Junior forward Jackson Accuardi scored 18 points to pace four players in double figures as DeForest snuck past the visiting Fort Atkinson boys basketball team 61-58 in Badger Large play on Friday.
The Blackhawks (8-12, 4-7 in conference) trailed 17-2 to start the game but never wavered, eventually pulling ahead 30-25 at halftime.
The game went back and forth for much of the second half with Accuardi connecting on a key 3-pointer to give the Norskies a 55-54 lead with two minutes left. After a Fort timeout, junior guard Owen Geiger took a shot in the lane, was contacted but no whistle was blown. DeForest hit a layup off a backdoor cut on the other end.
Fort junior forward Brennan Dempsey, who led all scorers with 19 points, split a pair of bonus free throws before the Norskies (10-11, 3-8) went 0-for-2 at the stripe but grabbed a pivotal offensive rebound. DeForest then made two free throws to start salting it away. Dempsey buried a 3 with three seconds left that got the Blackhawks within 60-58 but the Norskies went 1-for-2 at the line with 1.5 left for the final margin.
Geiger finished with 13 points, junior guard Lakyn Hintz added 12 and junior forward Jaren Strasburg chipped in nine for the Blackhawks, who have lost five consecutive.
"We got a lot of good minutes out of a lot of different kids," Fort boys basketball coach Mike Hintz said. "Great minutes were played by Jaren, Isaac Lavdas, who set the tone by getting physical with Accuardi, Braeden Hoth and Graeson Geiger. Jack Kammer did his normal thing making hustle plays.
"Their pressure got into us pretty good and too many turnovers at the top led to instant baskets. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and early on we missed too many point-blank bunnies. In the second half, they attacked our small ball lineup with a couple of and-1s and Anthony Glenn got downhill a few times. Lincoln Hottman, who had been scoring in the high 20s and 30s recently, was limited to 10 tonight by Owen."
Fort travels to face conference-leading Waunakee on Tuesday.
DEFOREST 61, FORT ATKINSON 58
Fort Atkinson 30 28 -- 58
DeForest 25 36 -- 61
Fort Atkinson (fg ftm-fta pts) -- O. Geiger 6 1-2 13, Strasburg 3 0-0 9, Dempsey 7 2-4 19, Hintz 5 0-0 12, G. Geiger 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 3-6 58.
DeForest (fg ftm-fta pts) -- Hottmann 4 2-4 10, Accuardi 6 4-5 18, Glenn 5 2-2 12, Wood 4 2-2 11, Grundahl 2 0-1 4, Engeseth 2 0-1 4, Brandl 1 0-1 2. Totals 24 10-16 61.
3-point goals -- FA (Dempsey 3, Strasburg 3, Hintz 2, G. Geiger 1) 9; D (Accuardi 2, Wood 1) 3.
Total fouls -- FA 15, D 8.
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