The Mauston Golden Eagles boys basketball team opened up their South Central Conference schedule on the road Friday night at Wautoma. Both teams entered with 1-2 records and once again were very evenly matched. The Golden Eagles fought hard with a solid team effort to hold off the Hornets and snap their two game losing streak.

Wautoma came out strong and led 10-2 before Mauston fought back and trimmed the lead to one point at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles took over in the second quarter and led by as many as seven points, but the defense gave up five quick points in the final minute of the half as the Hornets got back within one before halftime.

After a back-and-forth battle in the third quarter, Mauston was able to get their lead back up to seven by the end of it. The Hornets hung around in the fourth quarter keeping the game close, but the Golden Eagles were able to hold off the Hornets down the stretch. Wautoma drained six 3-pointers in the second half, but it was a missed 3-point attempt by senior Johnny Eagan at the buzzer that kept the game from going into overtime.

The Hornets were led in scoring by senior Mitchell Girdauskas who finished with 16 points including four 3-pointers. Also leading the way for Wautoma was Eagan and junior Anthony Giliberto with 11 points a piece including three 3-pointers from Giliberto. Rounding out the scoring for the Hornets was senior Jarrett Simonson and sophomore Muhanet Kurtoski with 4 points a piece. Wautoma shot 72% from the line making 8 of 11.

Mauston had an outstanding effort by senior Jack Orton who led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 16 points. The Golden Eagles were also led by junior Joel Heesch who finished with 15 points. Other scorers included junior Ross Thompson with 7 points, junior Hunter Nelson added 6 points, senior Dale Osthoff and junior Skylar Reicks contributed 2 points a piece of the bench, and senior Andy Thrams also added a free-throw off the bench. The Golden Eagles shot just 61% from the free-throw line making 8 of 13.

Mauston improves to 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while Wautoma falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference. The Golden Eagles will have a week off before they host Tomah in non-conference action next Friday night.