SOUTH WAYNE - A crucial game in the Six Rivers East conference race went down to the wire Thursday night. Black Hawk picked up a late bucket from Seth Butler to push them over the top against Monticello. The Warriors knocked off the Ponies, 57-55.
The two teams were tied at 31 at halftime. Black Hawk went on an 8-0 run to start the second half, but Monticello cut that lead to just three entering the final quarter. The Ponies pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, but Butler made a shot from the baseline with about 5 seconds left to propel Black Hawk to the lead and win.
"In the fourth it was back-and-forth. It was a question of who was gonna capitalize on their opportunities. I thought our kids did a nice job," Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick said. "We ran a play with about 15 seconds left. Seth got the ball and drove right baseline and spun back to the middle. He had two guys on him, and he fought through some bodies to get a 3- to 4-foot shot. He showed again that he's got ice water in his veins."
Four players scored in double figures for Monticello. Lucas Marty was the leading Pony, with 13 points. He was joined by Jesse Halvorsen (12 points), Bryce Klitzke (11) and Ben May (10). Seth Butler led the Warriors with 18 points, and his brother Heath added 16. Cory Rupnow also was in double digits for the Warriors, with 10 points.
"They did a nice job of making plays," Manlick said of the Butlers. "They're a very athletic family. They want to be good at basketball. They proved that tonight. I thought they did a nice job of working off each other. The whole team did a nice job working off each other. That's what I want to see, a great team win."
Monticello, ranked seventh in Division 5, fell to 15-3 overall and 6-3 in the Six Rivers East. Black Hawk, the ninth-ranked team in Division 5, improved to 15-1 and 8-1. Manlick said that his team is just taking it one game at a time.
"We have Albany on Tuesday. They're playing good basketball. They have a good shooter in Isaiah Shell," Manlick said. "We know they're going to be well prepared. We're just going to take it a game at a time. We'll have fun with this win tonight, but tomorrow we come back and it's back to the drawing board. We can't have any hiccups at this point. We may be in the driver's seat, but there's still a lot of basketball in front of us."
Albany 49, Juda 46
ALBANY - The Albany boys basketball team was without leading scorer Isaiah Shell for the final two minutes of a tight ballgame with Juda Thursday night, but the Comets held on and pulled out a 49-46 win over the Panthers.
Juda slowed the game down in the first half and took a 23-19 lead into the locker room.
"Juda is somewhat back to full strength," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "They played an aggressive, trapping 1-3-1 zone in the first half. On offense, they slowed it down and pounded it to (Kade) Allen. They tried to keep it a half-court game and pound it to their big guy. We like to try to speed it up, and they held us to just 19 in the first half."
The Comets cut their deficit down to two points entering the fourth quarter. Albany pulled in front in the fourth quarter and led by a point with two minutes left when Shell fouled out. Doescher said that other members of the team did a good job of stepping up in the waning moments of the game.
"It was kinda scary without (Shell) on the court and no seniors out there," Doescher said. "We had a bunch of role players step up and finish the game. We made some free throws at the end. Tyler Dahl made 3 of 3 from the line in the fourth and down the stretch. For a freshman, that was huge."
Doescher also credited the team's defense as being key to the victory.
"Our defense was big. We played man pretty much the whole game. It was total team defensive victory," he said.
Allen led Juda in scoring with 14 points. Cole Bauman added 10 for the Panthers, and Matt Trotter chipped in 9. Shell, who went over the 1,000-point mark for his career on Monday against Pecatonica, scored 21 to lead Albany, and Dahl joined him in double figures with 11.
"Isaiah did his normal thing. He was huge offensively for us. It's nice as a coach to be able to depend on 20 points a game," Doescher said, adding that Grant Schoenenberger and Ethan Pfeuti "played great defense and got some big rebounds."
Albany (8-11, 3-6) will head to Black Hawk next Tuesday, while Juda (4-13, 2-7) returns to action with a non-conference battle with Beloit Turner.
Barneveld 52, Argyle 35
ARGYLE - A close game got away from the Argyle boys basketball after halftime Thursday night against Barneveld.
Argyle (9-10, 3-5 in the Six Rivers East) only trailed Barneveld (10-7, 7-1) 20-18 at halftime. Argyle coach Michael Cassidy said his team did a good job of slowing down the pace in the first half.
"It was closely contested, pretty even," Cassidy said. "We defended well and they defended well. It was kind of a grind-it-out game in the first half, which is not what Barneveld likes to do. They like to get it up and down the court. We thought if we could grind it out for a full 32 minutes we'd have a chance."
