BLANCHARDVILLE - The Monticello girls basketball team was dealt another in a seemingly endless series of injuries Tuesday night and had key players in major foul difficulty.
Then there was the feisty opponent, a Pecatonica team which has struggled all season but is showing no signs of throwing in the towel.
It made for a compelling matchup in Six Rivers East play, with Monticello emerging a 42-39 victor.
Pecatonica's Maddie Fischer hit a 3-pointer to give the Vikings a 37-34 lead to open the fourth quarter, but the Ponies scored the game's next eight points to take control.
"It was an ugly win, but we'll take it," Monticello coach Tom Eveland said. "We're dealing with some injuries right now, so I'm getting down on numbers. I'm just glad to get out of there with what we got."
What the Ponies got was their was eighth victory, surpassing last season's win total.
Eveland said that fact feels good considering Monticello (8-6, 4-2 Six Rivers East) lost a key cog in senior Desiree Marty (knee) prior to the season, that junior Jordyn Kubly is sidelined 2-3 weeks with a kneecap issue and that freshman contributor Alyssah Kubly missed the entire second half Tuesday with an injured thigh.
Senior Becky Nelson agreed.
"It's been a struggle with injuries, but we're still trying," said Nelson, who scored a game-high 13 points. "We're helping each other out and we're just playing as a team right now."
Nelson scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, when the Ponies opened a seven-point lead but took just a 25-23 cushion into the break.
With Nelson and sophomore Marissa Berg in foul trouble, Pecatonica (3-13, 1-6) took advantage. The Vikings scored seven straight points late in the third quarter to pull ahead 34-32 and the game was knotted at 34 headed to the fourth.
But while Monticello was a shaky 2-for-8 from the foul line in the final eight minutes, Pecatonica went scoreless for more than 7 minutes after Fischer's early 3 until getting a basket in the final seconds.
"We've been in games like that all year," Pecatonica coach Matt Bakkum said. "We match up well with teams and we just ... we're still struggling to find that finishing kick where we're able to put those teams away at the end. It's a bitter taste. We just have to find that extra something to get us some wins."
Senior Katie Gierhart scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter for Monticello, which got its "extra something" in the form of Katie Nelson. The junior played two quarters in the junior varsity game, then played the entire second half in the varsity contest, going scoreless but playing "really, really good defense," Eveland said.
"She played fantastic for us," Eveland stressed. "She never came out in the third and fourth quarters. That's what you want to get off your bench."
Junior Emma Marion scored 12 points, junior Lizzy Britt had nine and junior Emily Fargo added eight for Pecatonica.
Then there was the feisty opponent, a Pecatonica team which has struggled all season but is showing no signs of throwing in the towel.
It made for a compelling matchup in Six Rivers East play, with Monticello emerging a 42-39 victor.
Pecatonica's Maddie Fischer hit a 3-pointer to give the Vikings a 37-34 lead to open the fourth quarter, but the Ponies scored the game's next eight points to take control.
"It was an ugly win, but we'll take it," Monticello coach Tom Eveland said. "We're dealing with some injuries right now, so I'm getting down on numbers. I'm just glad to get out of there with what we got."
What the Ponies got was their was eighth victory, surpassing last season's win total.
Eveland said that fact feels good considering Monticello (8-6, 4-2 Six Rivers East) lost a key cog in senior Desiree Marty (knee) prior to the season, that junior Jordyn Kubly is sidelined 2-3 weeks with a kneecap issue and that freshman contributor Alyssah Kubly missed the entire second half Tuesday with an injured thigh.
Senior Becky Nelson agreed.
"It's been a struggle with injuries, but we're still trying," said Nelson, who scored a game-high 13 points. "We're helping each other out and we're just playing as a team right now."
Nelson scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, when the Ponies opened a seven-point lead but took just a 25-23 cushion into the break.
With Nelson and sophomore Marissa Berg in foul trouble, Pecatonica (3-13, 1-6) took advantage. The Vikings scored seven straight points late in the third quarter to pull ahead 34-32 and the game was knotted at 34 headed to the fourth.
But while Monticello was a shaky 2-for-8 from the foul line in the final eight minutes, Pecatonica went scoreless for more than 7 minutes after Fischer's early 3 until getting a basket in the final seconds.
"We've been in games like that all year," Pecatonica coach Matt Bakkum said. "We match up well with teams and we just ... we're still struggling to find that finishing kick where we're able to put those teams away at the end. It's a bitter taste. We just have to find that extra something to get us some wins."
Senior Katie Gierhart scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter for Monticello, which got its "extra something" in the form of Katie Nelson. The junior played two quarters in the junior varsity game, then played the entire second half in the varsity contest, going scoreless but playing "really, really good defense," Eveland said.
"She played fantastic for us," Eveland stressed. "She never came out in the third and fourth quarters. That's what you want to get off your bench."
Junior Emma Marion scored 12 points, junior Lizzy Britt had nine and junior Emily Fargo added eight for Pecatonica.
