ARGYLE — In a final tune-up to the postseason, the Pecatonica boys basketball team looks ready to turn some heads in the early rounds. 

“I told the kids that anything can happen in the playoffs, and we’re playing really good ball right now,” Vikings head coach Matt Fink said after his team’s 52-42 win at Argyle Feb. 11. It’s the club’s fourth win in a row after opening the year with 10 straight losses. “It’s a fun time of year. It’s a little bit different this year, but it’s still a fun time of year, and if we don’t get excited for this, then what are we here for?”

Behind Kegun Brunker and Hunter Enloe, Pecatonica built itself a double-digit lead in the first half. Brunker scored 10 of his 17 points in the frame, while Enloe put up 13 — with the final three serving as an exclamation point. The Vikings (4-10) used up over two minutes of clock time on their final possession, looking for “the best look.”

“This is the first time I think we put a really good first half together. I thought we shared the ball well; I thought we played to the mismatches and found our shooters and post-up opportunities,” Fink said. “We defended well in the first half.”

Feeling rushed, the Vikings got the ball into the hands of their best shooter — Enloe — who launched an NBA-ranged 3-pointer with multiple hands in his face. As cool as the other side of the pillow, Enloe hit nothing but the bottom of the net with .5 seconds left on the clock, sending his team hooting and hollering into the locker room with a 33-16 advantage.

“We got down to about 40, 50 seconds left and we were like, ‘Well, what’s the worst-case scenario? Going into the half up 13 or 14?’ We didn’t get a great shot, but Hunter made a great play and that momentum carried us into the locker room,” Fink said. “Our halftime talk was about how we knew that they would make a run because it’s a rivalry game and there’s a lot of emotion. Even without all the fans in the stands.”

For more than five minutes into the second half, the Orioles (3-12) couldn’t find a way back into it, falling behind by as much as 19 points. Then, during a 6-minute stretch in the second half, Argyle made its move, clipping together a 14-2 run to get back to within six points at 41-36 with just 6:00 left on the clock.

“Our kids have pride and they came out with heart and did not give up,” Argyle coach Jesse Halvorsen said. “I told them the have to play a full game like that and you can’t expect to win games coming out and only playing one half like that.”

The burst ended on a drive to the hoop by Brunker, with Coy Ruegsegger back-to-back buckets in the paint to extend Pec’s advantage to 11 with 1:06 to play, effectively sealing the game.

“Credit to them (Argyle) for the run they made, but you know, I give our guys credit for finishing it off too,” Fink said.

Brunker and Enloe each finished with 17 for the Vikings, while Ruegsegger had 12. Connor Carius led Argyle with 14 points while teammate Clay Ritschard had 12 and Mason Svendsen added 9. The next day Argyle lost to Parkview 85-67 in a nonconference game.

“I’ve got to give props to Pec. They came out ready to play and definitely hit us in the face,” Halvorsen said. “We came back and fought, but that was a big hole to come back out of. I told them that if they want to make any kind of run in the playoffs, you have to play a full game of basketball.”

In the opening round of the playoffs Feb. 16, Pecatonica will be at Black Hawk (7-7) with the winner getting second-seeded Benton (8-8) Feb. 19. Argyle travels to Belmont (2-17), with top-seeded Shullsburg (10-8) awaiting.