Raiders pull away in fourth quarter to win defensive slugfest against Saukees

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Pittsfield boys basketball coach Brad Tomhave and Quincy Notre Dame coach Kevin Meyer shared a common assessment of their respective team’s defensive effort in Friday night’s game at Voshall Gym.

Both were encouraged by the engagement.

Offensively, however, their critiques were polar opposites.

Meyer liked how the Raiders worked the ball from the paint to the perimeter and fended off the Saukees with an eight-point run in the fourth quarter. Tomhave was flabbergasted by Pittsfield’s inability to put the ball in the basket as QND pulled away for a 50-31 victory.

“It was understanding we didn’t have to take any chances,” said Meyer, whose team saw a double-digit lead whittled to eight twice in the final 10 minutes but kept the Saukees from getting any closer. “You don’t have to go play super, super fast because they’re putting pressure on you. Now you almost pump the brakes and slow it down.

“We talk about grinding the offense. We did that. We showed maturity with how we handled those possessions.”

No matter how hard the Saukees played defensively or how much havoc their pressure caused, they couldn’t turn defensive stops into points.

“We’re struggling right now, and it’s been the same old broken record the last four or five games,” Tomhave said. “We’re not shooting it well. We got it into some good spots and handled their pressure, but we missed several shots in the lane.

“It’s our offense that is the problem. The wheels are about to come off, and we have to find a way to tighten those things up.”

QND (9-6) has found a way to bring its offense together — go inside-out.

Never was that more evident than two minutes into the fourth quarter. The Raiders led 38-26 when the ball went from Noah Lunt on the right block to Aiden Klauser in the right corner to Aden Genenbacher in the left corner. Genenbacher buried the 3-pointer for a 15-point advantage that essentially killed the Saukees’ rally.

“That’s maturity,” Meyer said. “And that’s a great possession for us.”

The way it developed is how the Raiders foresee their offense continuing to run.

“Once we found our groove, there was no slowing us down,” said Genenbacher, who led QND with 14 points. “When we started finding rhythm on the outside, we started to succeed.”

Coming off a 2-2 performance at the State Farm Holiday Classic, the Raiders needed some good vibes with a gauntlet of tough games on tap, beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday with a matchup against Tolono Unity at the Christie Clinic Shootout at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

“With 2024 here, we’re going into the new year with the expectation we’re going to get stuff rolling,” Genenbacher said.

As tough as it was to score — Pittsfield managed just four points in the game’s first 10 minutes — the Saukees (12-5) never felt out of it. They trimmed a 15-point deficit to 10 by halftime and used full-court pressure to stay close throughout the third quarter.

“We showed some resolve in the second half,” Tomhave said.

It wasn’t enough as QND flexed some of its own muscle, too.

“In the third quarter, I thought Brad’s guys got tough, really tough,” Meyer said. “We had to find a way to match that. The later the game went, we got a little tougher. I’m pretty darn happy with that. To get a win in this place is pretty special.”