EDGERTON — The race for the Rock Valley Conference's Rock Division championship continues.
With a chance to clinch the outright league championship Monday night, the home Crimson Tide faltered in the opening minutes, spotting Beloit Turner the game's first 14 points — just like they did in the first matchup between the teams — as the Trojans went on to win 64-58.
"Our guys get up for Edgerton," Turner coach Ken Watkins said. "It's a great rivalry. There's a lot of respect on both sides."
The result means neither team was able to clinch a share of the conference title and that the champion — or champions — will be determined by the last round of conference games Thursday.
Turner (17-6 overall, 12-2 Rock Valley Rock) will be hosting Big Foot, while Edgerton (17-6, 12-2) will play Clinton at home. Both of those games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Trojans forward Tyshawn Teague-Johnson scored 18 points and grabbed at least 10 rebounds for a double-double and threw down a two-handed transition dunk for Turner's last field goal of the night that made it 56-44 before the Trojans began marching to the free-throw line at the end.
Zay Howard scored 15, while Elijah Terrell and A.J. Dotson both chipped in nine points.
Dotson and Howard played key parts in Turner's game-opening run. The former made a pair of 3-pointers, including one off a slick behind-the-back pass from Howard that made it 12-0. Before that, Howard stole the ball from Edgerton players on consecutive possessions and converted fast-break layups to make it 8-0 and 10-0.
"I thought our energy was good," Watkins said. "We got up the floor quickly. Our defense was really good. We got some stops and got some rebounds and were able to run a little bit."
Crimson Tide coach Daryl Fox also noticed the energy difference between the two teams to start the game.
"We're still in the warmup, and they're playing full-court basketball," he said.
Turner's defense also made things difficult for Edgerton over the course of the game, using its lengthy frontcourt players to disrupt the Tide on the perimeter.
"At the beginning, we did not attack that — we went away from it instead of attacking that, and that's partly why we got down so much," Fox said. "Everything we were doing was lateral. When we figured that out, that's when we got back in the game."
The Crimson Tide closed to within 27-22 at halftime with the help of successful three-point plays from Olin Zellmer and Fred Geiger-Kittel, then drew within four at 32-28 early in the second half with a Leyton McKillips baseline drive.
Howard missed a 3-pointer on Turner's next possession, but Teague-Johnson grabbed the board and put it back up and in to start a 6-0 Turner run that restored its 10-point edge.
Jack Fox ended the run with a bucket, but the Trojans started a new run with a critical sequence.
Terrell scored down low to make it and drew a foul for a three-point play opportunity. He missed the free throw, but the carom went out of bounds off an Edgerton player. Terrell scored again to turn a failed three-point play into a four-point possession that put the Trojans up 42-30.
Teague-Johnson continued the run with a baby hook, a 3-pointer from the left wing and a free throw. Turner's 10 straight points game them a 48-30 lead.
But the Tide refused to go away and reeled in the Trojans once again. Zellmer started to heat up, scoring 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.
"You're not going to keep them from scoring very long," Watkins said of Edgerton. "They're going to find ways to score no matter how hard you play defensively."
Edgerton got their deficit back down to single digits on a Preston Schaffner jumper in the paint, and started intentionally fouling the Trojans after pulling to within 57-50.
Terrell made a pair of free throws to put Turner back up nine before Zellmer was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the next Edgerton possession. He made all three of his free throws then drilled a deep 3 from the left wing after empty possessions for each team to make it 59-56.
"We were on our heels a little bit and turned the ball over," Watkins said. "You don't have as much room for error against them" when holding a lead.
But Turner was able to hold on, going 5 of 6 from the free-throw line, four of which came after Jack Fox missed a tough reverse layup attempt that would've made the score 60-58 had it gone in.
Regardless of how the conference championship hunt shakes out, the rivals could play one more game against each other this season thanks to the WIAA's postseason seeding formula.
Turner got a No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Mayville at 7 p.m. next Tuesday. The winner of that game will play at No. 4 seed Edgerton on March 1.
"This one we'll put away from tonight and focus solely on Clinton for Thursday, and then we'll revisit Turner again for next Friday," Fox said.
BELOIT TURNER 64, EDGERTON 58
Turner;27;37;—;64
Edgerton;22;36;—;58
Beloit Turner (fg ftm-fta pts) — Howard 4 7-9 15, Terrell 2 5-7 9, Teague-Johnson 6 5-8 18, Amosa 3 0-0 6, Dotson 3 0-2 9, Erickson 0 2-2 2, Njoo 2 0-0 5. Totals 18 19-28 64.
Edgerton (fg ftm-fta pts) — V. Fox 1 0-0 3, Zellmer 9 4-5 23, Schaffner 3 0-1 7, Langer 2 0-0 4, McKillips 5 0-0 12, J. Fox 2 2-2 6, Geiger Kittel 1 1-1 3. Totals 23 7-9 58.
3-point goals — BT 4 (Dotson 3, Teague-Johnson), E 5 (McKillips 2, V. Fox, Zellmer, Schaffner). Total fouls — BT 11, E 15. Fouled out — None.
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