Kurtenbach’s trey sends TV into overtime

By Becky Walz,

In the final regular season game of the year Thursday night, the Turkey Valley boys’ basketball team (13-6, 12-4 UIC) fell short, 59-57, in overtime to Clayton Ridge (11-9, 10-6 UIC) at home.

The Red and White got off to a fast start with a 14-9 first quarter lead, but the switch was flipped in the second period as the Eagles went into halftime with a 26-22 advantage. Both teams remained locked in during the second half as a back-and-forth contest ensued as the game came down to the wire. Down three points with 9.4 seconds, the Trojans fouled CR to put the Eagles at the charity stripe for a 1-and-1. When the front end of the free throw was missed, TV drove the ball down the length of the floor and watched as Garrett Kurtenbach threw up a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, 47-47.

In overtime, TV had a 3-point lead under a minute. As Trojans were looking for layups as they were also expecting the Eagles to jump trap TV, leaving a wide-open guy under the basket, however, the opportunity was missed. The Red and White was called for a foul which put the Eagles at the line for two. TV followed it up by turning the ball over and CR got a layup to go up by one. In the end, the Eagles finished the game with a pair of free throws to clinch the win.

“This one stings because the kids played their hearts out and we had the game right in our hands and let it slip away. We have been talking over the past few weeks about the importance of not only playing hard but smart and our youth showed late in this game,” said Coach Chris Sullivan. “Overall, we shot way too many threes and didn’t attack the rim like we wanted to, but I was very pleased with our defensive intensity.”

G. Kurtenbach slashed the net with 26 points and came away with five rebounds. Kalvin Langreck was also in double digits with 10 points to go with six boards and six assists. Active under the basket for seven rebounds was Calvin Bodensteiner to lead the Trojans.


Road to state

Turkey Valley’s quest for a state bid began Monday, Feb. 15, at home versus Kee High in the Class 1A District 6 quarterfinals. The outcome and statistics were unavailable at press time and can be found online and in the Feb. 18 Decorah Public Opinion. A win for the Trojans would advance them into the semifinal versus either Ed-Co or MFL MarMac in Edgewood Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m.

 

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