North and Memorial basketball alumni go from rivals to teammates at Division I Illinois State

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EAU CLAIRE— Dalton Banks and Caden Boser are names familiar to any Eau Claire high school basketball fan.

The 2020 grads, from North and Memorial High School respectively, each made marks on their program throughout their high school careers, both setting their school’s all-time scoring records. Long past the days of repping blue and purple, Banks and Boser now don red as they play their final year of college basketball together at Illinois State.

It’s a fitting conclusion for the pair who became friends long before meeting on the court as rivals. Growing up just ten minutes from one another, Banks and Boser met through youth sports and formed a friendship that grew while attending Delong Middle School. Once Banks headed off to North and Boser to Memorial, the two took an already exciting rivalry to the next level.

“Growing up, I was always a North superfan and I really looked up to the guys that played there before me, so it was surreal to get a chance to actually be on that stage,” Banks said. “To this day, I don’t think there’s a rivalry I feel more intensely about than North versus Memorial.”

The effect the two had on Eau Claire basketball was electric, according to Memorial basketball coach Chad Brieske. Huskies v. Old Abes tickets sold out as students packed in the gym to see the stars and their teams play. Over the course of those four years, the teams were tightly matched with the Huskies barely edging out the Old Abes 8-9 in a post-season game.

Banks and Boser were both huge contributors to their team’s success. Banks became the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer as a junior, was a two-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) first team selection and earned a spot on The Associated Press’ top two All-State teams. Boser holds the Memorial all-time scoring and all-time rebound records, made All-Northwestern first team twice and earned an honorable mention for the WBCA’s All-State team.

“The highlight of my basketball career was just…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/north-memorial-basketball-alumni-rivals-101900339.html

Author : Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.

Publish date : 2025-01-16 10:19:00

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