Okaw Valley smacked the Villa Grove Blue Devils upside the head early on Saturday night with a 19-7 run, then rode that cushion for another win, 67-52.

Villa Grove tried to counter punch in the second period with a 20-point quarter, but the Timberwolves matched it and still held a 12-point lead at the break, 29-27. The Pack attacked again in the third period, wilding out of the locker room for an 18-11 run and pushing their lead to almost 20 points heading into the final 8:00. In crunch time, the Devils tried to deal a comeback, but could only trim the deficit to 15 points before the final bell.

Senior leader Kyle Pierce once again led the scoring for Okaw. He scored 18 points, including knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Pierce scored 15 of his 18 in the first half. He added a trey in the third period, during a sortie of three by Okaw in the 18-11 run.

Three other T’Wolves broke into double figures with balance. Bryce Root led the trio with a double-double, 12 points and an impressive 17 rebounds. Ryan Brandenburg had eleven points, including one trey, while Jesse Newton had eleven points, including a trey hat trick and 2-of-2 at the stripe. Alex Corrington was near double figures with eight points (2 treys).

Okaw Valley dialed-in eight times from the long distance. Pierce rang the 3-bell once early and Newton twice. Brandenburg sank a trey in the second. Okaw launched a sortie of long range missiles in the third. Corrington buried two, Newton one, and Pierce one.

Okaw Valley hosts Lovington on Tuesday and travels to Arcola for a rematch of the LOVC title game on Friday.

Okaw Valley 67, Villa Grove 52

Okaw 19-20-18-10—67

VG 7-20-11-14—52

Okaw stats: Pierce 18 (6-2s, 2-3 pt FGs, 0/2 FTs), Root 12 (5 FGs, 2/8 FTs), Brandenburg 11 (4-2s, 1-3 pt FGs), Newton 11 (3-3 pt FGs, 2/2 FTs), Corrington 8 (1-2, 2-3 pt FGs), Herzog 5 (2 FGs, 1/2 FTs), Bly 2 (FG). Team FGs 27 (8-2 pt: Newton 3, Pierce 2, Corrington 2, Brandenburg). Team FTs 5-of-14.

VG stats: Bretz 19 (5-2s, 2-3 pt FGs, 3/4 FTs), Shrum 12 (5 FGs, 2/6 FTs), Pearce 8 (4 FGs, 0/1 FTs), Westray 6 (FG, 4/6 FTs), Douglas 6 (3 FGs), Hatcher 1 (1/2 FTs). Team FGs 20 (2-3 pt: Bretz). Team FTs 10-of-19.