After playing less than its best in an early-February loss at Watertown-Mayer, the Litchfield basketball team felt it has something to prove on their home floor Friday night.
“I asked them, ‘What do you guys feel about our game at Watertown?’ and we were embarrassed,” Litchfield coach Matt Draeger said of a 42-31 loss on Feb. 2. “We didn’t show up. And this is their words. I said, well then, show us, you know, and play with that little chip on your shoulders, play with an arrogance, and play with a toughness, and you gotta play it for 36 minutes.
“That’s what we talked about all week is, you know, using that last game as motivation to just compete at a high level and play a tough, physical game, and you know, I thought we did that,” Draeger added.
Litchfield, 9-3 overall, improved to 7-3 and moved to third place in the Wright County West Conference with a 49-46 win over Watertown-Mayer.
The Dragons seemed in control most of the way, taking a four-point lead into halftime, then expanding that cushion in the second half — to as many as nine points when Alex Draeger hit a 3-pointer with 8:07 to play. But Watertown-Mayer would not go away, slowly chipping away at the lead until, with 1:07 to play, Albert Rundell converted a three-point play to tie things up at 46-46.
But on the very next trip down court, Litchfield senior Ben Alsleben knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Dragons what would be their winning margin. Though not a play designed for Alsleben, Draeger said he was pleased with the shot.
“Ben’s a competitive kid … and he’s been in big moments before. And I give the kid credit for wanting to take that shot,” Draeger said. “He’s a 35 percent 3-point shooter for most of the year, and I have no trouble on a good three. It’s the bad threes that we have trouble with. That one was wide open; they were helping down. He caught it in rhythm and didn’t think twice about it. And that’s what you want kids to be able to do this time of the year.”
Alsleben finished with eight points. Senior guard Tyson Michels and junior forward Beau Weseloh each had 14 points to lead the offensive charge. Avery Liestman, who leads the team with an average of 16 points per game, was limited to just eight against Watertown-Mayer, but he did have a team-high five assists.
“I thought we were in control of the game, we just missed free throws down the stretch,” Draeger said. “I don’t think we converted one of our one-and-one. You know, we make one of them and it’s a four-point lead, or a 5-point or 6-point lead down the stretch, and it’s just a different deal. But that’s basketball, you know. We made enough plays to hold on.”
Litchfield started a busy stretch of games Tuesday when it traveled to Rockford. The Dragons play a home game Friday against New London-Spicer, then travel on Saturday to Minnewaska Area, followed by a home game Monday against Eden Valley-Watkins.
