SOUTH WAYNE — Pecatonica held onto their spot atop the Six Rivers East standings after closing the game on a 17-4 scoring run over the final six minutes of play to rally past the host Black Hawk Warriors, 65-57, at BHHS on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Junior guard Colton Schraepfer, who returned to Pecatonica’s line-up after missing several of the team’s previous games, scored the final eight points of the game as the Vikings (11-5 overall, 8-0 SRE) closed the game with 10 unanswered points to sweep the season series from the Warriors (9-5, 4-4).
“We played a good 32 minutes, but the last four minutes we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. We needed to get it to 60 points, but we couldn’t do it,” said Black Hawk head coach Charlie Anderson. “We played well, but you have to give credit to Pec. They made the plays down the stretch to win the game.”
The Warriors held a 53-48 lead with 6:47 to play following a pair of free throws by senior Jason Treuthardt, but the Vikings fought back to tie the game at 55 on a 3-pointer by Jaden Hendrickson with 4:12 to go.
Junior Conner Meyer put the hosts back on top with a pair of free throws with 4:04 left. J. Hendrickson answered back with two free throws of his own to deadlock the score once again, and then Schraepfer put the Vikings into the lead with a putback basket with 2:25 to play.
Schraepfer added two more baskets and a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for Coach Matt Fink’s Vikings.
Meyer scored 18 of his game-high 29 points in the opening half to lead the Warriors out to a 36-31 halftime lead.
“In the first half, there were about six loose balls we had a shot at that we didn’t grab. Those would have been extra possessions for us. If we would have converted on those, we could have extended our lead and it may have been a different game in the second half,” noted Anderson.
Senior CJ Leuzinger scored nine points, while Treuthardt added eight and senior Jett Rufenacht tallied seven for Black Hawk
J. Hendrickson led four Vikings in double figures with 19 points. Everett Johnson netted 15 points, Schraepfer finished with 12 and Evan Prust added 11 for Pec.
“It was a big letdown. This is our hardest loss of the year. As a teacher, I feel everything is a teaching moment. This is some thing we have to learn from because you have to be able to execute down the stretch. Hopefully, we’ll grow from it and get better,” Anderson added.
At South Wayne, on Tuesday, Jan. 23, CJ Leuzinger buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime and the host Warriors outscored Parkview, 8-5, in the extra session to eke out a 66-63 non-conference victory.
Black Hawk held a slim 28-25 lead at the break, but the Vikings (8-6) came out firing in the second half and hit 3s on four straight possessions to pull ahead of the Warriors. Parkview sank eight of their 10 3-pointers in the second half.
Trailing by seven with time running down, the Warriors rallied to send the game into overtime.
In OT, Conner Meyer put the Warriors ahead with a three-point play with around two minutes to go. Michael Flanagan went 2-for-2 at the line and Colby Argall added a free throw late to help seal the victory.
Meyer finished with a game-high 26 points and he pulled down nine rebounds.
Leuzinger contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two block shots and a steal for the Warriors, while Jett Rufenacht tallied eight points and eight rebounds. Kyle Lovelace scored seven points, and Jason Treuthardt had nine boards and three assists.
Eli Hoscheit led Parkview with 22 points, while Adrian Meza added 15 and Justin Balch netted 14 for the Vikings.
Black Hawk heads to Cassville (6-6) to take part in the annual Six Rivers Crossover Challenge on Friday, Feb. 2, starting with the junior varsity game at 6 p.m. followed by the varsity game around 7:30 p.m.
The Warriors will also have non-conference games at Lancaster (9-8) on Monday, Feb. 5.
Pecatonica……. 31 34 – 65
Black Hawk…… 36 21 – 57
Pecatonica – Schraepfer 12, Prust 11, Eaton 6, J. Hendrickson 19, Johnson 15, Ruegsegger 2. Totals – 24 11-20 65.
Black Hawk – Colby Argall 2, Jason Treuthardt 8, Kyle Lovelace 6, Jett Rufenacht 7, Conner Meyer 29, CJ Leuzinger 9. Totals – 22 9-13 57.
3-point goals– P 6 (J. Hendrickson 3, Johnson 3), BH 4 (Treuthardt 2, Meyer 1, Leuzinger 1). Total fouls– P 13, BH 17. Fouled out– none.
Parkview………. 25 33 5 – 63
Black Hawk…… 28 30 8 – 66
Parkview – Meza 15, Brown 2, Campbell 2, Carroll 8, Hoscheit 22, Balch 14. Totals – 22 9-13 63.
Black Hawk – Michael Flanagan 4, Colby Argall 3, Jason Treuthardt 2, Kyle Lovelace 7, Jett Rufenacht 8, Conner Meyer 26, CJ Leuzinger 16. Totals – 25 11-16 66.
3-point goals– P 10 (Meza 3, Carroll 1, Hoscheit 2, Balch 4), BH 5 (Lovelace 1, Rufenacht 2, Meyer 1, Leuzinger 1). Total fouls– P 18, BH 13. Fouled out– P: Campbell, Carroll, Balch.
Pecatonicas late rally stings Black Hawk