Winnebago 59, Rockford Lutheran 52: Finally, after 22 fairly easy wins, Winnebago had a close game Saturday.

With the conference title on the line, the Indians were up for the test.

Winnebago had its closest game of the season as it hung on to beat Lutheran 59-52. The Indians improved to 23-0 and clinched the outright Big Northern West title.

“It was good experience for us, because we had never really had a close game,” Winnebago junior Brad Reinke said.

“It’s definitely been exciting. We knew we’d have a good year, but we’re exceeding all our expectations.”

Lutheran was within five points (55-50) of the third-ranked team in the state in the last minute. But with 12 seconds left, Reinke threw an inbounds pass to Mike Mann halfway down the court, Mann threw it up to Chas Cross, and Cross dunked it for the final basket of the game.
“There’s not a better way to end the game,” said Reinke, who had three blocks.

Winnebago (8-0 BNW) still has games against Oregon and Stillman Valley, but Saturday’s win gave second-place Lutheran (13-6, 5-3) its third loss to ensure Winnebago’s title with two weeks left in the regular season.

“To be 23-0, that’s something every coach dreams of, but you never think you’re going to be that good,” Winnebago coach Joe Murphy said. “You figure you’d have a shaky night against someone along the way.”

Winnebago only trailed once — 9-8 with 3:42 left in the first quarter on an Andrew Wieting basket. A jumper by Mann at the buzzer gave Winnebago a 20-16 lead after the first, and 3-pointers in the second from Jeff Sartorius and Russ Fiori gave Winnebago a 34-25 halftime lead.
Winnebago led by as much as 17 in the third quarter, but Lutheran made a comeback in the fourth behind seven points and six rebounds by Wieting. Winnebago also went 3 for 8 at the free-throw line in the last six minutes.

A jumper by Earl Grigsby pulled Lutheran within five (57-52) with 22 seconds left, but Lutheran’s momentum ended there with Cross’ dunk.

“We missed too many free throws,” said Fiori, who finished with a team-high 13 points. “It wouldn’t have been this close if we would have made more of our free throws.”

A.J. Thomas followed with 12 points, while Cross finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Wieting, who successfully guarded Cross for most of the game, finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Crusaders.

This is the first outright conference title for Winnebago since the 2005-06 season. The Indians tied for first with Genoa-Kingston last year.

With three regular-season games left, Winnebago is trying to enter regionals undefeated for the first time since it finished 26-1 in 1991-92.

- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com.