BENTON — Warriors boys basketball is no stranger to adversity this season, but they overcame it in a Feb. 21 matchup at Benton, 56-51.
For Black Hawk’s head coach Mike Flanagan, his goal was to slow the game down and limit the Zephyrs’ clean looks.
“Going into the game, our approach was to slow the game down offensively while still looking for quality shots,” he said. “On the defensive side, we knew that Benton has quality shooters that can get hot and pour in points if you let them, so we wanted to limit clean looks on the perimeter.”
Black Hawk (3-19, 3-15 SRE) started its Six Rivers crossover game with the lead, as Jacob Woodruff put his team on the board with a putback under the basket. The Zephyrs (2-22, 2-17 SRW) responded with a quick shot of their own to even the score, setting a dead heat for the first 14 minutes.
Benton then created separation as the half neared its end to the tune of a 32-19 split, but the Warriors didn’t relent.
“Despite [our] focal points, we were out of position and slow on rotations early and they made us pay for it,” Flanagan said.
Brycen Wilson hit a catch-and-release with no coverage from three as 31.7 seconds remained. A backcourt violation put the ball back in Black Hawk’s 20 seconds later.
Cue Wilson, who inbounded the ball to Jacob Woodruff at the top of the key. After a patient passing and a ball reversal had the Zephyr defense off balance, the ball ended back in Wilson’s hands with four seconds on the clock. He released a shot from outside the arc that sailed through the hoop with 0.9 left. The result was a 32-25 deficit that was manageable for a squad hungry to earn its third win.
Woodruff sparked the Warriors out of the break. He connected on an and-one opportunity 60 seconds in, and earned a steal and basket 20 seconds later. Wilson completed the lead flip with an unguarded three at the top of the key moments later, handing the traveling squad the lead 33-32, with 15:53 to play.
Neither team knew it yet, but Black Hawk rode the lead to the final buzzer.
“We upped our tempo and played a bit more aggressive on the perimeter as the game went on, which allowed us to make them attack inside where our size and length help us out,” Flanagan said.
Three Warriors were responsible for the lion’s share in scoring — Wilson (17 pts), Woodruff (16 pts) and Eli Schliem (15 pts). Grant Quinn (6 pts) and Cole Dunlavey (2 pts) also saw one-or-more baskets fall in the game.
“As we approach the end of the season, we want to value each and every chance we get to be in the gym and enjoy the process of continuing to improve till the end,” Flanagan said.
