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For 3 1/2 quarters Friday night it was a dog eat dog battle between the SWC co-leadering Dodgeville and River Valley boys basketball teams.
But a three pointer by Trent Jones couple of steals and a reverse lay up by Ryan Raess turned things in Dodgeville favor in the fourth quarter. They then made 8 out of 10 free throws in about a half minute of playing time and that spelled a 61-50 Dodger win over the host Blackhawks and sole possession of first place.
The Dodgers hold a one game lead over RV and play at Platteville Thursday night before hosting Richland Center the following Thursday.
The Blackhawks host Prairie du Chien and then go to Platteville for their regular season finale those same Thursdays.
The Dodgers led 16-14 after the methodical first quarter when Jones nailed an NBA range three just before time expired.
The Dodgers had the ball with the score tied at 21 as time was about to run out in the first half. This time Levi Nagel popped in a short jumper just before the horn sounded for a 23-21 lead at the break.
The two teams stalemated at 18 apiece in the third quarter and this time Nagel's last second shot didn't fall, but the Dodgers still held the two point advantage at 41-39.
After the Jones trey and Raess lay-in, the Dodgers led 51-43.
A Hunter Schwingle steal and lay up for RV and a driving lay-in by him were both sandwiched around a jumper by Dodger Jordan Larson and the 53-47 score was as close as the Blackhawks would get. After a few stops by the Dodgers, the Blackhawks were forced to foul and the Dodger free throws took care of the rest.
Jones led all scorers on the night with 19 points, going 3x4 from the charity stripe down the stretch.
Larson nailed a pair of three pointers in the third period and was 3x4 from the line in the fourth.
Raess added 12 with seven coming in the 20-point final quarter.
Nagel hit 10 markers to be the fourth Dodger to hit double digits.
River Valley was paced by 6'11" Brandon Gilbeck's 16 points with Alex Shifflet totaling 14, nine coming in the second half. He hit three shots from downtown.
Lucas Price connected for 10 for the Blackhawks.
Dodgeville coach Ryan Bohnsack credited his team's "huge patience" on offense as being the key to the game.
"The best thing about that is it wasn't even in our game plan. Credit our senior leadership out there to take it on themselves to recognize the need for that type of play and to execute it," he said.
"The guys did a great job rattling Gilbeck inside. Jordan (Larson) did a huge job for us off the bench and was a nuisance to Gilbeck and hit some big shots for us when we really needed them," Bohnsack said. "Also, Caleb (Grady) is very important to this team and showed it tonight especially on defense. When he was hurt and not playing, it really showed up. He gives the team that added spark."
River Valley coach Luke Thatcher talked about the game starting with, "It was a great high school basketball game - the fans were great - we had a packed house. Dodgeville just shot the ball better then we did tonight."
"I wasn't disappointed with the way we played. We executed our game plan. Dodgeville did disrupt us some inside," he added.
"Larson hurt us. We knew he was a shooter. A couple of times we just got caught up with Jones and Nagel - we knew how they could shoot, and we just lost him," Thatcher said about the Dodger hitting two three pointers and having 14 points - a season high for him.
"I also think Grady (Caleb) is an unsung player for them. He can hurt you at times offensively and is very, very tenacious on defense,"
"Early on we hit some shots from the outside, but then we didn't. Our game is inside and they took a lot of that away from us tonight," he concluded.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
D 16 7 18 20-61
RV  14 7 18 11-50
BOX SCORE
DODGEVILLE 61 (fg, ft, tp) Chapman 0-0-0, Jones 6-3/4-19, Grady 1-2/2-4, I. Nagel 0-0-0, Berning 0-0-0, Sullivan 0-0-0, J. Olson 0-0-0, Raess 5-1/1-12, L. Nagel 4-2/3-10, Prochaska 1-0-2, Larson 4-3/4-14, Gollon 0-0-0. Totals 21-11/14-61. F-12. 3-pointers: Jones 4, Raess 1, Larson 3.
RIVER VALLEY 50: Wermuth 0-0-0, Price 4-2/3-11, Solomon 1-0-2, Schwingle 3-0-6, Eastlick 0-1/2-1, Shifflet 5-1/2-14, Gruber 0-0-0, Gilbeck 6-4/7-16. Totals 19-8/14-50. F-15. 3-pointers: Price 1, Shifflet 3.