BARNEVELD — Senior Izzy Durst of Barneveld put on a shooting clinic as she drained five three-pointers on her way to 33 points as the Barneveld Golden Eagles edged Argyle-Pecatonica 59-56 in Six Rivers East girls basketball on Thursday, Feb. 19.
The win by Barneveld coupled with Albany-Monticello’s win over Juda created a tie for the Six Rivers East Conference title between Argyle-Pecatonica and Albany-Monticello. Both teams finished with 12-2 records in the conference. Barneveld finished a game back at 11-3.
Early in the game, Durst hit a pair of threes, but senior Kylie Butler of AP got a steal and a layup plus another basket to tie the game at 9-9. Senior Hannah Esch connected on a pair of threes to give Barneveld the largest lead either team had in the half at 20-13. A three by senior Loretta Tisch and a couple of free throws by junior Brooke Wellnitz sent AP in front 28-25 before Durst scored to make it 28-27 with a basket. Tisch made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left in the half to give AP a 30-27 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, junior Avari Steiner scored off an inbound pass to put the 78ers ahead 36-34. Durst hit a long three with around 10 minutes remaining to put the Eagles ahead 44-37. Butler made a three with 7:50 left to get AP within six at 48-42. Butler’s basket with 2:10 left made the score 54-49. Steiner scored a basket with 1:22 left to get the 78ers within three points at 54-51. Durst hit two free throws and Butler scored a basket to make it 56-53. Two more free throws by Durst were followed by a three from Steiner to bring the score to 58-56 with 32 seconds left.
After a timeout by AP, Barneveld got set to inbound. The Eagles tried to inbound the ball with a lateral pass behind the end line, which is legal, but the inbound pass was deflected out of bounds by AP. The Eagles tried to inbound the ball again with a lateral pass, but officials ruled the inbound had to come from a stationary position because of the deflection out of bounds, so it was a turnover to AP. After inbounding, the 78ers missed a shot and fouled senior Erin Lasse, who made one free throw with 18.5 seconds left to put Barneveld ahead 59-56. She missed the second free throw and AP grabbed the rebound. Argyle-Pecatonica got the ball into the front court looking for a three. Steiner got the ball and tried a three at the buzzer, but the shot missed and Barneveld prevailed.
Only four players scored for AP. Butler and Wellnitz each had 18 points. Steiner scored 11 and Tisch scored nine.
Barneveld coach Jim Myers acknowledged the intensity of what was a well-played game from both sides.
“I’m happy that the kids stepped up to the challenge. We’ve seen a heck of a high school game from both teams. I mean, both team worked hard. They were fighting for the ball and it was just a really good game. I had to catch myself a couple of times just watching it. I had to realize that I had to coach,” Myers said.
Argyle-Pecatonica (19-4) is the No. 1 seed in the Division 5 regional and was scheduled to play at home against No. 16 seed Benton in a regional quarterfinal on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Barneveld (17-7) is the No. 3 seed and was scheduled to host No. 14 seed Black Hawk in a regional quarterfinal the same evening.
