ALBANY — With a 71-35 victory over Pecatonica on Thursday, Jan. 5, the Albany Comets moved to 4-0 in conference and 13-0 overall.

Although the team is four games ahead of last year’s pace — 9-4 in their first 13 games — head coach Derik Doescher wants his team to keep its eyes on the prize: the postseason.

“Right now, we have something special going. We are a good team, but if we want to be a great team, you have to continue to progress through January and February and prepare for the playoffs,” Doescher said. “There’s a lot to play for here in the second half of the season — a lot to improve on — but I’m very happy with where we are at.”

Albany jumped out to an 8-0 lead with buckets from McKenna Broughton, Avary Briggs, Gracie Freitag and Alana Durtschi, forcing a Viking timeout.

The tactic worked momentarily, as Anna Tisch drained a 3-poiner out of the break. Unfortunately, Chloe Schraepfer was called for a charge and Tisch a regular foul, giving momentum back to the Comets.

Freitag fed Briggs for another two points, then Freitag scored a bucket of her own. Abby Hollis added five points with a basket and her first of five 3-pointers.

Pecatonica got back within 10 points thanks to a pair of baskets from Bri Peterson, but her efforts were quickly erased by a 10-3 Albany run. Hollis and Tisch exchanged threes, followed by buckets from Freitag and Durtschi. Briggs also made a 3-pointer during the run, her only of the game.

With a foul from Schraepfer, Briggs went to the line for two. She missed both, however. While the Comets excelled at every other aspect of the game, they were just 2-for-10 from the free-throw line in the first half. Myah Johnson and Hollis were responsible for the two free throws.

With just over 30 seconds left in the half, Anna Ellinger went to the line for a pair of free throws. She missed both. On the second attempt, though, her teammates got the rebound and fed Ellinger for two points. Hollis then scored the final two points of the half with seven seconds left, giving Albany a 44-16 lead.

Hollis picked up in the second half where she left off in the first, draining a 3-pointer. After a bucket from Maddie Hirsch, Broughton scored back-to-back points for the Comets. Durtschi then provided the next four points, including an offensive put-back.

At the 12:45 mark, Schraepfer scored her first points of the game for Pecatonica. The senior entered the game averaging 14.9 ppg — second in the conference to Hollis with 16.3 ppg. She was quick to score again just four points later.

Schraepfer’s third foul sent Hollis to the line, though, where Hollis went 2-for-2. With a subsequent three, Albany took a 65-24 lead to force a running clock.

The Vikings scored three quick points, as Brooklyn Johnsrud went to the charity stripe. She made one free throw and on the second attempt, Peterson grabbed the rebound and put it back in for two. After a bucket from Emerson Briggs, Pecatonica scored again with a basket from Diana Hendrickson.

Doescher put his bench in for the last three minutes of the game. In that time, Tisch scored four points, followed by Schraepfer with two.

Three Comets finished in double figures, led by junior Hollis with 22 points. She drained five 3-pointers and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line. 

“She is your stereotypical gym rat,” Doescher said. “She is constantly shooting before school, before practice, after practice and late at night. She puts a ton of time in, and she deserves a ton of credit. It helps our team immensely that she can knock down those open shots.”

Durtschi was the second-highest scorer with 14 points, all within the arc. Freitag finished with 10 points. Briggs was just shy of double figures with nine points, while Broughton tallied seven.

“The neatest thing about being a coach on this team is our girls are so unselfish — almost to a fault at times,” Doescher said. “There are times where we feel our girls turn down good opportunities because they are trying to set up a teammate for a better opportunity. It’s a pretty amazing group in the way they share the basketball and work together.”

Tisch led Pecatonica with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Peterson followed with seven points and Schraepfer with six.