By David Paulsen
Correspondent
The Whitewater High School boys basketball team got its third win of the season Tuesday, defeating Parkview on the road 56-52.
No further details of the game were available at deadline.
The win improves the Whippets overall record to 3-15, and their Rock Valley Conference record to 3-9. Parkview is also 3-9 in the RVC.
Vs. Big Foot
The Whippet boys made a great comeback Jan. 24 at home against Big Foot, but could not hold onto the lead in a 58-56 RVC crossover game loss.
Big Foot led 16-10 after one quarter and 33-19 at the half, but Whitewater roared back in the second half.
Head coach Dan Gnatzig said a defensive press in the second half was effective.
“We tried to do it in the first half, but didn’t have the same energy,” Gnatzig said. “We came out in the second half a different team.”
The Whippets cut the Big Foot lead to 44-41 after three quarters and took the lead in the fourth quarter. With about 1-1/2 minutes to play, Whitewater led 52-48, but then poor shooting at the free-throw line turned the tide.
“It came down to we missed five free throws in the fourth quarter, which decided it,” noted Gnatzig.
Big Foot connected on seven of nine free throws in the fourth quarter, while the Whippets were just four of nine.
“We had the shots at the right time to get a bigger lead, but just didn’t close,” Gnatzig said.
Whitewater also had the ball at the close of the game with a chance to tie.
“We had a good shot from about 15 feet and didn’t make it,” Gnatzig added.
Big Foot built its second-quarter lead by knocking down five three-pointers in that quarter.
Rigo Navejas led the Whippet boys with 17 points, with point guard Paul Pelayo adding 13.
Schedule
Whitewater will host Jefferson in an RVC game on Friday, Feb. 1, at 7:15 p.m.
Next week, the boys will travel to Edgerton for another RVC contest on Thursday, Feb. 7.
