BLANCHARDVILLE — After falling behind by 15 points in the first 10 minutes, the Pecatonica Vikings began a slow, methodical, if not somewhat uncontrolled comeback against their rivals in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs. With 6:42 to play in the game, the Vikings took their first lead of the contest, and later led by four points with 1:16 remaining.

If time had stood still, the Vikings would be playing in Round 2. Except time didn’t stand still, and Black Hawk made a series of plays over the final 70 seconds to win 58-55.

“I told the boys to overplay,” Warriors head coach Trent Wyssbrod said. “(Pecatonica) was going to try to drain the clock, so I said to overplay and try to get some steals. We did that.”

Leading 51-49 with 90 seconds to play, the Vikings seemed content on killing clock by passing the ball around the horn, except that a Warriors defender left his spot in the post to trap on the wing, allowing Pec’s Evan Dochnahl to feed a wide-open Coy Ruegsegger under the basket for a quick score.

The Vikings (9-13) then ran a full-court press, and nearly got Black Hawk (9-16) stuck for a 10-second backcourt violation. However, the Warriors made it across the timeline in the nick of time. Pecatonica coach Matt Fink asked the official, “What was your count?” to which the official said, “Nine.”

All the while, Black Hawk’s Andrew Figi saw a sliver of an opening and threw up a 3-point prayer, which fell straight through the cylinder. Warriors coach Trent Wyssbrod immediately called timeout with his team now trailing 53-52 with 1:05 remaining.

“That’s a big shot,” Fink said. “If it’s a miss, it’s probably game-over. I give the kid credit for having the guts to shoot it and for knocking it down. That changed the complexion of the game. We just didn’t finish.”

Pecatonica, sitting in the double bonus since the 6:52 mark, again attempted to run a stalling offense. With the Vikings standing stationary, guard Tyler McKeon telegraphed a pass from the wing to the top of the key, and Black Hawk senior Seth Dunlavey jumped in front full sprint for the steal and easy layup, putting his team ahead 54-53 with 46 seconds left. 

“I read it right when he threw it,” Dunlavey said.

The Vikings again tried to drain some clock, hoping for the last shot at the hoop. This time, Eli Schliem pickpocketed a Pec player and was fouled by McKeon in transition. It was McKeon’s fifth foul, and Schliem knocked down both free throws to put his team up three.

“The effort was there, but at times not the execution. That’s part of growing up,” Fink said. “I give [Black Hawk] credit, but I give our guys credit, too, because we still had a shot or two at the end to try to tie it and send it to overtime.”

With 5.8 seconds left, Jameson Johnson drove unabated to the rack, once again bringing it to within a point. Fink called his final timeout, and instructed his players to go for a quick steal or foul the ball handler right away to keep workable time on the clock. Figi was fouled and promptly knocked down both double bonus free throws.

A last second desperation heave by the Vikings missed, and the visiting Warriors celebrated with their fans. Pecatonica finished the game 0-for-15 from beyond the arc in the contest, while the Warriors had three total. The Vikings also took just four free throw attempts over their final 6:42 in the double bonus.

Both teams opened the game struggling on offense, but the Warriors struggled slightly less so. Just five minutes in, Black Hawk led 5-2, but 10 minutes into the game it was 19-4. Pec started just 2-for-13 from the field, but a late change in momentum towards the end of the half had the Vikings trailing by single digits (29-20) at the end of the half.

“I told them at halftime that we have to keep our foot on it, because we’ve been in that situation before where we were up 10, 15, 20 and the other team comes back. A lot of times the guys think the game is won and they could relax, but I told them not to,” Wyssbrod said. “We came out a little bit slow in the second half and I had to call a timeout right away and get on them. They switched their attitude and started playing hard again.”

Pecatonica opened the second half on a 9-0 run, tying the game up with 15:10 to play.

Lucas Milz had back-to-back 3-point plays to quickly make it a 6-point game again, and by the 11:44 mark of the second half the Warriors led 42-31.

That’s when Pecatonica came roaring back a second time with a 14-0 run over a nearly six-minute stretch until Schliem knocked down a 3.

“I give them a lot of credit for fighting back. This is a game of runs, and you just have to understand the ebbs and flows of the game. I credit them for putting themselves in a position with a chance to win,” Fink said.

Johnson paced the Vikings with 16, Ruegsegger finished with 15 in his final high school game, Dochnal had 13 points and McKeon added 10. The Vikings were 15 of 27 from the line.

Milz led all scorers with 17 points. Schliem tallied 15, Figi 13 and Dunlavey nine. Figi also had six steals. The Warriors were 12-for-18 from the stripe.

“I told them in the locker room, ‘We got this one. We’re 1-0. Now we’ve got to come back tomorrow and focus right away again,’” Wyssbrod said.

“This win gives us momentum. We’re calm now. It got the jitters out. We’re ready to play,” Dunlavey said. 

Black Hawk advanced to play top-seeded Fall River (22-3) in the second round on March 3. The winner would get either 4-seed Salam (13-7) or 5-seed University Lake School/Trinity Academy (12-9) the next night for the regional championship.