Rocket boys need late run to rally past Greyhounds

It would have been difficult to blame the Spencer boys basketball team last week from looking ahead to its Feb. 18 first-place showdown with Neillsville. That clash was almost rendered meaningless when the Rockets seemingly couldn’t find a way to get past Loyal on Feb. 13.

Spencer trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half and never led until there was less than a minute left in the game, but still managed to come away with a 52-49 win that kept it within a game of Neillsville for the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference title. The Rockets’ only ECC loss of the season was a 63-46 setback at Neillsville on Jan. 10, and Tuesday night’s rematch with the Warriors in Spencer was to determine this year’s conference champ.

But it almost wasn’t. With Spencer missing its shots on its first five offensive possessions, Loyal popped out to an ealy 7-0 lead to send a message that it wasn’t about to roll over and let the Rockets have an easy one. Spencer managed to erase most of that early edge with a pair of Eric Ehlert 3-pointers, but Loyal junior Daymian Baird pieced together a 16-point first half that carried the Greyhounds to a 32-21 halftime lead. Hurting Spencer’s cause were the three early personal fouls committed by senior Brett Kasch, which put him on the bench for all but four minutes of the half.

Early second-half buckets from Drew Stieglitz and Baird put Loyal ahead 36-23, but the tide started to turn when Spencer dialed up the heat with a three-quarter court press. Loyal had some trouble handling that and a few turnovers helped the Rockets claw their way back into the game. Austin Bacon drove in for a score and drew a foul for a 3-point play and shortly after hit two free throws on a Loyal technical foul to pull Spencer within 36-28 with 15:16 to go.

Loyal senior guard Trevyn Wilke got the lead back to double digits with a 3-pointer from the corner, but Kasch countered with one of his own to make it a 39-31 game with 11:25 to play. From that point on, Spencer would mount a 21-9 run to take the lead and hold on to the end.

Ehlert popped another 3-pointer at 10:09 to trim the lead to five points. Loyal pushed it back to 10 again on Kole Bogdonovich’s score off a defensive rebound and another Wilke triple from the wing at the 7:17 mark.

At 6:20, Bacon scored in the paint, and a technical foul called on the Loyal bench gave the Rockets a free throw. Ehlert brought the lead back to five points with a score on the offensive glass, and Bacon’s drive to the paint for another score made it a 44-41 Loyal lead with 3:50 left.

Kole Bogdonovich drove the lane to draw defenders and dished off to Stieglitz for a layup and a 46-41 lead. After missing a 3-pointer, Kasch made it happen on defense with a steal on the perimeter and a break-away bucket to cut the gap to 46-43 with 2:31 to go.

Wilke hit two free throws to get it back to five, but he then fouled Kasch on the ensuing in-bounds play and Kasch got those two points back at the line.

Still up three points with less than 2 minutes on the clock, Loyal went to a spread offense to kill time, but Hayden Bauman tipped a pass that then went off Baird’s fingertips for a turnover. That led to Kasch’s perimeter jumper at 1:14 that cut the lead to 48-47.

At 1:03, Bogdonovich missed the front end of a bonus free-throw situation and opened the door for Spencer to take its first lead of the game. That came with 53 seconds to go as Kasch drove into the lane and pulled up for a short jumper.

Spencer’s pressure defense forced a Loyal turnover as the Greyhounds tried to get the ball across half-court and Loyal fouled at 37 seconds. Bauman missed the front end of the bonus, but Kaleb Brandt went high to swipe the offensive rebound to give the Rockets a second chance. It paid off as Kasch was fouled and hit both free throws with 27 seconds to go for a 51-48 lead.

Loyal called time-out to set up a play, and Wilke’s 3-point attempt with 13 seconds left rattled in and out of the rim. Spencer got the rebound and Loyal had to foul, with Kasch’s free throw with 11 seconds left sealing the win.

Bacon led Spencer with 21 points and Kasch pumped in 11 minutes over the final 2:31 of the game to give him 14 for the night. Ehlert added 11 points.

Baird paced Loyal with 18 points, Bogdonovich scored 11, and Wilke added 10.

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO