SOUTH WAYNE - Monticello senior Tyler Meier won't forget the last time the Ponies played at Black Hawk.
Last year, the Warriors won an emotional thriller in former coach Jerry Mortimer's final regular season game.
"It's definitely good to get the monkey off our back," Meier said, who scored nine points and had six rebounds.
There was no miracle or storybook finish for the Warriors as the Ponies rolled to a 53-31 win Tuesday night.
"Tyler Ritschard had the hot hand again," Meier said.
Monticello (11-2, 7-0 Six Rivers East) scored the first six points and used an 18-5 first-quarter run to build a double-digit lead. Ritschard, who scored a game-high 12 points, sparked the first-quarter spurt with a steal and a layup on the break. He then drilled a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the period to give the Ponies a 15-5 lead. Monticello sophomore Lucas Kolasch drained a clutch 3-pointer to push the Ponies' lead to 18-5 with 1:17 to go in the first quarter.
Kolasch gave the Ponies a boost off the bench scoring nine points.
"My best strength is I can run," Kolasch said. "We are a good team. It feels good to come in and do something. I think as long as we are in control and playing our game, our speed is our game. We are a team that likes to push the ball up the floor so the defense can't get set."
Black Hawk (5-8, 2-5) opened the game in a 2-3 zone to shut down the Ponies' penetration. The Ponies countered by getting hot from the outside and looking to score in transition.
"Monticello is a great team," Black Hawk coach Kyle Bille said. "We knew what to expect from them. If you leave them open, they will shoot it and if you come out on them, they will drive. We just couldn't find that happy medium tonight. They are definitely the class of the league with Barneveld. It will be an interesting race to watch."
Kolasch came up with a steal and layup early in the second quarter to give the Ponies a 24-9 lead. Monticello senior Jacob Marty nailed a 3-pointer with 4:40 left in the second to give the Ponies a 27-11 lead. The lead ballooned to 23 points when Ritschard buried a 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 34-11 lead.
"We were thinking creating the tempo for us would be important," Monticello coach Mark Olson said.
The Ponies got 19 points from its bench.
"We were hoping the bench would contribute and they did a nice job tonight," Olson said.
Monticello senior Cole Henning scored just four points, but he had seven rebounds. The Ponies had several critical offensive rebounds, which led to second chance scoring opportunities.
"As a team, we don't have a lot of size, but we look to crash the boards," Meier said.
Olson said he was really happy with the Ponies' offensive rebounding.
"We had several second- and third-chance scoring opportunities," he said.
Meier hit a 3-pointer about two minutes into the third quarter to give the Ponies an insurmountable 37-13 lead. The Ponies led by as many as 26 points after junior Chris Voegeli drilled a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter.
Black Hawk senior T.J. Adams and sophomore Hayden Schliem each scored seven points for the Warriors. Fellow senior James Rufenacht had six.
"We just have to sure up the fundamentals offensively and defensively," Bille said. "Tonight we were weak at the fundamentals. We let a lot of things happen that we work not to let happen. That's a credit to Monticello. They can beat you in a lot of different ways."
Last year, the Warriors won an emotional thriller in former coach Jerry Mortimer's final regular season game.
"It's definitely good to get the monkey off our back," Meier said, who scored nine points and had six rebounds.
There was no miracle or storybook finish for the Warriors as the Ponies rolled to a 53-31 win Tuesday night.
"Tyler Ritschard had the hot hand again," Meier said.
Monticello (11-2, 7-0 Six Rivers East) scored the first six points and used an 18-5 first-quarter run to build a double-digit lead. Ritschard, who scored a game-high 12 points, sparked the first-quarter spurt with a steal and a layup on the break. He then drilled a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the period to give the Ponies a 15-5 lead. Monticello sophomore Lucas Kolasch drained a clutch 3-pointer to push the Ponies' lead to 18-5 with 1:17 to go in the first quarter.
Kolasch gave the Ponies a boost off the bench scoring nine points.
"My best strength is I can run," Kolasch said. "We are a good team. It feels good to come in and do something. I think as long as we are in control and playing our game, our speed is our game. We are a team that likes to push the ball up the floor so the defense can't get set."
Black Hawk (5-8, 2-5) opened the game in a 2-3 zone to shut down the Ponies' penetration. The Ponies countered by getting hot from the outside and looking to score in transition.
"Monticello is a great team," Black Hawk coach Kyle Bille said. "We knew what to expect from them. If you leave them open, they will shoot it and if you come out on them, they will drive. We just couldn't find that happy medium tonight. They are definitely the class of the league with Barneveld. It will be an interesting race to watch."
Kolasch came up with a steal and layup early in the second quarter to give the Ponies a 24-9 lead. Monticello senior Jacob Marty nailed a 3-pointer with 4:40 left in the second to give the Ponies a 27-11 lead. The lead ballooned to 23 points when Ritschard buried a 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 34-11 lead.
"We were thinking creating the tempo for us would be important," Monticello coach Mark Olson said.
The Ponies got 19 points from its bench.
"We were hoping the bench would contribute and they did a nice job tonight," Olson said.
Monticello senior Cole Henning scored just four points, but he had seven rebounds. The Ponies had several critical offensive rebounds, which led to second chance scoring opportunities.
"As a team, we don't have a lot of size, but we look to crash the boards," Meier said.
Olson said he was really happy with the Ponies' offensive rebounding.
"We had several second- and third-chance scoring opportunities," he said.
Meier hit a 3-pointer about two minutes into the third quarter to give the Ponies an insurmountable 37-13 lead. The Ponies led by as many as 26 points after junior Chris Voegeli drilled a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter.
Black Hawk senior T.J. Adams and sophomore Hayden Schliem each scored seven points for the Warriors. Fellow senior James Rufenacht had six.
"We just have to sure up the fundamentals offensively and defensively," Bille said. "Tonight we were weak at the fundamentals. We let a lot of things happen that we work not to let happen. That's a credit to Monticello. They can beat you in a lot of different ways."
