Boys basketball: Pecatonica 3-point barrage, turnover woes doom Newman

STERLING – The Newman Comets got off to a solid start Tuesday night against the Pecatonica Indians, using their 1-3-1 defense to create early turnovers and easy offense at the other end.

The Comets held the early advantage with a three-point lead after the first quarter, but as the Indians rained 3s and forced turnovers in bunches from the second quarter on, they seized all the momentum and rolled to an 80-63 victory in Sterling.

[ Photos from Newman vs. Pecatonica boys basketball ]

The Comets trailed 12-7 around the four-minute mark of the first quarter, but rallied to a 22-19 lead by the end of it. Junior forward Lucas Simpson sparked the run, scoring 10 of his 24 points during the opening period.

Newman took a 16-15 lead with 1:33 to go on a pair of George Jungerman free throws; a Nolan Britt bounce pass to a cutting Simpson made it a 22-19 lead with four seconds to go.

“I thought we had great energy and were playing really good defense at that point,” Newman coach Ray Sharp said. “We got some touches and got some steals, and turned them over and got some run-out layups. So I just thought our energy was really good, and I thought we played really hard that first quarter.”

“I think we weren’t as tired as in the fourth quarter, because we knew we could be close or even beat them,” Simpson added on the promising start. “Our defensive intensity stayed up and helped us get fast-break points.”

A Simpson layup 16 seconds into the second quarter stretched the Comets’ lead to 24-19, but the Indians went on a 23-10 run over the next seven-plus minutes to regain the lead at halftime.

An Ayden Batten left-wing 3 pushed the Comets ahead 29-27 with 4:52 left, but Mason Peterson answered with a right-corner 3 less than 30 seconds later, regaining the Pecatonica lead at 30-29.

Over the next 1:47, the Indians made three more 3s, as Drew Williams, Brody Black and Declan Handy connected from deep, moving the margin to 40-31. A Peterson layup made it a 42-34 game just before the half.

“I think we started getting tired [in the second quarter], and then we let them get a couple open 3s and didn’t get in the passing lanes,” Simpson said. “They were making all their shots, and we just couldn’t hit any of ours.”

“I probably didn’t sub enough. I gotta probably rotate some more guys in quicker,” Sharp said. “When you’re tired, it might not show up in certain ways, but we didn’t shoot it well, and so sometimes that might be because you’re tired and you don’t have legs. Whether it’s missing layups underneath or missing 3s, we didn’t shoot it great during that stretch, and if we don’t put pressure on the ball defensively, they’re going to pick our 1-3-1 apart. They threw over top of us all night, and if we get too tired and don’t get pressure, then they’re going to start scoring easy buckets.”

In the first 1:58 of the third quarter, Simpson created a 6-0 run by himself, with two steals and fast-break layups, and a put back off a missed 3-pointer. Newman closed the gap to 42-40 before Pecatonica found its footing.

The Indians responded to a Comets timeout with a 10-0 run over the next 3:12. Williams scored a fast-break layup to start it off, then Cooper Hoffman hit two free throws between two Peterson opposite-corner 3s. Suddenly, Pecatonica’s lead was 52-40.

“They knocked them down, and a lot of that was penetration, and then kicking to the weak side,” Sharp said of Pec, which made 10 3-pointers in the game. “We weren’t getting pressure on the ball, he’d split our trap, and then be able to throw to the weak side and be wide open.”

A Britt 3 drew Newman within 54-45 with 1:26 left, but that’s as close as it got for the rest of the game.

Pecatonica stretched its lead to 61-50 at the end of the third quarter.

Williams and Korbin Gann scored back-to-back fast-break layups for a 69-54 lead with 5:13 to go, and a Gann reverse layup made it a 75-57 game at the 3:40 mark.

Simpson led the Comets with 24 points, nine steals and seven rebounds, while Britt chipped in 12 points, five assists and three steals, and Batten added 10 points, with nine coming on 3-pointers.

Peterson matched Simpson’s 24 points to lead Pec, hitting a game-high six 3-pointers. Hoffman scored 14 points, Gann scored 13 points, and Briaun Green added 12 points; Green also pulled down nine rebounds and nabbed two steals.