Dodger boys knock off Lancaster, Crubaugh-Lockard hits 1000 points

By John Dalton

In a critical Southwest Conference showdown Thursday night, Dodgeville avenged an earlier one-point loss at home, but this time the Dodgers put a complete game together and defeated Lancaster on the road 77-65 in a game that saw two seniors join the 1000-point club.

Dodgeville’s Bryce Crubaugh-Lockard needed 18 points to hit the milestone.  His 1000th point comes at the free throw line with under a minute to go to help ice the victory for the Dodgers.  Crubaugh-Lockard finished the game with 23 points, 21 of those coming in the second half.  

Lancaster’s Zach Hermsen needed 16 points to join the 1000-point club, in which he hit that mark with a jumper midway through the second half.  Hermsen led all scorers in the game with 26 points.  

Andrew Hesseling helped the Dodgers take an early 7-2 lead with two hoops down low and a free throw.  Dodger Jayce Halverson scored eight of the next ten points maintaining the lead 17-15 midway through the first half.  The Dodgers would go on a 10-0 run and soon found themselves up 27-15, thanks to baskets by Halverson, Andrew Hesseling, Brock Fockler, Blake Stodola and two free throws by Isaiah Argall. 

With six minutes left until halftime, Lancaster turned the tables, going on a 16-5 run to close out the half and found themselves only down by one, 32-31, thanks to buckets by Hermsen, Brady Schmitz and a 3-point bucket by Brady Crubel.  

The Dodgers came out hot in the second half, Halverson scored driving to the rack for a hoop on their first possession, then Griffin Busch drilled a 3-point shot from the corner, as they increased their lead to 39-31 when Crubaugh-Lockard scored on a drive to the rim.  

The Flying Arrows fought back and trailed by one 45-44 after Dayne Kauffman hit back-to-back corner 3-point shots.  After Dodger Jaxson Jabs put the Dodgers up 48-44 with a 3-point bucket, Lancaster went on a run when Hermsen hit his 1000th point on a turnaround jumper.  He hit two more shots and found Kauffman on a back door pass for a hoop and Lancaster was up by six.  

But the Dodgers didn’t panic.  Crubaugh-Lockard drove the lane and scored, and after a Lancaster turnover he hit a jumper in the lane to cut the lead down to two.  The Dodgers went up 55-54 when Busch hit a 3-point shot and the Dodgers never trailed again in the game.  

Two more buckets by Crubaugh-Lockard, and a hoop by Jabs put the Dodgers up nine with under three minutes left.  Lancaster was forced to foul and that is when Crubaugh-Lockard went to the line.  He hit his first free throw that gave him his 1000th point in his high school career.  After a rousing applause from Dodger fans, he calmly sank his next free throw, and the Dodgers stay in contention in the conference with a critical win 77-65.  

“We said in one of the timeouts, against good teams, it’s a game of runs, and now it’s our time to make a run and what our guys did was completely respond. We were able to get it to double digits late and we were able to close it out,” Dodgeville Head Coach Matt McGraw said following the game.  

Now one back of Lancaster in the conference, McGraw knows his team just needs to stay focused on playing solid ball.  “We still need a little help, but what we’ve been talking about is we can only control what we can control.  We had to control coming in here and getting a win, and thanks to a lot of guys contributing, we did that,” he said.  

McGraw credited his entire team, many players giving big minutes off the bench.  “Jayce had some huge moments both with 3-point shots, attacking the hoop and assists. Jabs was huge off the bench with 11 points and a handful of assists. Griffin had two huge 3-points buckets for us, a great team win.”

And he was very proud of Crubaugh-Lockard for reaching his milestone.  “It’s awesome, someone who has put a ton of work in, the first thing he said in the locker room to the guys I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. He’s a true team player, and he deserves this recognition and we look forward to the game Friday against River Valley, our next home game, honoring him before that game,” he said.  

“It feels great,” said Crubaugh-Lockard after the game.  “I wanted this for four years; I kept working hard every single day and I’m so glad I got it.  Our team goes to war every single day. I love my brothers, we’ve got to play physical. We’re not the most physical team out there, but we’ve got to play hard and play as a team,” he said.  

Dodgeville is now 4-2 in the SWC while Lancaster sits on top at 5-1. The Dodgers will host River Valley on Friday, February 6.  For highlights of the Dodgers-Arrows game, check out the Dodgeville Chronicle Facebook page.  

Box Score

Dodgeville 32 – 45 – 77

Lancaster   31 – 34 – 65

Dodgeville (fg-ft-tp); Bryce Crubaugh-Lockard 7-9-23, Jayce Halverson 8-1-18, Jaxson Jabs 4-1-11, Andrew Hesseling 4-1-9, Griffin Busch 2-0-6, Elliot Hesseling 2-0-4, Brock Fockler 1-0-2, Isaiah Argall 0-2-2, Blake Stodola 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Busch 2, Jabs 2, Halverson 1.

Lancaster (fg-ft-tp); Zach Hermsen 11-4-26, Dayne Kauffman 6-1-16, Brady Schmitz 5-0-12, Taylor Williams 3-0-6, Brady Crubel 1-0-3, Brady Mack 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Kauffman 3, Schmitz 2, Crubel 1.