SOUTH WAYNE — Black Hawk’s Six Rivers East winning streak has reached 60 games after rallying from 15 points down in the second half to force overtime, and then hitting eight of their 10 attempts from the free throw line in the extra period to knock off Division 5 No. 10-ranked Albany, 68-67, in a thrilling girls’ basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 9.
Junior forward Tara Wellnitz pumped in 18 of her career-high 25 points in the second half to help the Warriors (2-2 overall, 2-0 Six Rivers East) erase a 15-point deficit, while senior guard Tatum Baumgartner connected on 5-of-6 foul shots in OT — including the game-winners with 26.4 second remaining to lift Black Hawk to their 31st consecutive victory over the Comets (2-4, 0-1).
“I’m really proud of these girls. We told them everything in the conference is up in the air right now,” said Black Hawk head coach Cora Holland. “And, we know teams are not expecting a lot of us, so we have to come out every night ready to go. We did that tonight. We came out and were ready to fight. I’m really excited about picking up another conference win.”
The Warriors came out strong, shooting out to an early 13-8 lead behind 3-pointers from sophomore Kendra Haldiman, junior Raylin Peterson and Wellnitz in the first six minutes of the game.
Coach Holland’s squad extended their advantage to 17-11 midway through the first half. However, after Wellnitz went to the bench with her third foul at the 6:44 mark, the Comets were ready to soar. Albany closed the half on a 13-4 scoring run to take a 29-21 lead with them into the intermission.
“Tara’s an incredibly smart player. We talked to her about knowing the situation. Albany was going to look to draw fouls on her (in the second half). She played strong throughout the second half and led us back,” Holland said.
Senior guard Brianna Dahl capped a 9-2 scoring spurt with a steal and layup to put Coach Derik Doescher’s crew in front 20-19 with 4:44 to play in the opening half, and then the Comets closed the half by shooting 7-of-8 from the foul line to build up an eight-point advantage.
A 10-3 run by the Comets to open the second half pushed the lead to 39-24, but the Warriors weren’t going to go down without a fight.
Wellnitz scored 14 points and freshman Maddy Lange chipped in with six points during a 29-10 outburst that put the Warriors ahead 53-49 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.
Single free throws by Wellnitz, Peterson and Baumgartner in the final 36 seconds kept the Warriors in of the Comets, but the misses kept the guests within one possession.
Dahl converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 3.7 to go to tie the score at 58 all, and the Warriors were unable to get off a final shot before the buzzer sounded sending the game into overtime.
The teams swapped the lead early in the extra session with senior Payton Wachholz sinking the Comets’ lone 3-pointer of the night to put the guests ahead 61-60.
Black Hawk answered back with a basket by Peterson, a free throw by Wellnitz and two more free throws by Lange to open up a 65-61 lead with 1:11 to play.
Albany got back within a point on a pair of Dahl foul shots with :29.2 remaining, but Baumgartner followed with two free made free throws of her own with :26.4 to go to put the Warriors up 68-65.
“Tatum was huge for us from the free throw line. We know we can count on her for those shots,” said Holland.
Dahl drove in for a basket with just five ticks remaining on the OT clock, however this time the Warriors allowed her to score without a challenge to maintain a one-point lead and then they inbounded the ball as the final horn sounded to hang on for their 60th consecutive Six Rivers East triumph.
Black Hawk finished the night shooting 21-of-36 from the foul line, while Albany went 18-of-23 from the stripe.
“We have got to get more consistent on our free throws. That’s been evident over our last few games. We’re going to be in a lot of tight games, and those will make the difference,” Holland said.
Wellnitz posted a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with her career-best 25 points. She also led the team with five assists and had two steals.
Peterson tallied 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Warriors, while Lange finished with 12 points and two steals.
Baumgartner scored all 10 of her points in the second half, including five of the team’s 10 points in OT, and she had three steals. Haldiman chipped in with eight points, two assists and two steals for Black Hawk.
Dahl netted 14 of her game-high 26 points in the first half to lead the Comets.
Sophomore Alana Durtschi followed with 13 points, while Wachholz and fellow senior Kaiya Zurfluh scored eight points apiece for Albany.
