ECN rallies past SHS boys

Alex Heacox scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer, that helped the Eau Claire North Huskies rally past the Superior High School boys basketball team 45-44 Friday night in the ECN gym.

The Spartans led most of the game, including 27-16 at the half and 35-26 after three quarters, before being outscored 19-9 in the fourth quarter.

“I feel bad for our kids, they played their hearts out and basically nothing went right for us in the fourth quarter,” SHS coach Dave Kontny said. “I thought we panicked at times and became non-aggressive offensively trying not to lose instead of trying to win and that’s all my fault. Sure, some turnovers were untimely, but they were very big and got a couple of big second chance put-backs that hurt us down the stretch.

“Anthony Miloszewicz scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and Heacox’s game-winner bounced seven or eight feet straight up and then went in.”

Erick Tunell led Superior with 15 points, despite being in foul trouble and eventually fouling out on Heacox’s final shot. Jordan Hughes and Nick Melhum added eight points apiece and Derek Kontny had six.

“I thought our strong suit was our defense and even when the ball wasn’t going in, I felt our defensive play was our best offense,” Kontny said. “Getting into foul trouble with both Tunell and Bryan Sanders wasn’t good and losing Erick down the stretch was even worse, but we had the last shot to win and even followed that miss with a tip that didn’t fall.

“The only one I am disappointed in is me. Had I made the right adjustments late, I would have given my team a better chance to win. The good news is everything that went wrong is fixable, and they played as hard as they could all night and you can never fault that.”

Up next for the Spartans is the Wausau West Tournament. Superior will play Wausau East at 4:15 p.m. Thursday and Marshfield at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

E.C. NORTH 45, SUPERIOR 44

Superior — Ben Erickson 2, Jordan Hughes 8, Carter Anderson 2, Nick Melhum 8, Derek Kontny 6, Bryan Sanders 1, Erick Tunell 15, Anthony Valentine 2. Totals (FGM FT-FTA TP): 16 7-8 44.

North — Alex Heacox 8, Adam Faanes 5, Danny Kron 2, Josh Weix 14, Anthony Miloszewicz 14, Ben Lawrence 2. Totals: 17 8-14 45.

Superior 13-14-8-9—44

E.C. North 10-6-10-19—45

3-point goals: Superior 5 (Hughes 2, Kontny 2, Tunell), North 3 (Heacox 2, Faanes). Rebounds: Superior 27 ( Kontny 6), North 30 (Miloszewicz 9, Weix 8). Assists: Superior 9 (Melhum 3), North 8 (Heacox 4). Total fouls: Superior 16, North 11. Fouled out: Tunell (S). Turnovers: Superior 13, North 23. Records: Superior 5-1; North 5-4.

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