BRODHEAD
The East Troy boys basketball team is back in a familiar spot: sitting atop the Rock Valley Conference standings.
Tuesday night at Brodhead, the Trojans opened a 14-point halftime lead and held on for a 59-52 victory.
The win vaulted East Troy into a first-place tie with Brodhead at 9-2 in the conference.
Rock Valley scoring-leader Chase Cummings had 25 points to lead East Troy and Colin Terpstra added 16 as the Trojans ran their winning streak to six and avenged an earlier 47-46 loss to the Cardinals.
Brodhead trailed 20-14 with 6:30 left in the first half before an 8-0 East Troy run pushed the lead to 14. The Cardinals drew no closer than four after that.
鈥淚 think all those points came on transition,鈥 Brodhead coach Tommy Meier said of the 8-0 run. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 because we failed to get back on defense.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to come back from that type of deficit against a team like East Troy because possessions are so limited. They pick you up at halfcourt (defensively) and make it really tough for you offensively.鈥
Brodhead, which lost its second consecutive conference game after starting 9-0, whittled a double-digit deficit to four on three occasions in the second half but drew no closer.
East Troy made 17 free throws in the second half, including a 9-for-10 performance from Cummings.
Owen Leifker tallied 20 points to pace Brodhead.
Despite consecutive losses, Meier said the message afterward was a simple one.
鈥淓verything is still in front of us,鈥 Meier said. 鈥淲e came into the game in first place and we鈥檙e still in first place. We control our own destiny and if we win our next seven games, it doesn鈥檛 matter what anybody else does.鈥
EAST TROY 59, BRODHEAD 52
East Troy (59)鈥Terpstra 4-6-16; Cummings 7-10-25; Kurth 2-1-5; Lindow 2-1-6; Aleckson 2-0-4; Guyse 1-0-3. Totals: 18-18-59.
Brodhead (52)鈥Engen 3-3-10; Vondra 1-0-2; Leifker 4-12-20; Boegli 1-1-4; Malkow 7-0-16. Totals: 16-16-52.
Halftime鈥擡ast Troy 31, Brodhead 17. 3-point goals鈥擡ast Troy 5 (Terpstra 2, Guyse, Lindow, Cummings), Brodhead 4 (Malkow 2, Boegli, Engen). Free throws missed鈥East Troy 5, Brodhead 4. Total fouls鈥擡ast Troy 18, Brodhead 18. Fouled out鈥拟补濒办辞飞.