Skyhawks soar: SVCC cruises in Sauk Valley Classic opener

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Sauk Valley’s Dwan Horton drives past St. Ambrose’s Marcus Welding (51) on his way to the basket Friday night during the 18th annual Sauk Valley Classic. The Skyhawks won their season-opener 89-64. (Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@svnmail.com)

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DIXON – The Sauk Valley Community College Skyhawks soared past St. Ambrose’s junior varsity team in its men’s basketball opener Friday night.

SVCC jumped out to a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the action and cruised to an 89-64 victory.

Six players scored at least eight points, and all 18 Skyhawks got in on the action. Heath Hoffman led the way for Sauk Valley, pouring in 16 points.

Seven-footer Zach House contributed 13 points for SVCC, which also got double figures from Dustin Fritsch, who had 11, and Niko Rivera, who scored 10.

The Skyhawks took immediate control, bolting to a 15-4 advantage with 15:02 left in the first half. The margin ballooned to 17 four times before St. Ambrose fought back within five at 36-31 with 5:54 remaining in the half.

Sauk answered in a big way, using a 21-5 tear to end the half to build a 57-36 lead heading to the break.

“I thought we had good intensity in the first half, and we finished the first half strong,” SVCC coach Russ Damhoff said. “We built a nice lead.”

Less than four minutes into the second half, the Skyhawks stretched their lead to 30 points at 66-36.

Sauk’s largest lead was 31 on a pair of occasions.

Dwan Horton and Jamison Wiersema pitched in with eight points apiece for the Skyhawks.

“The second half was more helter-skelter,” Damhoff said. “We played a lot of people. We controlled the game. I saw some good things.

“I thought we played real aggressive. We got in foul trouble in the first half. We didn’t make it easy on them. We played 10 guys a lot and got the other guys in later in the game. It’s good to get everybody involved.”

St. Ambrose’s David Dixon netted a game-high 19 points.

SAUK VALLEY 89, ST. AMBROSE JV 64

ST. AMBROSE (0-1), SAUK VALLEY (1-0)

Star of the game: Heath Hoffman, SVCC, 16 points

Key performers: Zach House, SVCC, 13 points; Dustin Fritsch, SVCC, 11 points; Niko Rivera, SVCC, 10 points

Up next: Milwaukee Tech at SVCC, 7:30 p.m. Saturday

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