Okaw Valley defeats Heritage in first-round of Class 1A Regional play

By Fred Kroner

Three players scored in double figures on Saturday (Feb. 18) for Heritage, which suffered a first-round loss in the IHSA Class 1A boys’ basketball regionals with a 70-45 setback at Okaw Valley.

Drew Williams tallied a team-high 11 points. Close behind were Aaron Coffin and Julliyan Gray, each with 10 points. Timmy Wilson finished with eight points.

Williams and Wilson each nailed two three-point shots.

Okaw Valley sprinted into a 22-13 lead after one quarter and carried a 33-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.

On Thursday (Feb. 16), Rylan White scored 10 points for Heritage, which dropped a 66-39 decision to Arcola in the Hawks’ regular-season finale.

Wilson dropped in eight points, Coffin scored six points and Williams added five points.

Arcola jumped into a 16-6 lead after one quarter and enlarged the lead to 32-18 at halftime.

Heritage ends the year with an 8-23 overall record.

Williams led the Hawks in scoring in 15 games. White led in seven games, Gray in five, Wilson in three and Coffin in one.

Williams was the team’s top scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game. He had the team’s top scoring performances, with games of 33 and 31 points. Gray’s and Wilson’s high games were 21 points.

White and Wilson each knocked down 40 three-pointers to share the team lead in that category. Gray nailed 19 treys, Williams hit 15 and Coffin notched 14.

Most adept at getting to the free throw line was Williams, who sank 104 charity shots for the year. White was next with 35 free throws made.

The Heritage seniors were Joel Bear, Nathan Bensyl, Coffin, Gray, Williams and Wilson.