SOUTH WAYNE - The Black Hawk boys basketball team, ranked fifth in Division 5, fended off a pesky Albany team Tuesday night, picking up a 53-46 win over the Comets.
Black Hawk led 13-8 after the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime. The Warriors increased their lead to 11 at one point in the third quarter, but Albany fought back to pull to within five entering the final quarter. The Warriors held off the Comets in the fourth quarter, despite Albany's Isaiah Shell scoring 14 of his 27 in the final frame.
"Shell got more than we anticipated," said Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick. "He made shots at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter, which kinda propelled them. They shot themselves back in it. Our kids kept their composure. They battled back and finished the game strong."
Tyler Dahl was Albany's next leading scorer after Shell, with 8 points. Black Hawk had three players score in double figures. Seth Butler led the Warriors with 13, while Cory Rupnow and Heath Butler added 12 and 11, respectively.
"We did a nice job of recognizing open guys," Manlick said. "Three in double figures is always nice to see."
Albany fell to 8-12 overall and 3-7 in the Six Rivers East. The Comets host Pecatonica on Friday. Black Hawk improved to 16-1 and 8-1 in conference. The Warriors will host Potosi on Thursday in a Six Rivers crossover game.
"There are things we still need to work on," Manlick said. "The bullseye on our back gets bigger every night. We just need to keep playing Black Hawk basketball."
Pecatonica 61, Argyle 38
BLANCHARDVILLE - The Pecatonica boys basketball team put things together on the offensive end and played solid defense on their way to knocking off Six Rivers East rival Argyle.
Pecatonica jumped on the Orioles right away, grabbing a 17-5 lead after the first quarter and taking a 30-12 lead into halftime. The Vikings expanded their lead to 46-21 entering the final quarter, but Argyle got things going on the offensive end and outscored Pec 17-15 in the fourth.
Pecatonica assistant coach Eli Fitzsimons said Pecatonica's zone defense gave Argyle fits on the offensive end.
"We played our zone and they kinda struggled getting into their sets," he said. "We stayed in that the whole game. They couldn't find an answer."
Kyle Emberson and Pablo Vives each scored 12 points to lead the Orioles. Drew Schliem led the Vikings with 18 points, and Dillon Conwell added 15.
"This was the first time where I think we put it all together," Fitzsimons said. "Everybody down the board had probably their best game of the season."
Argyle is now 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the Six Rivers East. The Orioles host Monticello on Friday. Pecatonica improved to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in conference. Fitzsimons said the Vikings need to just keep doing what they're doing as they approach postseason play.
"We're sharing the ball, everybody's got confidence in what we're doing and what the coaches are saying," he said. "We're really clicking right now."
Monticello 52, Barneveld 34
MONTICELLO - The Monticello boys basketball team shut down Barneveld's offense Tuesday night, and the Ponies avenged a previous loss to the Eagles.
"I thought we did a nice job of taking care of the basketball," said Monticello coach Mark Olson. "We defended pretty well. Barneveld's a team that can put up points in a hurry. I was happy with our defensive effort."
Monticello never trailed in the game. The Ponies led 13-4 after a quarter of play, but the Eagles cut the lead to just 19-13 at halftime. Monticello opened the game up in the third quarter by outscoring Barneveld 17-5. Olson said Monticello didn't change anything up at halftime.
"I don't think we really changed anything," he said. "Barneveld had a nice run late in the second quarter. (Barneveld's Devon) Schult had a personal 9-0 run in the second. It was just a matter of going back out and not letting him continue to roll. We got a chance to re-gather at halftime."
Olson said that Monticello took better shots and played much better defense than they did in their first matchup with Barneveld, a 51-47 loss on Dec. 14.
"One big difference was our shot selection. We took better shots tonight," he said. "We did a better job defensively on Schult. He had 24 the first time, and we held him to 16."
Ben May was Monticello's leading scorer, with 24 points. Bryce Klitzke also chipped in 11 for the Ponies and Lucas Marty added 10.
Tuesday night was Senior Night for the Ponies, and Olson said he was happy with the way his team, especially his seniors, responded from their tough 57-55 loss to Black Hawk last Thursday.
"It was tough to lose that game, but we still have some goals and things we want to accomplish," he said. "Credit goes to our seniors. We didn't let one tough loss turn in to two. Our leaders did a nice job. They brought intensity and effort tonight."
Monticello, ranked 10th in Division 5, takes on Argyle on Friday.
Marshall 75, New Glarus 44
NEW GLARUS - The New Glarus boys basketball team played well in stretches, but the Marshall offense proved too much in a home loss Tuesday night.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said the Glarner Knights had offensive opportunities, but the shots wouldn't fall.
"We got great looks, but we shot 2 of 16 in the first quarter," he said.
The Knights came out strong in the second half, going on a 16-6 run to start the third quarter. However, Marshall answered with a 16-2 to finish off the third and put the game out of reach.
"A lot of their points came off of turnovers," Sysko said. "We got a little careless with the ball."
Leading the way offensively for New Glarus was Spencer Jones, who scored 16 points. Cam Ward led Marshall, with 25 points.
The Knights (4-15, 2-6 Capitol South) will travel to Wisconsin Heights on Friday.
Beloit Turner 62, Juda 41
BELOIT - A tough first half doomed the Juda boys basketball team Tuesday night, as the Panthers fell to Beloit Turner in a non-conference game.
Turner jumped out to a 19-7 lead, and increased that lead to 36-18 at halftime. The second half was closer, as Beloit Turner only outscored the Panthers by three in the final two quarters.
