No. 4 New London rolls HTC boys, 79-45

PCC STAFF

NEW LONDON - Holy Trinity got 20 points from junior Quentin Schneider, but couldn't hold up high-octane New London Tuesday night in Southeast Iowa Superconference boys basketball action.

The Class 1A 4th-ranked Tigers got 24 points from senior Keontae Luckett, including 14 in the second half as they raced to a 79-45 win, their 14th straight of the year against no losses.

Holy Trinity, coming off an emotional win over Fort Madison in overtime on Monday, didn't get on the board until the four-minute mark of the first quarter, which set the Crusaders back 18-8 at the end of the period.

The Tiger's Darius Whaley went a little crazy in the second quarter putting up 11 of New London's 18 points as the Tigers stretched the lead at the half to 39-22.

The Crusaders got their best effort in the third period where they put up 14 points to the Tigers 17, but couldn't sustain enough offense to mount a comeback, as New London held Holy Trinity to just nine fourth quarter points.

Junior Matt Hellige had eight points on the night and Adam Rauenbuehler finished with four points. Brant Holtkamp, Reed Fehseke, Jason Thurman and Kyle Bredemeyer all had three points. Vasin Thurman added one for HTC.

The Crusaders snared 25 rebounds on the night, but only four were on the offensive side of the floor. Schneider led the Crusaders in rebounding with nine, all defensive grabs, and Hellige had eight on the night.

The Crusaders have another tough matchup on Friday when Notre Dame comes calling. The Nikes are currently ranked 11th by the Associated Press in Class 1A. The game is the Crusaders' Homecoming and coronations will be held at 5:45 with the girls varsity tipping off at 6 p.m. and the boys game to follow.