JUDA — Sometimes players enter a game just “feeling it,” and that’s exactly what transpired for Hunter Enloe at Juda Jan. 29. The junior guard scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Vikings past the Panthers 69-38 in a Six Rivers East game.

“I felt good. I felt warmed up and my shot felt pretty smooth,” said Enloe, who added that he has never scored that many points in a game at any level of basketball. “My teammates got me the ball. I just stayed confident and trusted myself and my teammates, and it worked out.”

It was Pecatonica’s first win in 11 tries this season, and a redemption game from just two weeks before when Juda pulled off a 58-51 win in Blanchardville. In that game, Mason Kammerer hit six 3s, and Ward Steinmann, Aaron Makos and Avery Schaeffer each had 12 points.

“We’ve talked about it before — winning is hard. It’s easy to lose. You’ve got to do things right in order to win, and we did that. We’ve played well in stretches in games this year — we’ve just lacked that winning mentality and figuring out how to finish games off,” Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. “Everything can be a springboard. I think we’re a team that can compete.”

At Juda, Enloe was on a roll right from the start, scoring his team’s first 7 points in all three facets — a layup, a 3-pointer and two free throws. He continued to both attack the rim and hit jump shots all night, which made him tough to defend.

“His mid-range shot is his best, though he can shoot the 3 a little bit,” Fink said. “As he’s developed, I think he’s added a few more tools to his game. He’s definitely got a special skill set.”

Pecatonica’s lead stood at 10-8 six minutes into the game, as the Panthers were able to spread the ball around a bit. Juda has been mired in a state of shorthandedness all season, and played the Vikings with just seven active bodies.

“I try to plan timeouts that are not really dependent on the score, but on rest,” Juda coach Aaron Duecker said. “We have a very light rotation, and we try to get them in and get those breaks to change things up. We’ve got to figure out ways to deal with it. We’re dealing with the hand we were dealt with this year.”

Duecker’s timeout at the 12:06 mark was in hopes of giving his starters a potential break. Instead, it rejuvenated the Vikings. Pecatonica ran off a 17-0 run over the next 4:39 of the game to go ahead 27-8. By halftime, the Vikings led 34-14.

Enloe scored 17 points in the first half himself, while Coy Ruegsegger added 7. Foul trouble to David Tisch and Kegun Brunker — Pec’s No. 2 and 3 scorers on the season — kept the score from becoming more lopsided.

“We had some plans to press a little bit tonight, but we got into some foul trouble early — and I think they were just some silly fouls. The rotations I thought were pretty good for us tonight, but we still want to bring the hands down a little bit,” Fink said. “I thought Hunter kind of took that as ‘I’ve got to carry to to the half,’ and I think he did a good job with it.”

Juda playing without starter Mason Kammerer, which made the offensive flow that much harder. Pecatonica entered the game specifically planning to shut down Kammerer, but when pregame started, the coaches had to alter their strategies.

“The Kammerer kid was down, and that hurt them (Juda) a little bit. I thought our kids took advantage of him not being there,” Fink said.

In the second half, Juda went inside more often to Makos, a junior, and Hosch, a senior. Makos finished with a team-high 17 points, while Hosch had 11 on the game billed as both Senior Night and Parents Night. 

“Those two were huge. Game in and game out, those two are always pounding the posts. They’re always getting to the rim. They’re always getting to the free throw line,” Duecker said.

Schaeffer added six points, and senior Hayden Valdivia added a second half 3 for the Vikings.

Even still, the Vikings kept hitting their shots. Enloe buries three 3s alone, while Jameson Johnson and Wyat Mieden added triples themselves. Pecatonica was also 6 of 7 collectively from the free throw line in the second half.

Brunker and Ruegsegger each finished with 9 points in the contest. 

“They shot really well tonight, and credit to them for being ready,” Duecker said.

The day before on Jan. 28, Pecatonica lost to Madison Abundant Life/St. Ambrose 61-43, with Enloe scoring a team-high 15 points.

On Jan. 30, Juda hosted Cassville and lost 66-41.