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Mineral Point's boys basketball team found itself in unfamiliar territory at the end of their first half battle with Dodgeville in a non-conference match-up Saturday.
That would be behind.
The Dodgers had matched the Pointers point by point and ended up doing them one better as they grabbed a 24-23 lead.
The Dodgers held it for part of the second half before falling to the Pointers 60-51.
The game was anything but tame and was not filled with finesse moves. Most of the time it was an out and out brawl with enough contact to put both teams in some foul trouble. That hit the Pointers the hardest with their usual prolific scorer, Joah Filardo, garnering four with the whistle coming often enough he was forced to watch part of the game on the bench. Instead of his usual 20 plus he finished the night with 10.
Picking up the slack for the Pointers was Liam Stumpf who led with 17 and Dominik McVay who netted 15.
One of the key runs by the Pointers came courtesy of Leyten Bowers who scored seven of his nine in the waning minutes of the first half and his three pointer before time expired pulled his team within one at halftime.
Free throws iced it for the Pointers. After Stumpf scored from underneath to put the Pointers up 55-49 with 1:16 left McVay and Ian Keyes both made a pair of throws and Stumpf was one for two with those five points getting the Pointers to 60.
Junior Dillon Garthwaite was a force for the Dodgers and led with 17 points. Helping out with clutch baskets in both haves were sophomore Charlie Keith and junior Garrett Busch who matched nine point outputs.
Busch found a way to score the last two Dodgeville baskets of the game.
Both coaches felt the game was a test of physicality and both teams handled it well.
"We got a big spark from Leyten Bowers right before half," said Mineral Point coach Dan Burreson. "Overall it was a tough, well played game."
"Dominik McVay had one of his best efforts of the year both offensively and defensively," Burreson added. "I thought we played good team defense most of the night. Liam was solid all around. Cameron Wiegman played especially well on the defensive end. Ian Keyes had a big rebounding night with nine. Gabe Sporle and Bodie Bossert continue to give us solid minutes off the bench. Joah Filardo hit some big shots for us."
"It was a hard fought game overall and was the most physical game we have played in this season," said Dodgeville coach Matt McGraw.
He added there were several positives.
"We handled the pressure pretty well overall and didn't let it take us out of our game. It happened at times but not for long stretches," said McGraw.
"Mineral Point is a great rebounding team," McGraw added. "We did well overall with the exception of two stretches which contributed to them getting a lead both times."
McGraw was impressed with how the Dodgers carried out their defensive assignments.
"We held their leading scorer to 10," McGraw noted. "Christian Jacobson and Ayden Halverson did a great job taking Joah Filardo out of his rhythm. Garrett did at times too."
Garthwaite faced extreme pressure all night but still found ways to score.
"Dillon had to work harder tonight for his shots than he has had to all season. We had to go to some things that we have not run a lot this year but overall we still got him some pretty good looks and he creates some himself." McGraw said. "Charlie and Garrett both had nine as well. Matthew Pittz, Christian Jacobsen and Casey Weier were our other offensive contributors."
"We will keep improving," McGraw predicts. "The things we are going to focus on are very flexible and will come with experience. The effort and competitiveness can not be faulted and they play well as a group."
SCORE BY HALVES
Dodgeville 24 27 51
Mineral Point 23 37 60
BOX SCORE
DODGEVILLE 51: (fg-ft-tp) Keith 4-0-9, Garthwaite 7-3-17, Weier 1-0-3, Jacobsen 2-2-7, Busch 4-0-9, Halverson 0-0-0, Montague 0-0-0, Pittz 2-2-6 Totals 20-7/9-51 Fouls-16
MINERAL POINT 60: Bowers 4-0-9, McVay 4-4-15, Wiegman 2-1-5, Bossert 0-0-0, Filardo 3-2-10, Stumpf 7-3-17, Sporle 0-0-0, Keyes 0-4-4. Totals 20-14/20-60 Fouls-17
3 point goals:
D-(4) Weier 1, Keith 1, Jacobson 1, Busch 1
MP-(6) McVay 3, Bowers 1, Filardo 2