Crusaders falter in fourth quarter to Danville

Need more points

We were tough and we played well. We boxed out and did things we talked about in practice around being tougher, but at the end of the day, you gotta score some points.”

John Hellige, HTC Head Coach

FORT MADISON - HTC boys' coach John Hellige is tired of losing games.

But he said Tuesday night that it's going to be tough to win games in a pretty tough SEI Superconference when you only score 39 points.

"You're just not going to win many games in this league when you only score 39 points," Hellige said after his Crusaders dropped a 48-39 loss to Danville Tuesday night.

"We were tough and we played well. We boxed out and did things we talked about in practice around being tougher, but at the end of the day, you gotta score some points."

Hellige said again the team looked tentative early on. He said Danville does a good job scouting and breaking down teams off film.

"They knew everything we were gonna run. If we execute, set good screens and cut off 'em, that stuff's still gonna work, but we just weren't sharp enough offensively to get it done tonight."

The Crusaders only managed four points in the first quarter, three on a 3-point play converted by senior Nick Fullenkamp. But while HTC struggled with Danville's perimeter defense and height advantage, the Bears were stretching to a 16-4 first quarter lead.

But the Crusaders turned things around a bit in the second quarter, outscoring Danville 14-10 behind a couple 3-balls from Luke Hellige, who finished tied with Conner Gehling for a team-high with 13 each on the night.

They would cut into that by another point in the third quarter, outpacing the Bears 11-10.

Danville scored six unanswered to open the fourth period to go up by 11 42-31. Gehling scored inside with 3:54 left in the game to cut the lead to nine.  HTC would get a stop on the next possession and then Gehling would again score sliding in from the right side of the lane.

After trading buckets  for a 44-37 lead, HTC had to go into foul mode with 2:38 left in the game. After two quick fouls to reset the game, Fullenkamp was whistled for a rare intentional foul, much to the chagrin of Coach Hellige and the Crusader fans.

Danville's Titus Svoboda converted both the free throws on the technical for the intentional foul to make it a nine-point game that the Crusaders wouldn't be able to cut into.

Caiden Gourley led the Bears with 13 points. Danville improves to 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while the Crusaders fall to 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

HTC travels to West Burlington on Friday before hosting Fort Madison for the Crusaders' annual cake auction night.