SOUTH WAYNE - Pecatonica sophomore A.J. Hendrickson came out of the locker room with a Six Rivers Conference championship T-shirt on as players celebrated a 61-53 win over Black Hawk and the program's first conference title since 2002.
With Queen's "We are the Champions" blaring in the locker room, Hendrickson and his Pecatonica teammates had plenty to celebrate. Hendrickson scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Vikings to the win.
With two potential starters in senior Drew Schliem and Kole Kent suffering season-ending injuries before the season tipped off, some may have wondered if Pecatonica (16-5, 11-1 Six Rivers East) had the depth to win a conference championship.
"I knew it was possible for us," Hendrickson said. "Some people doubted us when those two went down. We went out and played to the top of the conference."
It wasn't all clear sailing for the Vikings. Black Hawk (11-10, 6-5 Six Rivers East) battled back from an 11-point deficit. Black Hawk senior Heath Butler, who scored a game-high 25 points and had nine rebounds, used a spin dribble through the lane and converted on a layup and was fouled. He converted the conventional three-point play by knocking down the free throw to cut the Vikings' lead to 53-48 with 53.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Black Hawk senior Troy Wellnitz drilled a 3-pointer with 46.3 seconds to go to slice the Vikings' lead to 55-51. The Vikings sealed the win by making 6 of 6 free throws in the final 40 seconds.
"We are probably shooting in the high 70s or 80 percent for free throws on the season," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "In a couple of close games this year we have had to make our free throws. It's a really tough place to play. I'm just happy to get out of here with a win."
Fink was also excited to see his team win the conference title outright.
"It's a great feeling," he said. "It's not just for our team. It's for the school district, the parents and community. It's for everybody that had a piece in it. We are rounding into a pretty good basketball team."
Early on, it looked like Pecatonica may run away with the game. The Vikings jumped out to an 8-1 lead sparked by sophomore Logan Green's 3-pointer. The Warriors went 6 minutes, 14 seconds without a field goal. Wellnitz scored on a layup with 1:46 left in the first quarter to cut the Vikings' lead to 8-3. Hendrickson scored on a layup before the buzzer to give the Vikings a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Black Hawk shot 33.3 percent in the first half (8 of 24) and Pecatonica shot 37.5 percent in the first half (9 of 24). The Vikings hit their stride in the third quarter. Pecatonica junior Brooks Chandler drilled two 3-pointers and came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 36-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Green scored 11 points and Chandler added 10 points. Fink wanted to see Chandler attack more in the second half.
"We challenged him at halftime," Fink said. "He looked to score more in the second half. He became the point guard I knew he could become. We won't go very far without Brooks Chandler."
Hendrickson hit a 3-pointer and junior Tyler Wahl scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 46-35 lead with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter.
"We played pretty well," Black Hawk coach Charlie Anderson said. "The story of the game is we just couldn't hit shots and Pec got hot in the third quarter. We didn't shoot it consistently well enough to win."
Black Hawk junior Jacob Quinn scored 10 points and had four steals. Senior teammate Shawn Woodruff scored 10 points and had three steals. Wellnitz chipped in eight points.
"This was one of Jacob's best games of the year," Anderson said. "He was effective scoring and played good defense. He probably hasn't shot the ball as well as he would have liked this year."
Anderson will have a seeding meeting for the regional Sunday in Albany.
"I thought I had a pretty good idea of what seed we would get if we would have won," he said. "I don't know what seed we will get now."
Abundandt Life/St. Ambrose (13-8) and Williams Bay (12-9) have the two best overall records in the regional. Black Hawk could be vying with Albany (9-12, 7-4 Six Rivers East) for a No. 3 seed.
Fink will have a seeding meeting for Pecatonica at Shullsburg. Even though Pecatonica is the Six Rivers East Conference champion, Shullsburg (17-2), the Six Rivers West co-champion with Potosi will likely receive the No. 1 seed based on their overall record and a 47-45 win over Pecatonica earlier this month.
