SOUTH WAYNE — Despite a strong comeback effort from Albany (2-12, 1-4 Six Rivers East) — cutting a 14-point lead down to four points — Black Hawk (4-10, 2-2 Six Rivers East) hung on for a 48-42 victory on Thursday, Jan. 12.
It was the first win for the Warriors since Dec. 8, when they defeated Weston 53-39. Senior Lucas Milz played a large role in the latest victory, scoring 20 points with five 3-pointers.
“It’s big for us,” Black Hawk head coach Trent Wyssbrod said. “The first win we’ve had in a while, so it’s always nice to get one after you’ve been losing to some bigger schools. I knew at the beginning of the year a struggle for us would be scoring. Lucas starting knocking down some shots, which was huge for us in the second half.”
The game remained scoreless for almost three minutes before Ethan Koss hit a 3-pointer. Jovanny Erickson scored the first points for Black Hawk, grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back in for two.
Albany extended its lead to 8-2 with five points from Drew Sertle. When the Warriors closed in again, it was Sertle that padded the lead to five points with another three.
Carter Baumgartner sparked what proved to be the game-tying run, as he took a charge from Koss. It was Koss’s third foul of the game with seven and a half minutes left in the first. Not long after, Sertle fouled Milz in the process of shooting a three. It was Sertle’s second foul.
Comet head coach Kurt Soderberg was forced to bench both players, which drastically hurt the offense. The duo accounts for 48% of the team’s overall points and 3-pointers made. Koss has scored 117 points with 16 threes, while Sertle has scored 85 points with 19 threes.
“We want Ethan on the floor as much as possible, so it definitely hurts when he is out. We also had to sit Drew Sertle for a few minutes in the first half because he had two fouls,” Soderberg said. “Having Ethan and Drew off the floor at the same time is a problem. We want to avoid that as much as possible.”
At the line, Milz made all three of his free throws to tie the game at 13. Although a free throw from Kaden Zurfluh gave Albany the lead again, an offensive put-back by Trae Hagen tipped the score in favor of Black Hawk. From that point on, the Warriors never trailed.
With just over a minute left in the half, trailing 19-16, the Comets mounted a small comeback. Zurfluh made a basket, and Gage Roth went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.
Soderberg called a timeout with 10.4 seconds left to set up a play. Albany fumbled the ball, though, and Brayden Bakken’s three was rushed and off the mark.
Two minutes into the second half, Nate Stokstad got the Comets within one with his free throw. Sertle and Andrew Figi exchanged buckets before Milz began to find his groove.
He drained four 3-pointers to give Black Hawk a seven-point lead. After a pair of baskets from Seth Dunlavey, Milz hit his fifth three of the game to give the Warriors their largest lead at 14.
“They were playing that 2-3 zone, and there was a lot of separation between the wing,” Milz said. “I took advantage from beyond the arc because they were giving me the space.”
Bakken challenged Milz, hitting a three of his own. Paired with some Warrior fouls, Albany began its comeback. Koss went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe, followed by another pair of free throws from James Schwartz.
Zurfluh then grabbed a loose ball and converted it into two points for Albany. With a free throw and bucket from Schwartz, the Comets trailed by just four with less than a minute to go.
Having fouls to give, Albany put pressure on Black Hawk with aggressive defense and fouls. The Warriors reached bonus with 8.3 seconds left in the game, where Hagen went 2-for-2 from the line. Figi then blocked a 3-point attempt from Koss, giving the Comets just 3.1 seconds to work with. Albany was unable to score, as Black Hawk took the game.
Despite the loss, Soderberg was proud of his team’s effort and has seen improvements as the season’s progressed.
“The second half was very tight until Black Hawk was able to go on a run, hitting several threes and getting in deep on our defense. We made some adjustments and cut their lead to four points but were unable to get over the hump,” Soderberg said. “In each game, our players are improving and learning how to play together. I’m proud of their effort and improved play.”
Milz led Black Hawk with 20 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. Figi also scored in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. Dunlavey led the team in rebounds with 10. At eight points, he was a basket shy of a double-double.
For Albany, Zurfluh and Sertle tallied 10 points each. Koss trailed close behind with nine. Sertle also led the team in rebounds with five.
The win positions the Warriors in the middle of the Six Rivers East Conference at 2-2. Barneveld leads at 4-0. Conversely, the loss puts Albany second to the bottom ahead of Juda.
“It’s big. We are dreaming of a conference championship. We have to win out in conference if we want one,” Milz said. “We got a big conference win and it’s given us momentum. We are going to use that for the games ahead.”
BLACK HAWk 26, BELMONT 23
SOUTH WAYNE — The Warriors used their momentum from Thursday to defeat Belmont (1-10, 0-4 Six Rivers West) in a conference crossover on Saturday, Jan. 14.
Black Hawk trailed 8-4 after the first half, with two points each from Figi and Dunlavey. In the second, Milz, Erickson and Baumgartner added to the offense for the Warriors to take the lead.
Down the stretch, the team went just 4-for-15 from the free-throw line for 27%. The Warriors had multiple opportunities to extend their lead and ice the game, but they fell short. Belmont’s game-tying three was off mark, as Black Hawk snuck away with its second straight win.
Dunlavey led the team with 11 points, nine of them coming in the second half. All of Milz’s eight points came in the second half, with six of them made beyond the arc. Figi trailed with four points, followed by Baumgartner with two. Erickson had one free throw.
WILLIAMS BAY 56, ALBANY 38
WILLIAMS BAY — The Bulldogs (8-3, 4-1 Trailways South) found holes in Albany’s defense, scoring 30 points in the paint en route to their 56-38 victory on Friday, Jan. 13.
While the Comets scored 19 points in each half and tightened their defense in the second half to allow four less points, the deficit was too great.
Schwartz led Albany with 10 points, while Sertle was close behind with nine. Of the Comet’s five 3-pointers, Sertle accounted for three of them. The other two came from Bakken (five points) and Zurfluh (five points). On the boards, Koss led with six rebounds followed by five from Schwartz.
