ALBANY — Pecatonica fell behind by nearly double digits early on, but later rallied to fend off the host Comets 67-65 on Senior Night Feb. 10.

“I think both teams were kind of hungry tonight to get a win. This was a fun environment — their crowd really gets into it,” said Matt Fink, Pecatonica’s head coach. 

After initially falling behind 15-7, the Vikings went on an 11-2 run to take an 18-17 lead with 8:58 to go before halftime. Pecatonica led by as much as five in the stanza before entering the locker room at the intermission holding onto a tight 35-32 advantage.

“I told our kids that this is the ebbs and flows of basketball. It’s fun when you go down eight or nine early and you come back to go up eight or nine. You just have to make a few plays, and I am proud of them for getting the win,” Fink said.

Pecatonica’s largest lead in the second half reached nine points at 61-52 with 3:18 to play. But a 3-pointer by Andy Gertsch sparked energy in the home crowd. However, despite missed free throws from the Vikings, turnovers added up for Albany and a full comeback was unable to be mounted.

“We played really tough. We’ve kind of played everybody tough the second time through the conference,” Albany coach Derek Allen said. “It just wasn’t quite enough tonight to get over the hump. We just had some possessions slip away down the stretch.”

The Comets had four players in double figures, led by Carson Brewer, who finished with 18, including a 7-for-10 mark from the line. Tyler Anderson had 14, Gertsch 13 and Drew Sertle 11 for Albany. The Vikings were just 10 of 21 from the line.

“I thought our balance was really good. People are starting to key on Carson and it’s important for us to have a balanced team. To have four guys in double-figures, that’s got to be the first time we’ve done that this year,” Allen said.

The Vikings got a huge game out of Kegun Brunker in the post. The senior finished the night with 24 points, including several key putbacks in the first half that brought his team back into the game.

“Kegun is such an athlete. I thought the reason we were in the game and had a chance to win the game were the athletic plays off the boards Kegun made in the first half,” Fink said.

Tyler McKeon added 18 points — including 13 in the second half plus some key steals down the stretch. Coy Ruegsegger added 10 points before fouling out, and Wyatt Mieden scored seven points.

“What you get from Tyler you get every night. He plays hard. Sometimes you’d maybe like him to be a little more disciplined, but that’s coming in his maturation process,” Fink said. 

Albany was set to travel to Black Hawk Feb. 15 before traveling to Madison Country Day Feb. 21 in a nonconference game, then host Argyle Feb. 24.

“You look over the course of the game and think, ‘Was there a possession or two — or five — that could have changed the game?’ Well, yeah. Hopefully we learn from this and take advantage next time,” Allen said. “We’re still floating around 20-25 turnovers a game, and that’s not going to cut it in the postseason. We’re going to have a good team in the first round with our seeding, so we’re going to have to find our way defensively and take care of the ball.”

Pecatonica hosts Argyle Feb. 15, then is at Barneveld Feb. 15 and home against Juda Feb. 24.

“I told our kids we have to go our the right way — there is stuff to play for yet. The last few years have just been different with COVID, and this is the first real resemblance of a real season we’ve had in a few years. We need to enjoy it, but also understand the great opportunity we have in front of us,” Fink said.