Barneveld opened the game up in the second half, though. The Eagles scored 13 in the third quarter to take a 33-22 lead into the fourth. Barneveld outscored the Orioles by six in the final quarter to close out the victory.
"They went off in the second half. They were too good offensively," Cassidy said. "Their defense created a lot in the second half. They just put a little more pressure on us, and we didn't handle it well at all. They're quick, well-coached, good defenders. We tried to work on it, but it's hard to simulate that size and speed in practice."
A pair of freshmen scored in double digits to lead Argyle. Kyle Emberson scored 13, and Riley Ostby added 11. Barneveld's Devon Schult led all scorers with 19 points.
The Orioles will take on rival Pecatonica next Tuesday.
River Ridge 55, Pecatonica 51
BLANCHARDVILLE - Despite dominating the paint most of the game, the Vikings fell victim to late second-chance points by the Timberwolves.
"It was a really close game," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "We pretty much dominated them inside the whole game, except for the last two minutes when they got those offensive rebounds."
The rebounds led to River Ridge taking the lead. However, with five seconds left and down just 53-51, Pecatonica had a chance to take the game.
The Vikings threw a hail mary pass down court and had an open layup, except the momentum of the pass put the shooter directly under the basket.
"It was just a tough situation," Fink said.
Leading the way offensively for the Vikings was senior Dillon Conwell who had 18 points. Sophomore Drew Schliem and freshman Brooks Chandler chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively, and senior Jon Hendrickson collected eight rebounds, to go along with four assists.
"Dillon had another good game for us," Fink said. "Brooks hit some big shots, and Drew's pretty steady for us. The emphasis is getting the ball inside ... that's what makes us go."
The Vikings will look to flex that inside strength in Wisconsin Dells Saturday, where they will take on Hustisford. Pec's schedule is all Six River East play after that, beginning with Argyle on Tuesday.
Cambridge 58, New Glarus 38
CAMBRIDGE - The New Glarus boys basketball team fell to Capitol South foe Cambridge Thursday night.
Cambridge got out to a 16-7 lead after a quarter of play and held a 27-16 lead at halftime. The Blue Jays broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Glarner Knights 16-4. New Glarus outscored Cambridge in the final quarter, 18-15.
The two teams were tied at 31 at halftime. Black Hawk went on an 8-0 run to start the second half, but Monticello cut that lead to just three entering the final quarter. The Ponies pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, but Butler made a shot from the baseline with about 5 seconds left to propel Black Hawk to the lead and win.
"In the fourth it was back-and-forth. It was a question of who was gonna capitalize on their opportunities. I thought our kids did a nice job," Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick said. "We ran a play with about 15 seconds left. Seth got the ball and drove right baseline and spun back to the middle. He had two guys on him, and he fought through some bodies to get a 3- to 4-foot shot. He showed again that he's got ice water in his veins."
Four players scored in double figures for Monticello. Lucas Marty was the leading Pony, with 13 points. He was joined by Jesse Halvorsen (12 points), Bryce Klitzke (11) and Ben May (10). Seth Butler led the Warriors with 18 points, and his brother Heath added 16. Cory Rupnow also was in double digits for the Warriors, with 10 points.
"They did a nice job of making plays," Manlick said of the Butlers. "They're a very athletic family. They want to be good at basketball. They proved that tonight. I thought they did a nice job of working off each other. The whole team did a nice job working off each other. That's what I want to see, a great team win."
Monticello, ranked seventh in Division 5, fell to 15-3 overall and 6-3 in the Six Rivers East. Black Hawk, the ninth-ranked team in Division 5, improved to 15-1 and 8-1. Manlick said that his team is just taking it one game at a time.
"We have Albany on Tuesday. They're playing good basketball. They have a good shooter in Isaiah Shell," Manlick said. "We know they're going to be well prepared. We're just going to take it a game at a time. We'll have fun with this win tonight, but tomorrow we come back and it's back to the drawing board. We can't have any hiccups at this point. We may be in the driver's seat, but there's still a lot of basketball in front of us."
Albany 49, Juda 46
ALBANY - The Albany boys basketball team was without leading scorer Isaiah Shell for the final two minutes of a tight ballgame with Juda Thursday night, but the Comets held on and pulled out a 49-46 win over the Panthers.
Juda slowed the game down in the first half and took a 23-19 lead into the locker room.
