Six Rivers East Standings
Monticello 9-2, 13-6
Barneveld 8-3, 15-4
Black Hawk 7-5, 12-8
Albany 5-6, 9-10
Argyle 4-7, 5-12
Pecatonica 3-8, 6-12
Juda 3-8, 5-13
SOUTH WAYNE - For many reasons, Thursday's Black Hawk boys basketball game is one coach Jerry Mortimer won't forget.
Not only was it the retiring coach's last home game, but it was won in memorable fashion. The Warriors rallied to win an overtime thriller, 55-53, over Six Rivers East champion Monticello.
"Like I have said before, this has been a dream," Mortimer said. "This dream got so much sweeter."
Black Hawk senior Payton Schliem nailed what proved to be a game-winning jumper with 40.7 seconds left in overtime.
Monticello (13-6, 9-2) had two golden opportunities in the waning seconds. Warriors senior Michael Place blocked a shot down low by Monticello junior Jacob Marty with 6.5 seconds left. After a Ponies' timeout, Monticello senior Brandon Holz just missed a jumper right before the buzzer and the Warriors survived.
"We just have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs," said Schliem, who scored 20 points and hit four 3-pointers.
Place had a monster game, scoring a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Monticello sophomore Tyler Ritschard scored on a slashing drive to the basket to tie the score at 51. Place grabbed his fifth offensive rebound of the game and made a putback to give the Warriors a 53-51 lead.
"I'm really happy for coach Mortimer to go out like that," Place said. "We played like we should have played all year."
Mortimer, who is retiring from coaching after the season, said the Warriors wanted to prove something. With the win, Mortimer improves his career mark to 377-195 and he has won seven conference and three regional titles.
"We haven't played to our level," he said. "We left it out on the court tonight. I think we stepped up tonight. I think if we can do this in the regional, we can make some noise."
Monticello still has a one-game lead over Barneveld (15-4, 8-3) in the Six Rivers East. With one game remaining, Monticello can win the title outright with a home win Feb. 27 against Argyle.
"We still have a chance to accomplish what we set out to accomplish," Monticello coach Brad Pickett said about a conference title. "They just made one more play than we did and that was the ball game."
Pickett said the Ponies drew up a play for a last-second shot and he said he didn't want his players to be afraid about driving to the basket.
"Place is a great player," Pickett said. "We had an opportunity. We just didn't execute."
It was a whirlwind fourth quarter and a complete team effort on Senior Night for the Warriors (12-8, 7-5).
Black Hawk senior Shane Jackson zipped a pass down low for Schliem, who hit a shot to give the Warriors a 40-39 lead with 5 minutes, 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Monticello senior Casey Klossner answered by drilling a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Ponies a 42-40 lead. Jackson then stepped up and drained a clutch 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 43-42 lead.
Ponies sophomore Corey McGowan nailed a 3-pointer to put the Ponies up 46-45 with 2:08 to go.
Place grabbed an offensive rebound, scored on a putback and was fouled. He converted the three-point play at the free throw line to give the Warriors a 49-47 lead with 37.6 seconds left. Ritschard then drilled a game-tying jumper with 5.1 seconds left.
"(Place) played an absolutely amazing game tonight," Mortimer said.
Black Hawk junior T.J. Adams, who scored nine points, drove the length of the court and just missed a potential game-winning layup that rolled out at the end of regulation.
The Warriors held Holz scoreless in the fourth quarter and extra session.
"If he's not the (conference's) best player, he's in the top two," Mortimer said of Holz, who finished with 13 points.
Monticello junior Tyler Meier scored 11, McGowan added 10 and Marty chipped in nine.
After the first quarter, Black Hawk switched to a 2-1-2 zone and was able to eliminate some of the penetration from the Ponies in the second half. The Warriors erased a six-point halftime deficit with an 11-3 third quarter run. Schliem closed the third with an exclamation point, hitting a halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score at 36.
"(Monticello) really hurt us early driving in the lane," Schliem said. "That (2-1-2 zone) really stopped them from driving in on us. They couldn't drive in and get layups because we were all sucked in."
Not only was it the retiring coach's last home game, but it was won in memorable fashion. The Warriors rallied to win an overtime thriller, 55-53, over Six Rivers East champion Monticello.
"Like I have said before, this has been a dream," Mortimer said. "This dream got so much sweeter."
Black Hawk senior Payton Schliem nailed what proved to be a game-winning jumper with 40.7 seconds left in overtime.
Monticello (13-6, 9-2) had two golden opportunities in the waning seconds. Warriors senior Michael Place blocked a shot down low by Monticello junior Jacob Marty with 6.5 seconds left. After a Ponies' timeout, Monticello senior Brandon Holz just missed a jumper right before the buzzer and the Warriors survived.
"We just have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs," said Schliem, who scored 20 points and hit four 3-pointers.
Place had a monster game, scoring a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Monticello sophomore Tyler Ritschard scored on a slashing drive to the basket to tie the score at 51. Place grabbed his fifth offensive rebound of the game and made a putback to give the Warriors a 53-51 lead.
"I'm really happy for coach Mortimer to go out like that," Place said. "We played like we should have played all year."
Mortimer, who is retiring from coaching after the season, said the Warriors wanted to prove something. With the win, Mortimer improves his career mark to 377-195 and he has won seven conference and three regional titles.
"We haven't played to our level," he said. "We left it out on the court tonight. I think we stepped up tonight. I think if we can do this in the regional, we can make some noise."
Monticello still has a one-game lead over Barneveld (15-4, 8-3) in the Six Rivers East. With one game remaining, Monticello can win the title outright with a home win Feb. 27 against Argyle.
"We still have a chance to accomplish what we set out to accomplish," Monticello coach Brad Pickett said about a conference title. "They just made one more play than we did and that was the ball game."
Pickett said the Ponies drew up a play for a last-second shot and he said he didn't want his players to be afraid about driving to the basket.
"Place is a great player," Pickett said. "We had an opportunity. We just didn't execute."
It was a whirlwind fourth quarter and a complete team effort on Senior Night for the Warriors (12-8, 7-5).
Black Hawk senior Shane Jackson zipped a pass down low for Schliem, who hit a shot to give the Warriors a 40-39 lead with 5 minutes, 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Monticello senior Casey Klossner answered by drilling a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Ponies a 42-40 lead. Jackson then stepped up and drained a clutch 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 43-42 lead.
Ponies sophomore Corey McGowan nailed a 3-pointer to put the Ponies up 46-45 with 2:08 to go.
Place grabbed an offensive rebound, scored on a putback and was fouled. He converted the three-point play at the free throw line to give the Warriors a 49-47 lead with 37.6 seconds left. Ritschard then drilled a game-tying jumper with 5.1 seconds left.
"(Place) played an absolutely amazing game tonight," Mortimer said.
Black Hawk junior T.J. Adams, who scored nine points, drove the length of the court and just missed a potential game-winning layup that rolled out at the end of regulation.
The Warriors held Holz scoreless in the fourth quarter and extra session.
"If he's not the (conference's) best player, he's in the top two," Mortimer said of Holz, who finished with 13 points.
Monticello junior Tyler Meier scored 11, McGowan added 10 and Marty chipped in nine.
After the first quarter, Black Hawk switched to a 2-1-2 zone and was able to eliminate some of the penetration from the Ponies in the second half. The Warriors erased a six-point halftime deficit with an 11-3 third quarter run. Schliem closed the third with an exclamation point, hitting a halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score at 36.
"(Monticello) really hurt us early driving in the lane," Schliem said. "That (2-1-2 zone) really stopped them from driving in on us. They couldn't drive in and get layups because we were all sucked in."
