Pecatonica rallies to beat South Beloit, wins first summer league title

PECATONICA, Ill. (WIFR) - A long month of basketball comes to an end at the Pecatonica Summer League. The Indians came from behind Wednesday night to defeat South Beloit 56-53, capturing their own league championship for the first time.

“Just happy to have the kids back out on the court, I mean, winning’s always nice, obviously,” said Pecatonica head coach Bobby Heisler. “But for me, it’s just the enjoyment of getting back to a routine summer, especially after everything we’ve been through the past year and a half.”

It was a game of runs. Pecatonica jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before the Sobos rallied to go ahead 17-14. Both teams would go back and forth throughout the first half. South Beloit junior Blake Ayotte drilled a three as time expired to send the Sobos to halftime down 26-25.

South Beloit carried that momentum into the final 20 minutes. Ross Robertson led the team in scoring. The freshman completed a three-point play midway through the second half to give the Sobos a 42-33 lead.

Pecatonica called a timeout with 8:31 remaining, trailing 46-37. The Indians proceeded to outscore South Beloit 19-7 down the stretch thanks in part from a couple of big plays from Bo Seaton. The senior gave Pec the lead for good with a layup in transition to make it 53-50 with 2:37 to go.

“This is what we wanted to do. We came out here to win and we did every game. So, happy with our performances.”

Pecatonica finished 10-team summer league undefeated. The Indians and Sobos both participated in the Chicagoland Summer Showcase this past weekend. A lot of basketball in a short amount of time after losing out on so much last year.

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