January 15, 2021 at 9:49 a.m.
Barneveld outlasts Pecatonica boys
Blake Hazen's rebound, put-back bucket was huge at the 3:30 mark of the second half, extending Barneveld's late lead. His basket in the lane just 20 seconds later, coupled with a Chase Ignatius bucket in the closing minutes helped seal the Eagles' 13 point win. Barneveld shut down Pec's offense late, holding the Vikes to no field goals and only three free throws over the final 6:15 of action.
Coach Tyler Sullivan's Eagles, are at Black Hawk tonight (Thurs., Jan. 14), compete at Albany Saturday, and play at Dodgeville Tuesday before hosting the Mount Horeb Vikings Thursday, Jan. 21.
Junior Hunter Enloe and freshman Tyler McKeon paced Pecatonica with 10 points apiece for coach Matt Fink's Vikings in the setback. Junior Kegun Brunker had nine and senior David Tisch added seven. Along with teammates, they'll host Juda tonight (Thursday) are at Johnson Creek Saturday afternoon and play at Black Hawk Tuesday.
With COVID-19 causing an especially late start to the season for the Eagles, Coach Sullivan was pleased with adjustments his team has had to make while on the fly.
"Our 1-2-2 that we just began utilizing worked pretty well for us. Pecatonica did a nice job breaking it down in the first half but some adjustments made at halftime worked better for us in the second half," shared Sullivan, following the final horn. "Blake Hazen did a much better job tonight for us after struggling a little in finishing versus Monticello. He played big inside and I really liked the way Dayne Archie handled the floor tonight," added Sullivan. "It's the third game only this year for us - and it was the first time we've seen zone deployed against us so the boys did a pretty good job," added Barneveld's veteran mentor.
Playing a cast of largely inexperienced varsity players, Pec head coach Matt Fink found solace in stretches of improved play Friday by his youthful charges.
"We struggled sometimes in boxing out and not getting some key rebounds and I think, we, at times, need to slow it down, step back, rethink, redevelop and understand what they need to do on the court," said Pecatonica's coach Fink, after the contest concluded. "I told our guys in the locker room I felt some of them turned the page tonight and hopefully that carries forward. We've a mix including some very young players. I'm proud of them. I challenged them and every time it looked like Barneveld was gonna pull away, our guys had enough of a run in them to battle back and keep it close," added Fink. "We'll continue to work, to improve and hopefully we can avoid some of the lapses and slow spells. I tell our guys - we're making progress and just need to keep fixing the little things and keep getting better and becoming more consistent."
Barneveld 53 Pecatonica 40
Barneveld 25 28 - 53
Pecatonica 22 18 - 40
Barneveld (fg-ft-tp):
Helgeson 1-1-3, Archie 4-0-8, Barsness 3-2-7, Hopfensberger 0-2-2, Fishnick 1-1-3, Neumaier 0-1-1, Ignatius 6-2-14, Hazen 6-0-12, Oimoen 1-1-3. Treys: Fishnick. Totals: 21 (1) 8-14 53. Fouls: 16
Pecatonica (fg-ft-tp): Johnson 1-0-2, Tisch 3-1-7, Brunker 3-3-9, Enloe 3-2-10, 1-0-2, McKeon 4-1-10. Three-pointers: Enloe 2 McKeon. Total: 12 (3) 7-12 40. Fouls: 12.
