The Wauzeka-Steuben Hornets boys basketball team began this past week looking to extend their first two-game winning streak of the season.

First up for the Hornets was a visit by conference rival Ithaca last Tuesday, Feb. 3. Despite a valiant effort by the Hornets, the Bulldogs held off Wauzeka-Steuben by a final score of 61-56. 

Senior Cooper Lomas collected a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets in both categories. Fellow senior Theo Millin added 13 points and five rebounds, while Josh Martin (nine points), Julius Cooley (six points), Clint Mitchell (three points) and Cody Wagner (two points) each got into the scoring column for the Hornets.

Next up for W-S three nights later was a visit from conference leading and the no. 2 ranked team in D5 in the Kickapoo Panthers.

The Hornets were unable to stop the Panthers as the visitors claimed a 72-37 victory. Lomas was once again the top scorer (10 points) and rebounder (eight rebounds) for the Hornets. Millin (nine points), Martin (seven points), Bentley Dums (five points), Cooley (four points) and Mitchell (two points) also scored in the loss.

The week wrapped up with the Hornets traveling to Prairie du Chien to take on the Blackhawks in the first varsity boys basketball game between the two programs since November 1954.

The first half saw both teams trade leads early on before the Hawks pulled ahead late to take a 27-24 lead into halftime.

The Hawks extended their lead to four early in the second half  but the Hornets managed to stay within striking distance.

Trailing 38-35 with 55 seconds remaining in the contest, the Hornets quickly turned the tide in their favor as they got a basket from Lomas, forced an inbounding violation on the Hawks and got another basket from Lomas to take a 39-38 lead with only seconds remaining. The Hawks final shot attempts would come up short and the Hornets would hold on for just the second ever win in program history over PdC and the first since March 1930.

Lomas led all scorers with 24 points in the win, while also grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. Millin added 11 points and 10 rebounds while Martin  added four points to complete the Hornets scoring total. Wauzeka-Steuben improved to 4-12 overall with the win, while the Hawks fell to 1-18.

The Hornets schedule this week featured four games in five days with three of those four games occuring on the road. Wauzeka-Steuben began the week this past Monday night at Riverdale before traveling to Boscobel the following night. The Hornets wrap up the week by hosting Seneca this Thursday night before traveling to De Soto this Friday night with game time scheduled for 6:00 p.m.