When both teams won a game against each other in the SWC this season one of them had to tip the season in their favor in the third matchup.
Platteville survived this one and advanced to play at Mauston Friday. They trailed the Blackhawks 30-26 at the half but then Jauron Blevins came to life.
Blevins, a shifty guard, scored about every way possible and put in 21 points to send the Hillman to a 50- 36 second half for a 76-66 win. He had four three pointers in his second half run.
Blevins finished with 23 points, The Hawks did hold Myron Reuter to 12 points, the same as tallied by Grady Poppy. Braden Streight added 10 off the bench,
Jackson Thatcher led the Hawks with 22 points. Trevor Henkel and Lucas Klein added 11 each.
“I thought this was a very hard fought game,” said River Valley coach Luke Thatcher. “We had a little lead going into the half, but they came out hot in the second half. Then we struggled to get things going offensively, and that’s a compliment to their defense.”
“Platteville executed,” Thatcher said. “We had some success holding down Reuter but Blevins ended up spot on.”
“Overall I was pleased with our game,” said Thatcher. “We let some things slip away but as always the team did not back down as has been their trademark all year. We gave it our best shot all season while giving up athleticism and size. But I feel when teams played us they knew that had been in a game.”
“We worked through some early adversity and when we came together things took off,” added Thatcher. “We played hard but just did not have enough gas in the tank tonight.”
“I’m really proud of the growth this group had, and I’m proud of their accomplishments,”concluded Thatcher.
SCORE BY HALVES
River Valley 30 36 66
Platteville 26 50 76
BOX SCORE:
RIVER VALLEY 66 (fg-ft-tp): J. Thatcher 10-1-22, Tr. Henkel 4-1-11, L. Klein 4-1-11, K. Heiser 2-3-7, Q. Blakley 2-0-6, D. Zaemisch 2-1-5, K. Plumley 1-2-4, Ta. Henkel 0-0-0, A. Hill 0-0-0, B. Ferguson 0-0-0. Totals 25-9/14-66. Fouls- 25. Fouled Out- L. Klein, K. Heiser.
PLATTEVILLE 76: J. Blevins 6- 7-23, M. Reuter 4-4-12, G. Poppy 4- 4-12, B. Digman 4-1-12, B. Streight 3-2-10, J. Digman 3-1-7, J. Riniker 0-0-0. Totals 24-19/30-76. Fouls- 17. Fouled Out- G. Poppy, J. Digman.
3 Pointers Made:
RV- Tr. Henkel 2, L. Klein 2, J. Thatcher 1.
PL- J. Belvins 4, B. Digman 3, B. Streight 2.