BLANCHARDVILLE — Despite missing a fair amount of games in four years to various injuries, Colton Schraepfer still joined the elite club of 1,000-point scorers. The Pecatonica senior came into the nonconference game against Madison Abundant Life-St. Ambrose needing just three points — he finished with 19.

“That’s a heck of a credit to him. He’s been on varsity since he was freshman, but last year he battled a football injury and then he had an ankle injury, so he doesn’t have the full scale of games to get to that number,” Vikings coach Matt Fink said after his team’s 81-42 win Feb. 2. “We talked about it in the locker room afterwards — he’s played on some really good teams and played with some really good players these last few years. And I’m sure he’d say that as much as it is an individual stat, it reflects on the good teams he’s played on.”

Schraepfer wasted no time as Pecatonica (11-5) dominated Abundant Life (1-15) from the opening tip. Schraepfer scored 15 of his 19 in the first half, while Jaden Hendrickson added 12 of his 15 points in the same time frame.

“The way we played tonight, sharing the ball, guys getting rebounds — we’re playing together,” Schraepfer said. “It’s great to be playing together again.”

Pecatonica had just two games the previous two weeks thanks in part to the excessive winter conditions that postponed multiple games.

Fink said the school policy is not to stop the game for the milestone, as many other schools do. Instead, Schraepfer will be honored before the team’s next home game (Black Hawk, Feb. 11).

“We don’t like to stop the game to do it. We’ve had some other kids do it recently, like AJ Hendrickson, but we’ll do it before the next home game, present him with a game ball and celebrate a great achievement,” Fink said.

Pecatonica led 48-14 at the break and led by as much as 45 in the second half. 

“Not a knock on them, because they are an extremely young program and they are coming, but your interest level still has to be high and your execution level still has to be high even when you are facing a team that, on paper, you’re better than,” Fink said. “We want to play every game at the highest level possible, and I thought our guys did that most of the first half, and then our starters got some rest in the second half and our bench players did well finishing that game out.”

Nine Vikings scored in the game. Jevin Mabin had 10 points, while Bo Hendrickson, Carter Ruegsegger and Everett Johnson each had nine. Pecatonica hit 36 shots in the game, including five 3s.

“We’ve only played three games in the last 20 days,” Fink said. “We got to practice the last two nights, and we went hard. At this point it’s about getting our minds right for this final push.”

The Vikings now have to shift their focus to the final weeks of the conference slate. Pecatonica sits 5-2 in the Six Rivers East, tied with Black Hawk and a game behind Barneveld. The Vikings have winless Juda Feb. 7, followed by Monticello (9-6, 5-3) the next night. On Feb. 11, Pecatonica gets its shot at revenge on Black Hawk (7-8, 5-2) with league games against Argyle and Albany also remaining on the schedule.

“It’s great to be back playing, honestly,” Schraepfer said. “Two games in two weeks, and they were both losses, didn’t help our attitudes. We just have to take it one game at a time from here.”