MONTICELLO — The Ponies (16-3) won the regional title for the second year in a row after knocking off Faith Christian 67-44 and Barneveld 50-33 on Feb. 19 and 20.

“We were happy to do enough to come out with our second consecutive regional championship,” Monticello coach Mark Olson said.

In the win over Faith Christian, the Ponies jumped out to a 38-16 halftime advantage thanks to 19 points from senior Peter Gustafson. Gustafson led Monticello with 25 points overall. Logan Blum finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, Blake Klitzke and Rudy Wicker each had 8 and Tristin Flanagan 7. 

“Faith Christian played hard. We were able to use an inside-out game to loosen them up a little bit, and did a nice job defensively on their leading scorer,” Olson said.

Against conference rival Barneveld, Monticello held a 23-14 advantage at halftime, with 15 of those coming from Gustafson, who finished with 26. Rudy Wicker had a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds).

“This was a defensive game between two opponents that know each other well,” Olson said.

Monticello, ranked second, is the top-seeded team in its sectional and will host Shullsburg (12-8) Feb. 25. The winner will face either No. 8-ranked Stockbridge (21-3) or top-ranked Hustisford (14-3) Feb. 27 with a shot at state on the line.

Regional semifinals, Feb. 19

Benton 57, Black Hawk 42

BENTON — The Zephyrs led 28-23 at halftime, but outscored the Warriors by 10 in the second half. 

Lucas Milz led Black Hawk in scoring off the bench with 12 points, and Thatcher Schliem added 11. Dayton Burmeister finished with 9. 

Benton hit seven 3-pointers to Black Hawk’s four, and the Zephyrs were whistled for just 9 fouls in the game. Chad Haffele (20) and Rex Blaine (19) led Benton in scoring.

In other area Division 5 regional semifinal action Feb. 19, Albany lost to Barneveld 61-55.