HTC boys get win at Central Lee

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

DONNELLSON - The Holy Trinity boys are undefeated in day games this year.

The Crusaders played a make-up game Saturday morning at Central and held on for a 55-53 win in Southeast Iowa Superconference boys basketball action.

The 5-14 Crusaders got 12 points from junior guard Reed Fehseke and 10 points from senior Adam Rauenbuehler, who also hit a couple of key free throws down the stretch to help seal the win.

The game had at least six lead changes and five ties with Holy Trinity holding the lead at the end of each quarter.

Head Coach John Hellige got balanced scoring from six of his players. Brant Holtkamp, Quentin Schneider, and Blake Crabtree all had eight points, while Matt Hellige chipped in with nine to go with Fehseke and Rauenbuehler's double digit nights.

HTC opened up a 7-2 lead in the early going, but Central Lee battled back to a 13-13 tie. The Crusaders would outscore the Hawks 8-4 through the rest of the first for a 21-17 lead.

The Crusaders opened up an 8-point lead in the second half keyed by a 3-ball from Crabtree, but Central Lee would go on a 8-0 run to end the half down by just 1 at 30-29.

HTC would outscore Central Lee 14-8 in the third and had a seven-point lead with a minute to go, but again Central would throw up big points in the final minute to close the gap to 44-40.

The Hawks had a one-point lead with two minutes remaining in the game at 48-47, but Holy Trinity would score back-to-back buckets unanswered for a 51-48 lead and Central Lee wouldn't be able to catch up to the Crusaders.

"It was very much a team effort," Hellige said. "I loved the balanced scoring and the way we finished the game. We got a huge steal and two free throws from Adam when we were down by one with 1:30 left to play."

TJ Stutes led the Hawks with 12 points and Tyler Hopp had 10.

The Crusaders play their final regular season game on Monday, weather permitting, in a junior varsity/varsity boys doubleheader at home beginning at 6:30.

District play starts at 7 p.m. at Pekin on Thursday.