MONTICELLO - As the Warriors' big guns checked out, the Ponies' upset bid quickly became a reality.
With Warriors big men Alex Abraham and Shane Jackson already fouled out, Jerry Mortimer emptied his bench after a Dusty Ritschard deuce off an inbounds stretched the Monticello lead to a point the Warriors' skipper deemed insurmountable at 54-39.
A Joey Hartwig free throw achieved the final score, 54-40, but the Ponies faithful went crazy once the final buzzer sounded. Their boys had canceled out Hartwig and the massive Warriors (9-1, 4-1 Six Rivers East) on the interior throughout to hand the Six Rivers East frontrunners their first loss of the season.
"Joey and Mike (Place) did not touch the ball enough," Mortimer said. "Some of that was Monticello's defense and some of that was our lack of execution."
Monticello (5-4, 4-1 Six Rivers East) creates a logjam of 4-1 teams atop the conference. The Ponies pressed the issue on the offensive end, going to the rack and forcing several Black Hawk upperclassmen to get themselves into foul trouble.
D.J. McGowan's 17 points were a game-high for Monticello and Hartwig led Black Hawk with 13.
A week ago, the Ponies found themselves unable to throw the knockout blow in both contests at the Whitewater Tournament against bigger-division squads.
Friday night, they were anything but hesitant in the final eight minutes.
"Tonight we were playing to win and once there were zeroes on the scoreboard our kids could look around, get excited with their fans ... that's what high school basketball's all about," Pickett said.
BARNEVELD 51, ARGYLE 39
It was more of the same for the Orioles.
Andy Bohlman and Kevin Berg scored 14 and 12 respectively for Argyle, but Barneveld found more sources for points in the Eagles 51-39 home victory Friday night.
The Orioles closed the gap from 28-12 to 32-22 after three, but the Eagles won't give up the lead. Kyle Thompson led Barneveld with 16 points.
POYNETTE 46, NEW GLARUS 46
One hole is tough enough to dig out of.
New Glarus fell way behind Poynette after one quarter, 10-2, then battled back, but couldn't get over the hump 46-44 Friday night on the road.
Adam Ray scored 22 points to nip the Glarner Knights. Cassidy Flannery continued to lead New Glarus by scoring 12 points, but it wouldn't be enough.
DARLINGTON 72, RIVERDALE 39
There can never be to much of a good thing for Darlington.
Four Redbirds scored in double digits as Darlington blew out Riverdale 72-39 on the road.
Kyler Weigel led the Redbird attack with 18, but Alex Erickson (17), Mitchell Erickson (12) and Cody Murray (10) filled the stat sheet in the victory.
With Warriors big men Alex Abraham and Shane Jackson already fouled out, Jerry Mortimer emptied his bench after a Dusty Ritschard deuce off an inbounds stretched the Monticello lead to a point the Warriors' skipper deemed insurmountable at 54-39.
A Joey Hartwig free throw achieved the final score, 54-40, but the Ponies faithful went crazy once the final buzzer sounded. Their boys had canceled out Hartwig and the massive Warriors (9-1, 4-1 Six Rivers East) on the interior throughout to hand the Six Rivers East frontrunners their first loss of the season.
"Joey and Mike (Place) did not touch the ball enough," Mortimer said. "Some of that was Monticello's defense and some of that was our lack of execution."
Monticello (5-4, 4-1 Six Rivers East) creates a logjam of 4-1 teams atop the conference. The Ponies pressed the issue on the offensive end, going to the rack and forcing several Black Hawk upperclassmen to get themselves into foul trouble.
D.J. McGowan's 17 points were a game-high for Monticello and Hartwig led Black Hawk with 13.
A week ago, the Ponies found themselves unable to throw the knockout blow in both contests at the Whitewater Tournament against bigger-division squads.
Friday night, they were anything but hesitant in the final eight minutes.
"Tonight we were playing to win and once there were zeroes on the scoreboard our kids could look around, get excited with their fans ... that's what high school basketball's all about," Pickett said.
BARNEVELD 51, ARGYLE 39
It was more of the same for the Orioles.
Andy Bohlman and Kevin Berg scored 14 and 12 respectively for Argyle, but Barneveld found more sources for points in the Eagles 51-39 home victory Friday night.
The Orioles closed the gap from 28-12 to 32-22 after three, but the Eagles won't give up the lead. Kyle Thompson led Barneveld with 16 points.
POYNETTE 46, NEW GLARUS 46
One hole is tough enough to dig out of.
New Glarus fell way behind Poynette after one quarter, 10-2, then battled back, but couldn't get over the hump 46-44 Friday night on the road.
Adam Ray scored 22 points to nip the Glarner Knights. Cassidy Flannery continued to lead New Glarus by scoring 12 points, but it wouldn't be enough.
DARLINGTON 72, RIVERDALE 39
There can never be to much of a good thing for Darlington.
Four Redbirds scored in double digits as Darlington blew out Riverdale 72-39 on the road.
Kyler Weigel led the Redbird attack with 18, but Alex Erickson (17), Mitchell Erickson (12) and Cody Murray (10) filled the stat sheet in the victory.
