SOUTH WAYNE — Coming off a state championship football season, the Black Hawk boys basketball team had little chance to get its basketball legs ready for the regular season. The Warriors started slow offensively in its first four games, struggling to find a consistent offensive output. 

But in the fifth game of the season, Kyle Lovelace provided the hot hand the Warriors needed as the home team tripped up rival Pecatonica 58-53.

“That was huge for us. If you look at our stats, we have not shot the ball well this year,” Black Hawk coach Charlie Anderson said. “This is a big win for us on our home court — it’s been a while since we last beat these guys (Feb. 25, 2016).”

The game showed its physicality early on and never let up. Shoulders, elbows, jostling in the paint and players taking charges and flopping for calls — each possession seemed to mean more than just the points on the board.

“Credit them, I thought they played really well and at a high level. I don’t think we matched their intensity level early, and we certainly didn’t match their execution level,” Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. “So, credit to them, they took it to us.”

Black Hawk never trailed in the game, and every time a big moment presented itself, Lovelace, the team’s quarterback in the fall, came up with a big shot. Lovelace scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, which included three of his five 3-pointers.

“The first few games I hadn’t gotten my shot to fall. This was a big confidence game for me. I knew I had to shoot well to motivate my teammates,” Lovelace said.

Tied at 6 midway through the first half, Conner Meyer tried to pick up the momentum for Black Hawk, driving to the paint and picking up the hoop and the harm before adding a free throw to make it 9-6. The play sparked a 9-2 run that set the pace for the rest of the game.

Pecatonica inched back into it, bringing the score to 15-13, but then Lovelace hit back-to-back 3s from opposite corners and then drove the baseline for another layup to put the Warriors up by 10. Later, as the Vikings again inched closer, making it 27-22 in the final minute of the half, Lovelace buried another 3 to make it 30-22 at the break.

“This is how we thought Kyle would be at the start of the year. A lot of us have struggled to shoot the ball so far. He’s such a good shooter and he shot so well last year that we knew it was just going to come. I feel really good for Kyle, because he was getting frustrated,” Anderson said.

Pecatonica got to as close as two points three times in the second half but could never bring the score even again. 

Perhaps the biggest killer of the Vikings in the second half was the physical play — or rather, the fouls that went along with it. Pecatonica was called for 10 of the first 15 fouls in the second half, including a charge on Colton Schraepfer in transition, negating a basket that would have brought the deficit to one with 5:12 to play. Exactly five minutes later Schraepfer again was called for a charge that negated a layup. The floor leader for the Vikings that rarely steps off the court, Schraepfer fouled out on the play, which would have brought his team back to within two points. Instead a foul on the ensuing inbound allowed Colby Argall to hit one of the two double bonus shots to cap the game’s scoring.

“A lot of fouls, and a lot of fouls of the unnatural variety, which are kind of tough to deal with at times. It’s a little tough to swallow, but it’s basketball and you have to move on to the next play,” Fink said. “We had to score in some very difficult, nontraditional ways in the second half just to keep it close. When you’re battling that hard and you have to take difficult shots to score, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Again, credit to them for their defense.”

Pecatonica was called for 15 fouls in the second half compared to Black Hawk’s 8. However, the biggest issue for the Vikings was a betrayal of their M.O. — Pecatonica is known for its ability to shoot the basketball, but was just 2 of 18 from deep in the game, while the Warriors were 5 of 14. 

Argall and Meyer each finished with double-doubles. Argall had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Meyer had 13 points and 12 boards. Meyer was 9-for-9 at the free throw line.

“For Kyle and Colby to come out and step up tonight makes a huge difference, because we have really been struggling as a team this year,” Meyer said. “Colby played amazing defense on Schraepfer. Him containing Schraepfer helped us a ton. All of us together played well as a unit. We had good team chemistry.”

Schraepfer led Pecatonica with 16 points. Jaden Hendrickson had 14 before fouling out and Zack Eaton finished with 10. Hendrickson picked up three fouls in the first half and played much of the second half with four fouls, but still scored 10 points in the second half. Bo Hendrickson also fouled out for Pecatonica, while Everett Johnson and Eaton also finished with four fouls. 

“Too many fouls, too many guys in foul trouble. It messed with our rotation and getting our best lineup out there. But again, credit to (Black Hawk) for exploiting those opportunities,” Fink said.