JUDA - The thought of calling a timeout flashed briefly through Mark Olson's mind, but the Monticello boys basketball coach dismissed the idea just as quickly.
Olson had two reasons - as in the Ponies had just a pair of field goals to that point in the entire second half.
"I felt when we got (the ball) that it was better just to try to get something out of the scramble rather than set something up the way (Juda) had been defending," Olson said.
Bryce Klitzke and Jesse Halvorsen teamed up to make it the best decision Olson made Friday night.
Klitzke made a steal with 14 seconds left and Halvorsen completed a three-point play with 9.9 seconds remaining, lifting Monticello to a 50-49 victory in a key Six Rivers East Conference clash.
When Juda's Matthew Trotter misfired with 2.5 seconds left, Monticello's Lukas Kolasch rebounded to end a game that featured each team enjoying complete domination for one half.
The victory gives Monticello (11-7, 7-2 Six Rivers East) a season sweep of the Panthers (11-5, 5-4) and keeps the Ponies in sole possession of second place in the league - 1.5 games back of Barneveld. Juda saw its five-game winning streak end.
"It was a big game for us," Olson said. "We felt like after the OT (win vs. Juda) the last time, we thought we'd improved quite a bit, too, and that we could play with them. We knew they'd be bringing it for us."
Klitzke grabbed the ball when Juda's Brandon Bauman fell in front of the Panthers' bench and hustled it up court, where Halvorsen found himself open for a layup as he was fouled.
"I heard people yelling in the background and I just felt it," said Halvorsen, a 6-foot junior who scored five of his eight points in the fourth quarter. "No one was on me so I just drove and hit the layup."
He swished the free throw for the decisive point.
Pressure?
"Not really," Halvorsen said. "Just trying to be concentrate and I felt confident about it. As soon as I released it, I knew it was good."
Senior guard Lukas Kolasch liked the Ponies' chances as he watched Halvorsen stride to the basket.
"I was a little nervous, but Jesse is a very consistent finisher under the basket so I had confidence," Kolasch said. "Jesse is one of our go-to guys."
The sequence was the final salvo in a game dominated by Monticello in the first half and Juda in the second.
Kolasch, a senior guard, scored 13 of his game-high 23 points to stake the Ponies to an impressive 30-14 halftime lead. Monticello hit 5 of 8 attempts from 3-point range and 9 of 12 free throws while Juda was suffering through 29 percent shooting before the break.
Coach Mike Armitage had watched the Panthers play their best ball of the season in recent weeks - including a 21-point victory at then No. 6-ranked Barneveld last week. The tough first half in a game with major postseason tournament seeding implications left him stunned.
"We're scared," Armitage said. "We were scared that first half. I don't know if we were scared to do stuff wrong, scared to do stuff right. We were just scared. As soon as Monticello scored a hoop, we're looking at each other like, 'What's happening?' Well, I'll tell you what's happening - they're focused, they're ready, they want to play and they want to win this game."
The Panthers responded in the second half, dominating Monticello in transition and shooting a sizzling 59 percent (16 of 27). Bauman, a senior guard, and senior forward Joey Jordan combined for 14 third-quarter points and Juda closed the period on a 12-0 run to pull within 36-35. Bauman's eight-footer early in the fourth quarter gave the Panthers the lead.
"They were beating us down the floor and a lot of it was just outworking us," Olson said.
Monticello mustered just six field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and finished the second half shooting 19 percent (3 of 16). The Ponies hung tough by hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and 23 of 30 in the game.
"This is one of our best wins of the season," Kolasch said. "We let them back (into the game), but we were still playing with confidence and we finished at the end."
Bauman finished with 14 points and Jordan 12 for Juda.
"Am I proud of the way they fought back? Sure," Armitage said. "But given the time of the year we're at now, and given the type of team I believe we have, you can't put yourself in that position. We played 16 minutes of basketball tonight. That's all we played."
Olson had two reasons - as in the Ponies had just a pair of field goals to that point in the entire second half.
"I felt when we got (the ball) that it was better just to try to get something out of the scramble rather than set something up the way (Juda) had been defending," Olson said.
Bryce Klitzke and Jesse Halvorsen teamed up to make it the best decision Olson made Friday night.
Klitzke made a steal with 14 seconds left and Halvorsen completed a three-point play with 9.9 seconds remaining, lifting Monticello to a 50-49 victory in a key Six Rivers East Conference clash.
When Juda's Matthew Trotter misfired with 2.5 seconds left, Monticello's Lukas Kolasch rebounded to end a game that featured each team enjoying complete domination for one half.
The victory gives Monticello (11-7, 7-2 Six Rivers East) a season sweep of the Panthers (11-5, 5-4) and keeps the Ponies in sole possession of second place in the league - 1.5 games back of Barneveld. Juda saw its five-game winning streak end.
"It was a big game for us," Olson said. "We felt like after the OT (win vs. Juda) the last time, we thought we'd improved quite a bit, too, and that we could play with them. We knew they'd be bringing it for us."
Klitzke grabbed the ball when Juda's Brandon Bauman fell in front of the Panthers' bench and hustled it up court, where Halvorsen found himself open for a layup as he was fouled.
"I heard people yelling in the background and I just felt it," said Halvorsen, a 6-foot junior who scored five of his eight points in the fourth quarter. "No one was on me so I just drove and hit the layup."
He swished the free throw for the decisive point.
Pressure?
"Not really," Halvorsen said. "Just trying to be concentrate and I felt confident about it. As soon as I released it, I knew it was good."
Senior guard Lukas Kolasch liked the Ponies' chances as he watched Halvorsen stride to the basket.
"I was a little nervous, but Jesse is a very consistent finisher under the basket so I had confidence," Kolasch said. "Jesse is one of our go-to guys."
The sequence was the final salvo in a game dominated by Monticello in the first half and Juda in the second.
Kolasch, a senior guard, scored 13 of his game-high 23 points to stake the Ponies to an impressive 30-14 halftime lead. Monticello hit 5 of 8 attempts from 3-point range and 9 of 12 free throws while Juda was suffering through 29 percent shooting before the break.
Coach Mike Armitage had watched the Panthers play their best ball of the season in recent weeks - including a 21-point victory at then No. 6-ranked Barneveld last week. The tough first half in a game with major postseason tournament seeding implications left him stunned.
"We're scared," Armitage said. "We were scared that first half. I don't know if we were scared to do stuff wrong, scared to do stuff right. We were just scared. As soon as Monticello scored a hoop, we're looking at each other like, 'What's happening?' Well, I'll tell you what's happening - they're focused, they're ready, they want to play and they want to win this game."
The Panthers responded in the second half, dominating Monticello in transition and shooting a sizzling 59 percent (16 of 27). Bauman, a senior guard, and senior forward Joey Jordan combined for 14 third-quarter points and Juda closed the period on a 12-0 run to pull within 36-35. Bauman's eight-footer early in the fourth quarter gave the Panthers the lead.
"They were beating us down the floor and a lot of it was just outworking us," Olson said.
Monticello mustered just six field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and finished the second half shooting 19 percent (3 of 16). The Ponies hung tough by hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and 23 of 30 in the game.
"This is one of our best wins of the season," Kolasch said. "We let them back (into the game), but we were still playing with confidence and we finished at the end."
Bauman finished with 14 points and Jordan 12 for Juda.
"Am I proud of the way they fought back? Sure," Armitage said. "But given the time of the year we're at now, and given the type of team I believe we have, you can't put yourself in that position. We played 16 minutes of basketball tonight. That's all we played."
