NEW GLARUS - Pecatonica junior A.J. Hendrickson didn't need to be warned about the New Glarus boys basketball team's up-tempo offense that thrives on scoring in transition.
Hendrickson was in the stands two weeks ago to witness New Glarus' 25-point win over Argyle.
Hendrickson did his part Monday to make sure the Glarner Knights wouldn't run into a comeback by scoring a game-high 37 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four steals to lead the Vikings to a 77-53 win over New Glarus.
"Our key was our defense in transition," Hendrickson said. "When I was here two weeks ago when New Glarus played Argyle they really pushed the ball in transition. I wanted to be very aggressive. When I drive, it opens up teammates for shots. When they got a rebound, I thought we did a good job of not letting them score in transition."
Pecatonica improves to 5-1. New Glarus drops to 4-2.
New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said senior Gavin Binger didn't play due to a hip injury.
Pecatonica senior Brooks Chandler scored 12 points and eight rebounds.
Hendrickson sees this win as a big one for seeding come tournament time.
"I feel like this will help us, especially when we get to the tournament," he said. "We have to start beating some bigger schools to get a better seed, and I thought that is what we did tonight."
Early on, the game had the makings of one that could go down to the wire. The Vikings went on a 13-0 run late in the first half to build a 13-point lead. Pecatonica junior Logan Green banked in a shot, and Chandler scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 26-18 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first half. Pecatonica junior Kole Kent scored down low, Hendrickson scored on a putback and Chandler scored on a layup to extend the Vikings' lead to 31-18 with 1:39 to go. New Glarus senior Austin Schlueter, who scored a team-high 17 points, drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Glarner Knights' deficit to 10 points at the half, 31-21.
"Two big things that stand out from tonight were we got out of a hole in the second half, but we had too many defensive breakdowns, and we left a lot of points at the line," Sysko said. "We did a poor job on our dribble-drive defense. We handled the screen well, but on the backside we were slow on our help side. Those are things we work on every day in practice. I feel like that should not have happened as often as it did tonight."
The Knights shot 30.7 percent in the first half (8 of 26) and finished at 33.3 percent for the game (17 of 51). The Knights shot just 44.4 percent from the free-throw line (12 of 27).
"We didn't shoot the 3 well," Sysko said. "We really forced shots. We preach making the extra pass and we didn't do that."
New Glarus caught fire in the second half. New Glarus freshman Zach Feller knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 33-25 at 15:48. New Glarus senior Nick Santamassino scored on a layup and two free throws by Schlueter sliced the Vikings' lead to 39-34 with 13:30 left. Feller then hit his second 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 39-37 with 12:09 left. Santamassino buried a 3-pointer and scored on a layup with 11:16 to go to give the Knights a short-lived 42-41 lead.
The Vikings closed the game on a 36-13 run, highlighted by attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line. Hendrickson was 8 of 8 shooting free throws in the second half even though the Vikings as a team shot 18 of 30 from the line for the game.
"I told our team this would probably be one of the better teams we play this year," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "I was worried about their (New Glarus') 3-point shooting in transition. It would have been really easy for us to fold up on the road when they came back. When they sped us up, they got good shots in transition."
Pecatonica junior Cory Linder and Green each chipped in seven points.
New Glarus freshman Jaden Kreklow scored eight points, and Santamassino added seven points.
"Brooks Chandler and Cory Linder both had big games for us," Fink said. "We need that to win. When A.J. is on like that the defense will react to where he is on the floor. He's a scorer. There were a lot of kids executing in the end when they had to. It was a great team win."
Despite some defensive breakdowns, Sykso is confident the Knights can make the adjustments needed.
"All of the mistakes are correctable," he said. 'We have a few days to get them fixed before we play Lake Mills."
Hendrickson was in the stands two weeks ago to witness New Glarus' 25-point win over Argyle.
Hendrickson did his part Monday to make sure the Glarner Knights wouldn't run into a comeback by scoring a game-high 37 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four steals to lead the Vikings to a 77-53 win over New Glarus.
"Our key was our defense in transition," Hendrickson said. "When I was here two weeks ago when New Glarus played Argyle they really pushed the ball in transition. I wanted to be very aggressive. When I drive, it opens up teammates for shots. When they got a rebound, I thought we did a good job of not letting them score in transition."
Pecatonica improves to 5-1. New Glarus drops to 4-2.
New Glarus coach Travis Sysko said senior Gavin Binger didn't play due to a hip injury.
Pecatonica senior Brooks Chandler scored 12 points and eight rebounds.
Hendrickson sees this win as a big one for seeding come tournament time.
"I feel like this will help us, especially when we get to the tournament," he said. "We have to start beating some bigger schools to get a better seed, and I thought that is what we did tonight."
Early on, the game had the makings of one that could go down to the wire. The Vikings went on a 13-0 run late in the first half to build a 13-point lead. Pecatonica junior Logan Green banked in a shot, and Chandler scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 26-18 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first half. Pecatonica junior Kole Kent scored down low, Hendrickson scored on a putback and Chandler scored on a layup to extend the Vikings' lead to 31-18 with 1:39 to go. New Glarus senior Austin Schlueter, who scored a team-high 17 points, drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Glarner Knights' deficit to 10 points at the half, 31-21.
"Two big things that stand out from tonight were we got out of a hole in the second half, but we had too many defensive breakdowns, and we left a lot of points at the line," Sysko said. "We did a poor job on our dribble-drive defense. We handled the screen well, but on the backside we were slow on our help side. Those are things we work on every day in practice. I feel like that should not have happened as often as it did tonight."
The Knights shot 30.7 percent in the first half (8 of 26) and finished at 33.3 percent for the game (17 of 51). The Knights shot just 44.4 percent from the free-throw line (12 of 27).
"We didn't shoot the 3 well," Sysko said. "We really forced shots. We preach making the extra pass and we didn't do that."
New Glarus caught fire in the second half. New Glarus freshman Zach Feller knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 33-25 at 15:48. New Glarus senior Nick Santamassino scored on a layup and two free throws by Schlueter sliced the Vikings' lead to 39-34 with 13:30 left. Feller then hit his second 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 39-37 with 12:09 left. Santamassino buried a 3-pointer and scored on a layup with 11:16 to go to give the Knights a short-lived 42-41 lead.
The Vikings closed the game on a 36-13 run, highlighted by attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line. Hendrickson was 8 of 8 shooting free throws in the second half even though the Vikings as a team shot 18 of 30 from the line for the game.
"I told our team this would probably be one of the better teams we play this year," Pecatonica coach Matt Fink said. "I was worried about their (New Glarus') 3-point shooting in transition. It would have been really easy for us to fold up on the road when they came back. When they sped us up, they got good shots in transition."
Pecatonica junior Cory Linder and Green each chipped in seven points.
New Glarus freshman Jaden Kreklow scored eight points, and Santamassino added seven points.
"Brooks Chandler and Cory Linder both had big games for us," Fink said. "We need that to win. When A.J. is on like that the defense will react to where he is on the floor. He's a scorer. There were a lot of kids executing in the end when they had to. It was a great team win."
Despite some defensive breakdowns, Sykso is confident the Knights can make the adjustments needed.
"All of the mistakes are correctable," he said. 'We have a few days to get them fixed before we play Lake Mills."
