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Winless no more
Published 1:12am Wednesday, December 16, 2009UNDERWOOD— The Underwood boys basketball team picked up a much needed win over Little Eight Conference rival Battle Lake Tuesday night 55-46.
Battle Lake stayed within striking distance for most of the night, but a 7-0 run by the Rockets midway through the second half extended the Underwood lead to 12 points with just under nine minutes to play.
An array of three point attempts by the Battlers did little to cut the Underwood lead as Battle Lake shot just 24 percent from beyond the arc and 30 percent from the field overall.
“I would like to see them (the Battlers) get the ball to the basket a little more,” Battle Lake coach Dan Peterka said. “We attempted way to many outside shots tonight.”
Underwood took a two point advantage into the final 18 minutes and blew the game open with a 16-6 run to start the second half.
Battle Lake (1-2) held the lead for a total of 1 minute, 30 seconds the entire night, losing the lead for good with 5:24 to play in the opening frame.
“This was a good win for us,” Rockets’ coach Curt Olson said. “After starting 0-3, we needed a game like this to get us going.”
In five separate trips to the foul line, the Battlers came away with zero points, going 0 for 7 in that stretch and shooting 48 percent overall from the line overall.
In a play that summed up the Battlers night, on their final possession, senior forward Zach Hull’s left foot landed out of bounds resulting in Battle Lake’s 19th turnover and denying Hull from a wide open lane and sure to be easy basket.
“I was disappointed in our defensive effort tonight,” a distraught Peterka said. “Underwood out played us. They hit their shots and we didn’t.”
Although the Rockets won by nine, Olson still feels his team needs to learn how to close out games.
“We’ve got to learn how to play with a lead,” Olson said. “A lot of our kids are young and have never learned to do that so tonight was a good learning experience for them down the road.”
Collin Teich led the Rockets with 13 points while center Dalton Jampsa finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards, also collecting three blocks.
Battlers’ guard Alex Ukkelberg led all scorers with 14 points.
Battle Lake’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as they take on LEC leading Ashby away on Thursday. Underwood (1-3) travels to Rothsay to take on another LEC rival on the same day.
Daily Journal
UNDERWOOD— The Underwood boys basketball team picked up a much needed win over Little Eight Conference rival Battle Lake Tuesday night 55-46.
Battle Lake stayed within striking distance for most of the night, but a 7-0 run by the Rockets midway through the second half extended the Underwood lead to 12 points with just under nine minutes to play.
An array of three point attempts by the Battlers did little to cut the Underwood lead as Battle Lake shot just 24 percent from beyond the arc and 30 percent from the field overall.
“I would like to see them (the Battlers) get the ball to the basket a little more,” Battle Lake coach Dan Peterka said. “We attempted way to many outside shots tonight.”
Underwood took a two point advantage into the final 18 minutes and blew the game open with a 16-6 run to start the second half.
Battle Lake (1-2) held the lead for a total of 1 minute, 30 seconds the entire night, losing the lead for good with 5:24 to play in the opening frame.
“This was a good win for us,” Rockets’ coach Curt Olson said. “After starting 0-3, we needed a game like this to get us going.”
In five separate trips to the foul line, the Battlers came away with zero points, going 0 for 7 in that stretch and shooting 48 percent overall from the line overall.
In a play that summed up the Battlers night, on their final possession, senior forward Zach Hull’s left foot landed out of bounds resulting in Battle Lake’s 19th turnover and denying Hull from a wide open lane and sure to be easy basket.
“I was disappointed in our defensive effort tonight,” a distraught Peterka said. “Underwood out played us. They hit their shots and we didn’t.”
Although the Rockets won by nine, Olson still feels his team needs to learn how to close out games.
“We’ve got to learn how to play with a lead,” Olson said. “A lot of our kids are young and have never learned to do that so tonight was a good learning experience for them down the road.”
Collin Teich led the Rockets with 13 points while center Dalton Jampsa finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards, also collecting three blocks.
Battlers’ guard Alex Ukkelberg led all scorers with 14 points.
Battle Lake’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as they take on LEC leading Ashby away on Thursday. Underwood (1-3) travels to Rothsay to take on another LEC rival on the same day.
