The one team who has been able to catch the Cuba City boys basketball team off guard all year was the Platteville Hillmen. The Hillmen took a 12-9 first quarter lead by trying to outsmart the Cubans tenacious 1-3-1 defense.
"I think that everybody is going to try their best to defeat our defense," Cuba City head coach Jerry Petitgoue said. "Platteville had 16 days to prepare for it. They put their guard in the center of the press-breaker, and we had our center trying to guard their point-guard. In the second quarter we made the adjustment and we were able to contain their drives to the basket."
The Cubans indeed made some adjustments and used a 21-4 second quarter to take a 30-16 halftime lead. "I thought Platteville did a good job in the first quarter but they weren't able to sustain it. The Cubans ended the game with a 70-39 non-conference win over the Hillmen.
Corey Vaassen and Trent Denlinger paced the Cubans with 18 and 17 points respectably. Zach Adams added 10 and Nate Murray had eight points.
In SWAL action, the Cubans traveled to Iowa-Grant last Friday where they defeated the Panthers 74-26.
Cuba City held the Panthers to just three points in the first quarter and extended the lead to 44-10 at the half.
Petitgoue said he was impressed how this win showed a true team effort. "This team is all about teamwork and not the statistics," Petitgoue said. "We have talked about getting the ball to the open person with the best shot. We want the players to make that extra pass and continue to play good hard defense and realize we have a very good bench. That will allow our players to go all out and get a break when they need it."
Murray paced the Cubans with 18 points while Adams had 16 and Vaassen added 12 points.
The Cubans travel to UW-Platteville Saturday where they will take on Southwestern at 11:45 a.m.