (112), Greg Snow (145), Neil Jurgella (160/71) and Ben Kissel (275) all finished with 5-0 records to finish first in their respective weight classes. Pacelli dropped a 39-26 dual meet to visiting Antigo last Thursday night. Snow (145) and John Sniadajewski won by pin, Klein (112) won by technical fall, and Tim Schwarz (130), Jurgella (160) and Kissel (275) won by decision. "We really didn't wrestle that bad (Thursday). The thing that disappointed me was the way that Antigo dictated the tempo of the matches," Yenter said. Amherst Boys basketball: The Falcons held on for a 56-51 win at Almond-Bancroft Tuesday night. Amherst (10-0 overall) had a quartet of players score 10 points - Dylan Page, Jeremy Sherf, Jesse Konkol and Eden Weller - and took a 43-32 lead into the fourth quarter. The Falcons then withstood an A-B rally for the road win. The Falcons doubled up on Shiocton in the second last Friday and topped the Chiefs 51-30 at Shiocton. Amherst outscored the Chiefs 24-12 in the final two quarters after taking a nine-point lead at halftime. Page paced the Falcons with 25 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks. "We did not move well on offense and as a result we were not real productive on the offensive end," Amherst coach Gregg Jensen said. "We also must continue to work on improving our defense." Girls basketball: A big first quarter catapulted the Falcons to a 62-39 non-conference victory against Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Tuesday night. Amherst (10-2 overall) led 20-9 after one quarter and held a 56-26 advantage entering the fourth quarter. Jamie Krutza scored 16 points to lead Amherst while Meghan Simkins contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Anne Stanislawski and Jenni Orsund chipped in 12 points. Amherst jumped to an 18-4 lead and didn't look back in a 65-30 thrashing of Shiocton last Friday at home. Simkins scored 18 points and had nine rebounds. Orsund added 14 points. Almond-Bancroft Boys basketball: A late rally wasn't enough as A-B fell to unbeaten Amherst Tuesday night at home. The Eagles trailed by 43-32 entering the fourth quarter and whittled the Falcons' lead to three before Amherst pulled away. Kent Dernbach scored 17 points and cousin Trevor Dernbach added 13. Bowler got the best of the Eagles in overtime after A-B rallied to send the game into the extra session last Friday night. The Panthers out-tallied A-B 7-2 in overtime to beat the Eagles 49-44 at Bowler. Kent Dernbach led the Eagles with 13 points and Brian Warner had 10. A-B shot just 11-of-41 from the field (27 percent) and hit only 2-of-14 from 3-point land. A-B trailed by eight entering the fourth quarter but beat the Panthers 19-11 in the quarter. Girls basketball: A strong defensive effort helped A-B rally in the second half as the Eagles dropped Bowler 52-41 last Friday at home. A-B trailed 28-22 at halftime but allowed only 13 points in the final two quarters. Stephanie Jenz scored 17 points while Sarah Berry added 10 points and 15 rebounds. Rosholt Boys basketball: The Hornets had their way with Plainfield Tri-County at home Tuesday night and ran away with a 76-49 win. Rosholt came out firing, taking a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. The thrashing continued in the second as the Hornets held a 40-10 advantage. Randy Printz and Kevin Flick paced Rosholt with 14 points apiece and Ryan Zdroik added 11. A third quarter Iola-Scandinavia rally cut Rosholt's lead to two points, but the Hornets held on for a 60-57 road win last Thursday. Zdroik paced Rosholt with 20 points while Printz had 16 and Flick scored 10. Girls basketball: Rosholt made it a clean sweep of Plainfield Tri-County Tuesday night with a 43-25 victory. The Hornets' defense held the Penguins to just 10 first half points and took a 25-10 lead into the locker room. Jenna Eschenbauch led the way with 10 points. Iola-Scandinavia exploded in the fourth quarter and handed Rosholt a 46-41 defeat last Friday at Rosholt. The Hornets led 36-29 entering the fourth quarter but the Thunderbirds outscored Rosholt 17-5 in the quarter. Amy Scott scored 14 points and Christine Check added 10. Wrestling: The Hornets dropped a 38-33 dual meet to Wittenberg-Birnamwood last Thursday. Casey Giese (103), Terry Fields (112), Scott Walenski (135), Aaron Yenter (160) and Senica Omernik (275) all won by pin while Jon Betker (171) was victorious by decision. W-B had three pins, one technical fall, one decision and two forfeits. "The fans got to enjoy an exciting meet and the young guys continued to improve," Rosholt coach Alan Carter said.