Will injuries to Ross, Pettit affect surging Broncos?
By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
The timing couldn’t be any worse.
After putting together a five-game winning streak on the eve of the playoffs, the Union Grove boys basketball team suffered a pair of injuries to starters Jacob Ross and Dave Pettit last week.
Ross and Pettit’s statuses are questionable going into tonight’s WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Elkhorn.
Ross missed two games last week against Whitewater and Waterford with a back injury, and Pettit broke his nose in practice earlier this week.
Ross’ absence last week was noticeable as the Broncos struggled to get past the Whippets 61-58 Tuesday, Feb 21 before losing 64-58 to visiting Waterford in a regular season finale.
“We couldn’t finish the streak on a high note, losing to Waterford,” Union Grove coach Dave Pettit said. “With Jacob Ross out, we lose a double-digit average scorer and we struggle to score against Waterford and a bit against Whitewater.”
Riley Hale tried to make up for Ross’ absence with a team-high 28 points against the Wolverines, while Jack Pettit chipped in 13.
The Broncos, however, only managed 17 combined points from the rest of the team against the Wolverines’ 2-3 zone.
Waterford took full advantage of the Grove’s scoring woes, opening up a 45-32 lead with 14 minutes left in the second half.
Union Grove slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the game at 47 on three Hale free throws.
“Hale single-handedly kept us in the game in the second half,” Pettit said. “It was a great shooting night for him in that game.”
But the Wolverines answered back with a 10-2 run to lead 57-49 and remained on top the rest of the way.
Hale later drained one of his five three-pointers in the game to cut it to 59-55 with just under two minutes to play, but that was as close as the Grove would get.
The Wolverines then sank five free throws the rest of the way to seal the victory.
“They had 17 offensive rebounds, so there were plenty of second chances for them,” Pettit said. “They were just more physical than us.”
The Broncos fared much better down the stretch against Whitewater.
Senior Jake Hansen’s basket with 50 seconds left gave the Broncos a 59-58 lead. Union Grove then played strong defense the rest of the way and sealed the hard-fought victory with two Cole Beck free throws.
“Without Ross, Whitewater’s 1-3-1 zone gave us a bit of a problem,” Pettit said. “We were ultimately able to prevail, but it was a bit more of a struggle than we hoped it would be.”
The Whippet shooting struggled much of the first half as the Broncos opened up a 30-20 halftime lead. Hansen, Hale, and Pettit each had late buckets to help turn a five-point lead to 10 at the end of the half.
Hale led the way for Union Grove with 16 points, while Hansen had 11, and Pettit added 10.
Whitewater, however, got its inside game jump-started in the second half and eventually drew even 45-45 with just under seven minutes left.
From there, both teams combined for five lead changes or ties down the stretch, before Union Grove finally got the upper hand with Hansen’s basket.
“Whitewater didn’t hit a three-pointer in the first half, and then hit six in the second half,” Pettit said. “Their strength is their size, but once they started hitting three-pointers it opened up things in the middle for them and they got back into the game and had their chances late.”
The Broncos will certainly need another strong effort tonight as they try to beat Elkhorn for a third time this season. Getting players back from injury won’t hurt either, but any decision on Ross and Pettit may come down to game time.
If Ross and Pettit do not play, the Broncos will be without three starters from the beginning of the season. Union Grove had previously lost Matt Nelson to a season-ending injury in December.
“We beat Elkhorn twice, but it’s never easy beating a team three times in a season,” Pettit said. “Hopefully we can get healthy in time and go out and have a good game.”
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