MONTICELLO — In a final tune-up against Argyle, the Ponies went back to the basics.

“We just took care of the ball in the second half,” Monticello sophomore Peter Gustafson said after his team’s 57-34 victory Feb. 21.

The Orioles (6-16, 1-11 Six Rivers East) have struggled this year, but opened the game playing as if they were at the top of the Six Rivers standings and not at the bottom. Argyle hit four 3s in the first 12 minutes of the game and twice held six-point leads.

“We just knew that we couldn’t bail ourselves out shooting 3s. We got in a little slump, and then once we started going back towards the middle to where our strengths were, we got them into foul trouble,” junior forward Reece Rufer said. “They couldn’t hang with us once we went to the middle. We knew they couldn’t shoot the way they did the first half the whole game, so we just had to weather the storm.”

Monticello (12-10, 6-6) also hit four 3s in the half, but found its biggest success when getting the ball into the paint where Rufer and sophomore Peter Gustafson can take advantage of their size and maneuverability. Monticello closed the first half on a 16-7 run and led 29-26 at the break.

“I thought the first half our offense was doing alright. We were getting the shots that we wanted, but we just weren’t doing a good job protecting the paint defensively,” Monticello head coach Mark Olson said.

In the second half, the switch from man to zone defense by Monticello caused problems for Argyle. The Ponies scored the first 12 points of the second half and held Argyle scoreless for over 7 1/2 minutes to create some separation.

“We changed to a 1-3-1 in the second half and we got a few more live-ball turnovers that led to breakouts. We had that nice little run to start the half, and that gave us a little more confidence to finish out the game,” Olson said.

The Orioles got flustered early and failed to mount a comeback, getting outscored 28-8 in the second half.

Gustafson scored 18 to lead all scorers, while Rufer had 15, Jeffrey Ace 10 and Simon Blohowiak seven. Argyle was led in scoring by Miken Godfrey, who had eight, while Clay Ritschard and Payton Flannery each scored seven.

“We’re just trying to rally around each other and not getting upset and not breaking down on defense. We have to go through our strengths and we have to know that we are usually a bigger team, so we should stay around the basket,” Rufer said.

Monticello was scheduled to open the playoffs Feb. 26 against Central Wisconsin Christian.

“They have 12 wins on the year too, so it will be a pretty evenly matched game. It’s always weird when you get outside of your conference and you get some of these weird matchups against teams that don’t play anybody around you,” Olson said. “Ultimately, we just have to play our game. We don’t have to do anything special — we just have to do what we do and do it well.”

How far the Ponies go will depend a lot on Rufer and Gustafson. The duo is in their second year working together in the post and both players have learned how to make the pairing work.

“It’s fun working with (Reece) him. He’s smart and knows where to go to be in the right spot,” said Gustafson, who is second in the conference in scoring this season at 18.0 points per game.

“With the doubles and him on the post, they have to watch him or I’ll find him. And it’s the other way around, too. They have to deal with us both,” said Rufer, whose 13.6 points per game ranks 10th in conference. “We’ve really connected over the year and understand each other’s tendencies.”

Gustafson said his confidence has soared since bursting onto the scene a year ago as a lanky freshman.

“Last year (I had) kind of weak confidence, but this year I just try to perform every night and do what the team needs. I’m just trying to stay calm and confident and take care of business. We want to go as far as possible (in the playoffs),” Gustafson said.