Ponies Have Heartbreaking Week

On February 5th, the Monticello Ponies boys basketball team played at Black Hawk. Only down by 4 points at the half, the Ponies played hard in the second half, but ended up with a loss. The final score was Black Hawk 61, Monticello 56.
The game was close throughout the first half, with the two teams trading the lead back and forth. A Black Hawk score with 21 seconds left in the game was the Ponies’ downfall.
Peter Gustafson and Reece Rufer both scored 17 points for the Ponies, with Simon Blohowiak putting 7 points on the board. Blohowiak and Rufer each pulled down 7 rebounds, while Gustafson and Jeffrey Ace each had 6 rebounds.
The Ponies hosted Pecatonica on February 11th. Pecatonica took an early lead, but the Ponies came back with a 13-0 run to go up by 7 with 10 minutes left in the half. Monticello stretched their lead to 10 with just over a minute to go, but Pecatonica hit a 3-pointer to close within 7. The halftime score was Monticello 36, Pecatonica 29.
The second half started out with both teams trading baskets and the Vikings took the lead until Monticello tied it up at 52 with under 4 minutes left in the game. The Ponies maintained their lead until there were 18 seconds left in the game. That’s when the Vikings’ luck changed. One player hit a 3-pointer, another hit a basket and then Pec stole the in-bounds pass and scored with 3 seconds left to win it by a single point. The final score was Pecatonica 64, Monticello 63.
Pouring in 21 points for Monticello was Peter Gustafson, while Reece Rufer scored 20 points and Devin Holtz scored 14 points. Rufer pulled down 12 rebounds, while Simon Blohowiak and Jeffrey Ace each had 7 rebounds.
On February 9th, the Ponies hosted Cassville. Monticello’s largest lead in the first half would come early, but Cassville took the lead with less than 12 minutes left. The teams then traded baskets, but Cassville was ahead at the half, 29-23.
In the second half, the Ponies went on a 9-0 run to take the lead with about 8 minutes left, but Cassville took the opportunity to outscore Monticello in the remaining minutes and won by 3. The final score was Cassville 47, Monticello 44.
Coach Mark Olson had this to say about the games, “This past week we lost three one possession games. We battled from behind against Black Hawk and gave ourselves a chance to tie it in the final seconds. The loss against Pec was a bit of bad luck as a number of things just didn’t go our way in the final seconds. Against Cassville we played well enough to give ourselves a chance at the end, but it never felt like we really got going at game speed. It was a tough week, but we are learning to be resilient and hoping to prove that this week.”
The Ponies hosted Benton on February 11th, and then hit the road to play at Barneveld on February 14th and Palmyra-Eagle on February 15th. Their last regular season home game will take place on February 21st against Argyle.