"We are hoping for the No. 2 seed," Fink said. "It's not a guarantee."
With Queen's "We are the Champions" blaring in the locker room, Hendrickson and his Pecatonica teammates had plenty to celebrate. Hendrickson scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Vikings to the win.
With two potential starters in senior Drew Schliem and Kole Kent suffering season-ending injuries before the season tipped off, some may have wondered if Pecatonica (16-5, 11-1 Six Rivers East) had the depth to win a conference championship.
"I knew it was possible for us," Hendrickson said. "Some people doubted us when those two went down. We went out and played to the top of the conference."
It wasn't all clear sailing for the Vikings. Black Hawk (11-10, 6-5 Six Rivers East) battled back from an 11-point deficit. Black Hawk senior Heath Butler, who scored a game-high 25 points and had nine rebounds, used a spin dribble through the lane and converted on a layup and was fouled. He converted the conventional three-point play by knocking down the free throw to cut the Vikings' lead to 53-48 with 53.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Black Hawk senior Troy Wellnitz drilled a 3-pointer with 46.3 seconds to go to slice the Vikings' lead to 55-51. The Vikings sealed the win by making 6 of 6 free throws in the final 40 seconds.
"We are probably shooting in the high 70s or 80 percent for free throws on the season," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "In a couple of close games this year we have had to make our free throws. It's a really tough place to play. I'm just happy to get out of here with a win."
Fink was also excited to see his team win the conference title outright.
"It's a great feeling," he said. "It's not just for our team. It's for the school district, the parents and community. It's for everybody that had a piece in it. We are rounding into a pretty good basketball team."
Early on, it looked like Pecatonica may run away with the game. The Vikings jumped out to an 8-1 lead sparked by sophomore Logan Green's 3-pointer. The Warriors went 6 minutes, 14 seconds without a field goal. Wellnitz scored on a layup with 1:46 left in the first quarter to cut the Vikings' lead to 8-3. Hendrickson scored on a layup before the buzzer to give the Vikings a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Black Hawk shot 33.3 percent in the first half (8 of 24) and Pecatonica shot 37.5 percent in the first half (9 of 24). The Vikings hit their stride in the third quarter. Pecatonica junior Brooks Chandler drilled two 3-pointers and came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 36-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Green scored 11 points and Chandler added 10 points. Fink wanted to see Chandler attack more in the second half.
"We challenged him at halftime," Fink said. "He looked to score more in the second half. He became the point guard I knew he could become. We won't go very far without Brooks Chandler."
Hendrickson hit a 3-pointer and junior Tyler Wahl scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 46-35 lead with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter.
"We played pretty well," Black Hawk coach Charlie Anderson said. "The story of the game is we just couldn't hit shots and Pec got hot in the third quarter. We didn't shoot it consistently well enough to win."
Black Hawk junior Jacob Quinn scored 10 points and had four steals. Senior teammate Shawn Woodruff scored 10 points and had three steals. Wellnitz chipped in eight points.
"This was one of Jacob's best games of the year," Anderson said. "He was effective scoring and played good defense. He probably hasn't shot the ball as well as he would have liked this year."
Anderson will have a seeding meeting for the regional Sunday in Albany.
"I thought I had a pretty good idea of what seed we would get if we would have won," he said. "I don't know what seed we will get now."
Abundandt Life/St. Ambrose (13-8) and Williams Bay (12-9) have the two best overall records in the regional. Black Hawk could be vying with Albany (9-12, 7-4 Six Rivers East) for a No. 3 seed.
Fink will have a seeding meeting for Pecatonica at Shullsburg. Even though Pecatonica is the Six Rivers East Conference champion, Shullsburg (17-2), the Six Rivers West co-champion with Potosi will likely receive the No. 1 seed based on their overall record and a 47-45 win over Pecatonica earlier this month.
"We are hoping for the No. 2 seed," Fink said. "It's not a guarantee."
