After Friday night’s win against Bureau Valley, the Boilers hit the road Saturday to take on Reed-Custer at the Sauk Valley Bank Shootout at Rock Falls High School. 

The Boilers had a narrow 18-15 lead after the first quarter, but went on to outscore the Comets 41-23 over the next three quarters of play to get the 59-38 win. 

“We had a quick turnaround from Friday night’s game and we had a bit of a slow start, defensively, and we lost their two best players in the first quarter,” said Coach Matt Clark. “Our goal is to keep teams under 10 points per quarter and we’ve had a difficult time being consistent in opening quarters.”

Braden Clark scored 14 first half points and Blaise Lewis hit three treys for nine points. Jacob Reardon led Reed-Custer with 10 points at the break and teammate Collin Moore added nine. 

The Comets came within eight points at 44-36 in the third quarter, but the Boilers closed out the game strong by outscoring Reed-Custer 15-2 in final eight minutes. 

Clark added eight more points in the second half and 11 Kewanee players scored in the game. The Boilers made 8 of 10 free throws in the 15-2 final quarter. 

“I thought our overall effort improved the rest of the game holding them to 23 points the final three quarters and 2 in the fourth,” said Clark. “We talk about how defense travels every night, shots may not always fall but our defensive effort has to be more consistent.”

Clark was the high-scorer with 22 points and Lewis added 11 in the win. Reardon topped the Comets with 19 points and Moore contributed 14 in vain. 

“I thought seniors, Brady, Blaise and Blake did a great job leading today with their effort at both ends helping us close the game out,” noted Clark. 

Kewanee improves to 11-5 on the season and Reed-Custer falls to 6-10. The Boilers will travel to Spring Valley Friday to take on the Hall Red Devils (7-9, 0-3) at 7 pm.