Juda (5-14) travels to Barneveld on Friday.
Black Hawk led 13-8 after the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime. The Warriors increased their lead to 11 at one point in the third quarter, but Albany fought back to pull to within five entering the final quarter. The Warriors held off the Comets in the fourth quarter, despite Albany's Isaiah Shell scoring 14 of his 27 in the final frame.
"Shell got more than we anticipated," said Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick. "He made shots at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter, which kinda propelled them. They shot themselves back in it. Our kids kept their composure. They battled back and finished the game strong."
Tyler Dahl was Albany's next leading scorer after Shell, with 8 points. Black Hawk had three players score in double figures. Seth Butler led the Warriors with 13, while Cory Rupnow and Heath Butler added 12 and 11, respectively.
"We did a nice job of recognizing open guys," Manlick said. "Three in double figures is always nice to see."
Albany fell to 8-12 overall and 3-7 in the Six Rivers East. The Comets host Pecatonica on Friday. Black Hawk improved to 16-1 and 8-1 in conference. The Warriors will host Potosi on Thursday in a Six Rivers crossover game.
"There are things we still need to work on," Manlick said. "The bullseye on our back gets bigger every night. We just need to keep playing Black Hawk basketball."
Pecatonica 61, Argyle 38
BLANCHARDVILLE - The Pecatonica boys basketball team put things together on the offensive end and played solid defense on their way to knocking off Six Rivers East rival Argyle.
Pecatonica jumped on the Orioles right away, grabbing a 17-5 lead after the first quarter and taking a 30-12 lead into halftime. The Vikings expanded their lead to 46-21 entering the final quarter, but Argyle got things going on the offensive end and outscored Pec 17-15 in the fourth.
Pecatonica assistant coach Eli Fitzsimons said Pecatonica's zone defense gave Argyle fits on the offensive end.
"We played our zone and they kinda struggled getting into their sets," he said. "We stayed in that the whole game. They couldn't find an answer."
Kyle Emberson and Pablo Vives each scored 12 points to lead the Orioles. Drew Schliem led the Vikings with 18 points, and Dillon Conwell added 15.
"This was the first time where I think we put it all together," Fitzsimons said. "Everybody down the board had probably their best game of the season."
Argyle is now 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the Six Rivers East. The Orioles host Monticello on Friday. Pecatonica improved to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in conference. Fitzsimons said the Vikings need to just keep doing what they're doing as they approach postseason play.
"We're sharing the ball, everybody's got confidence in what we're doing and what the coaches are saying," he said. "We're really clicking right now."
Monticello 52, Barneveld 34
MONTICELLO - The Monticello boys basketball team shut down Barneveld's offense Tuesday night, and the Ponies avenged a previous loss to the Eagles.
"I thought we did a nice job of taking care of the basketball," said Monticello coach Mark Olson. "We defended pretty well. Barneveld's a team that can put up points in a hurry. I was happy with our defensive effort."
Monticello never trailed in the game. The Ponies led 13-4 after a quarter of play, but the Eagles cut the lead to just 19-13 at halftime. Monticello opened the game up in the third quarter by outscoring Barneveld 17-5. Olson said Monticello didn't change anything up at halftime.
"I don't think we really changed anything," he said. "Barneveld had a nice run late in the second quarter. (Barneveld's Devon) Schult had a personal 9-0 run in the second. It was just a matter of going back out and not letting him continue to roll. We got a chance to re-gather at halftime."
Olson said that Monticello took better shots and played much better defense than they did in their first matchup with Barneveld, a 51-47 loss on Dec. 14.
"One big difference was our shot selection. We took better shots tonight," he said. "We did a better job defensively on Schult. He had 24 the first time, and we held him to 16."
Ben May was Monticello's leading scorer, with 24 points. Bryce Klitzke also chipped in 11 for the Ponies and Lucas Marty added 10.
Tuesday night was Senior Night for the Ponies, and Olson said he was happy with the way his team, especially his seniors, responded from their tough 57-55 loss to Black Hawk last Thursday.
"It was tough to lose that game, but we still have some goals and things we want to accomplish," he said. "Credit goes to our seniors. We didn't let one tough loss turn in to two. Our leaders did a nice job. They brought intensity and effort tonight."
Monticello, ranked 10th in Division 5, takes on Argyle on Friday.
Marshall 75, New Glarus 44
NEW GLARUS - The New Glarus boys basketball team played well in stretches, but the Marshall offense proved too much in a home loss Tuesday night.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 22-4 lead after the first quarter. New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said the Glarner Knights had offensive opportunities, but the shots wouldn't fall.
"We got great looks, but we shot 2 of 16 in the first quarter," he said.
The Knights came out strong in the second half, going on a 16-6 run to start the third quarter. However, Marshall answered with a 16-2 to finish off the third and put the game out of reach.
"A lot of their points came off of turnovers," Sysko said. "We got a little careless with the ball."
Leading the way offensively for New Glarus was Spencer Jones, who scored 16 points. Cam Ward led Marshall, with 25 points.
The Knights (4-15, 2-6 Capitol South) will travel to Wisconsin Heights on Friday.
Beloit Turner 62, Juda 41
BELOIT - A tough first half doomed the Juda boys basketball team Tuesday night, as the Panthers fell to Beloit Turner in a non-conference game.
Turner jumped out to a 19-7 lead, and increased that lead to 36-18 at halftime. The second half was closer, as Beloit Turner only outscored the Panthers by three in the final two quarters.
Juda (5-14) travels to Barneveld on Friday.