"Juda is somewhat back to full strength," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "They played an aggressive, trapping 1-3-1 zone in the first half. On offense, they slowed it down and pounded it to (Kade) Allen. They tried to keep it a half-court game and pound it to their big guy. We like to try to speed it up, and they held us to just 19 in the first half."
The Comets cut their deficit down to two points entering the fourth quarter. Albany pulled in front in the fourth quarter and led by a point with two minutes left when Shell fouled out. Doescher said that other members of the team did a good job of stepping up in the waning moments of the game.
"It was kinda scary without (Shell) on the court and no seniors out there," Doescher said. "We had a bunch of role players step up and finish the game. We made some free throws at the end. Tyler Dahl made 3 of 3 from the line in the fourth and down the stretch. For a freshman, that was huge."
Doescher also credited the team's defense as being key to the victory.
"Our defense was big. We played man pretty much the whole game. It was total team defensive victory," he said.
Allen led Juda in scoring with 14 points. Cole Bauman added 10 for the Panthers, and Matt Trotter chipped in 9. Shell, who went over the 1,000-point mark for his career on Monday against Pecatonica, scored 21 to lead Albany, and Dahl joined him in double figures with 11.
"Isaiah did his normal thing. He was huge offensively for us. It's nice as a coach to be able to depend on 20 points a game," Doescher said, adding that Grant Schoenenberger and Ethan Pfeuti "played great defense and got some big rebounds."
Albany (8-11, 3-6) will head to Black Hawk next Tuesday, while Juda (4-13, 2-7) returns to action with a non-conference battle with Beloit Turner.
Barneveld 52, Argyle 35
ARGYLE - A close game got away from the Argyle boys basketball after halftime Thursday night against Barneveld.
Argyle (9-10, 3-5 in the Six Rivers East) only trailed Barneveld (10-7, 7-1) 20-18 at halftime. Argyle coach Michael Cassidy said his team did a good job of slowing down the pace in the first half.
"It was closely contested, pretty even," Cassidy said. "We defended well and they defended well. It was kind of a grind-it-out game in the first half, which is not what Barneveld likes to do. They like to get it up and down the court. We thought if we could grind it out for a full 32 minutes we'd have a chance."
Barneveld opened the game up in the second half, though. The Eagles scored 13 in the third quarter to take a 33-22 lead into the fourth. Barneveld outscored the Orioles by six in the final quarter to close out the victory.
"They went off in the second half. They were too good offensively," Cassidy said. "Their defense created a lot in the second half. They just put a little more pressure on us, and we didn't handle it well at all. They're quick, well-coached, good defenders. We tried to work on it, but it's hard to simulate that size and speed in practice."
A pair of freshmen scored in double digits to lead Argyle. Kyle Emberson scored 13, and Riley Ostby added 11. Barneveld's Devon Schult led all scorers with 19 points.
The Orioles will take on rival Pecatonica next Tuesday.
River Ridge 55, Pecatonica 51
BLANCHARDVILLE - Despite dominating the paint most of the game, the Vikings fell victim to late second-chance points by the Timberwolves.
"It was a really close game," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "We pretty much dominated them inside the whole game, except for the last two minutes when they got those offensive rebounds."
The rebounds led to River Ridge taking the lead. However, with five seconds left and down just 53-51, Pecatonica had a chance to take the game.
The Vikings threw a hail mary pass down court and had an open layup, except the momentum of the pass put the shooter directly under the basket.
"It was just a tough situation," Fink said.
Leading the way offensively for the Vikings was senior Dillon Conwell who had 18 points. Sophomore Drew Schliem and freshman Brooks Chandler chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively, and senior Jon Hendrickson collected eight rebounds, to go along with four assists.
"Dillon had another good game for us," Fink said. "Brooks hit some big shots, and Drew's pretty steady for us. The emphasis is getting the ball inside ... that's what makes us go."
The Vikings will look to flex that inside strength in Wisconsin Dells Saturday, where they will take on Hustisford. Pec's schedule is all Six River East play after that, beginning with Argyle on Tuesday.
Cambridge 58, New Glarus 38
CAMBRIDGE - The New Glarus boys basketball team fell to Capitol South foe Cambridge Thursday night.
Cambridge got out to a 16-7 lead after a quarter of play and held a 27-16 lead at halftime. The Blue Jays broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Glarner Knights 16-4. New Glarus outscored Cambridge in the final quarter, 18-15.
