ALBANY - The last time the Albany boys basketball team won a conference championship, Gerald Ford was president.
Albany is hoping they won't have to wait six more presidencies to break the streak. Black Hawk junior Heath Butler scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and senior Tyler Peterson drilled a clutch 3-pointer to help the Warriors rally from a 13-point deficit to knock off Albany 55-50 on Tuesday.
With the win, Black Hawk (16-5, 8-3 Six Rivers East) moves into a tie atop the conference with Albany (14-7, 8-3). The Comets no longer are alone in the driver's seat to win the school's first conference title since 1976, but they still control their own destiny and can win at least a share of the conference title with a win at Pecatonica Friday.
"It was basically a playoff atmosphere right now," Butler said. "It feels great. It's big momentum going into the playoffs. We will probably see Albany in the second round."
The Comets led by as many as 13 points, but were plagued by 19 turnovers.
"It (winning conference) would mean a lot to this team and community," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "The support from the community is great. I was very happy with our intensity. We just ultimately at the end made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers. When you have that many turnovers against a good team like Black Hawk it will cost you and it did in the end."
Peterson knocked down a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors their first lead at 48-47. Senior Brett Lovelace then hit a jumper on the break to give the Warriors a three-point lead. Albany senior Grant Schoenenberger hit a 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds to go to slice the Warriors' lead to 52-50. Heath Butler made some free throws down the stretch to seal it. Albany senior Isaiah Shell, who scored a game-high 22 points, missed a game-tying 3-pointer off the rim with 4.6 seconds to go.
Peterson's big 3-pointer came after the Comets switched to a 2-3 zone to stop Butler from scoring down low.
"We were under a lot of pressure," Peterson said. "They switched to the 2-3 zone and that is when I usually can hit my spots. I had to catch it in rhythm and I hit it. We practice hard for this. It means a lot. We always say effort wins games. It comes down to effort and playing together as a team."
Lovelace scored 10 points, senior Seth Butler added eight points and Peterson and Shawn Woodruff each chipped in six points. Woodruff also had six steals.
"We needed this win if we wanted to have any chance to share the conference or win it outright," Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick said. "It was a playoff-type atmosphere."
Manlick liked the way the Warriors picked up their defensive pressure in the second half and he credited Woodruff.
"Shawn is a workhorse and a kid you want on your team period," Manlick said. "He did a heck of a job defensively. I was really impressed with how he played tonight."
The Warriors played their 1-3-1 halfcourt trapping defense, but switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half.
"Our leader Seth (Butler) got it started," Woodruff said of the defensive pressure. "We got more pressure with our man-to-man than we did our 1-3-1. This (winning conference) is one of our goals."
Shell scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half. He hit three 3-pointers. Shell hit a 3-pointer at the end of the second quarter to give the Comets a 26-18 lead at the half.
Albany junior Mitchell Trow, who scored nine points on three 3-pointers, drilled a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give the Comets a 31-25 lead. Trow hit another 3-pointer at 2:08 in the third to extend the Comets' lead to 38-25.
The Warriors answered with Woodruff coming up with a steal and layup and Lovelace scoring down low at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the Comets' lead to 40-37. That set the stages for a frantic finish. Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl scored eight points and Schoenenberger scored seven points and had 11 rebounds.
"Trow made some big shots," Doescher said. "It's huge to have that outside shooting so when Isaiah drives he has someone to kick it out to. I would love the opportunity to play them (Black Hawk) again. Playing a 14-6 Faith Christian team in the first-round is a tough draw. If we play them (Black Hawk) again we will have to make some adjustments because what we did the first two times hasn't worked."
Albany is hoping they won't have to wait six more presidencies to break the streak. Black Hawk junior Heath Butler scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and senior Tyler Peterson drilled a clutch 3-pointer to help the Warriors rally from a 13-point deficit to knock off Albany 55-50 on Tuesday.
With the win, Black Hawk (16-5, 8-3 Six Rivers East) moves into a tie atop the conference with Albany (14-7, 8-3). The Comets no longer are alone in the driver's seat to win the school's first conference title since 1976, but they still control their own destiny and can win at least a share of the conference title with a win at Pecatonica Friday.
"It was basically a playoff atmosphere right now," Butler said. "It feels great. It's big momentum going into the playoffs. We will probably see Albany in the second round."
The Comets led by as many as 13 points, but were plagued by 19 turnovers.
"It (winning conference) would mean a lot to this team and community," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "The support from the community is great. I was very happy with our intensity. We just ultimately at the end made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers. When you have that many turnovers against a good team like Black Hawk it will cost you and it did in the end."
Peterson knocked down a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors their first lead at 48-47. Senior Brett Lovelace then hit a jumper on the break to give the Warriors a three-point lead. Albany senior Grant Schoenenberger hit a 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds to go to slice the Warriors' lead to 52-50. Heath Butler made some free throws down the stretch to seal it. Albany senior Isaiah Shell, who scored a game-high 22 points, missed a game-tying 3-pointer off the rim with 4.6 seconds to go.
Peterson's big 3-pointer came after the Comets switched to a 2-3 zone to stop Butler from scoring down low.
"We were under a lot of pressure," Peterson said. "They switched to the 2-3 zone and that is when I usually can hit my spots. I had to catch it in rhythm and I hit it. We practice hard for this. It means a lot. We always say effort wins games. It comes down to effort and playing together as a team."
Lovelace scored 10 points, senior Seth Butler added eight points and Peterson and Shawn Woodruff each chipped in six points. Woodruff also had six steals.
"We needed this win if we wanted to have any chance to share the conference or win it outright," Black Hawk coach Corey Manlick said. "It was a playoff-type atmosphere."
Manlick liked the way the Warriors picked up their defensive pressure in the second half and he credited Woodruff.
"Shawn is a workhorse and a kid you want on your team period," Manlick said. "He did a heck of a job defensively. I was really impressed with how he played tonight."
The Warriors played their 1-3-1 halfcourt trapping defense, but switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half.
"Our leader Seth (Butler) got it started," Woodruff said of the defensive pressure. "We got more pressure with our man-to-man than we did our 1-3-1. This (winning conference) is one of our goals."
Shell scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half. He hit three 3-pointers. Shell hit a 3-pointer at the end of the second quarter to give the Comets a 26-18 lead at the half.
Albany junior Mitchell Trow, who scored nine points on three 3-pointers, drilled a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give the Comets a 31-25 lead. Trow hit another 3-pointer at 2:08 in the third to extend the Comets' lead to 38-25.
The Warriors answered with Woodruff coming up with a steal and layup and Lovelace scoring down low at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the Comets' lead to 40-37. That set the stages for a frantic finish. Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl scored eight points and Schoenenberger scored seven points and had 11 rebounds.
"Trow made some big shots," Doescher said. "It's huge to have that outside shooting so when Isaiah drives he has someone to kick it out to. I would love the opportunity to play them (Black Hawk) again. Playing a 14-6 Faith Christian team in the first-round is a tough draw. If we play them (Black Hawk) again we will have to make some adjustments because what we did the first two times hasn't worked."
