Gudenkauf blazin' in Blazers win over Maquoketa Valley (VIDEO)

Guten tag, Gudenkauf. Nice game.

In a place where you're not supposed to shoot well at first sight, Travis Gudenkauf did Saturday afternoon. The Dyersville Beckman sophomore showed off a sweet-looking lefty jumper that produced a lot of swishes and a game-high 17 points as his team topped Maquoketa Valley, 51-46, in the opening game of Rivalry Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

"We got here about an hour early, so we got some shooting-around time," said Gudenkauf. "By the time the game started, I was pretty used to the (background)."

Yeah, apparently. Gudenkauf made his first seven shots, including a pair of corner 3s.

His last shot was the only one he missed.

"He's been struggling, but we've told him to keep shooting," said Beckman Coach Dan Correy. "He's a good shooter. The last couple games, he's kind of had some opportunities where he could shoot the ball, but didn't. We just told him 'If you're open, you've got to shoot the thing.' He was on tonight."

Beckman (5-2) rallied from a 25-21 halftime deficit to win its first game against Class 2A competition. The Blazers had played all 3As as a member of the Wamac Conference.

Considering the proximity of these schools, you'd guess you might see them against each other again in the postseason. Pairings and seedings aren't revealed until late January, but this win could be a nice boon to Beckman's district seed.

"Definitely our defense was the difference," Correy said. "I told the kids this was one of the best third quarters I've seen in Beckman history since I've been here."

Beckman rallied to take a 39-33 edge after three quarters and extended its lead to double figures in the fourth before holding on. The Blazers had all of one fourth-quarter field goal and made just 12 of 23 free throws overall.

But good full-court pressure defense seemed to take Maquoketa Valley (4-2) out of any offensive rhythm, particularly in the second half. Derek Dzaboff led the Wildcats with 11 points and Colt Feltes added 10. Sam Willenbring added 10 points and seven rebounds for Beckman.

Perhaps MV could have used student Alex O'Connell. The senior from Delhi was pulled out of the crowd for a shooting promotion at halftime, winning two airplane tickets to Las Vegas by making a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and halfcourt shot in 45 seconds. O'Connell made his first three shots, then hit the half-courter on his third try.

In other Rivalry Saturday games, HLV (4-3) rallied from four down after three quarters to beat BGM (3-3), 47-40. The Bears were held to six points in the fourth.

Clay Miller scored 18 points as one of four double-figure scorers who helped Clear Creek-Amana beat Williamsburg, 57-40. Hunter Stokes added 14 points, Nile Eckerman 12 and Zach Manders 10 for CC-A (3-4).

Mick Donahue had nine points to lead Williamsburg (2-4).

Here are game boxscores:

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

DYERSVILLE BECKMAN (51): Sam Willenbring 3-7 4-7 10, Todd Manternach 3-10 3-4 9, Robbie Anstoetter 1-3 1-5 3, Nate Steger 2-3 2-2 6, Travis Gudenkauf 7-8 1-2 17, Patrick Meade 1-3 0-0 2, Elliot Salter 1-7 1-3 2, Elliot Salter 1-7 1-3 4, Sam Lehmann 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Brehm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 12-23 51.

MAQUOKETA VALLEY (46): Joel Gourley 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Whitman 2-6 2-2 6, Derek Dzaboff 5-12 0-0 11, Jared Kracke 0-1 2-5 2, Colt Feltes 3-10 3-6 10, Jordan Mensen 2-5 0-0 5, Cody Schindler 2-3 0-1 4, Emerson Ries 2-4 4-4 8. Totals 16-41 11-18 46.

Halftime - Maquoketa Valley 25, Dyersville Beckman 21. 3-point goals - Dyersville Beckman 3-10 (Manternach 0-3, Gudenkauf 2-2, Salter 1-5), Maquoketa Valley 3-11 (Whitman 0-2, Dzaboff 1-3, Feltes 1-3, Mensen 1-3). Rebounds - Dyersville Beckman 28 (Manternach 8), Maquoketa Valley 29 (Feltes 9). Total fouls - Dyersville Beckman 15, Maquoketa Valley 20. Fouled out - None.

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

WILLIAMSBURG (40): Mick Donahue 4-15 1-2 9, Jackson Petz 4-13 0-0 8, Tyler Greiner 0-0 0-0 0, Louis Cain 0-2 0-0 0, Eric Pope 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Simmons 3-6 0-0 6, Adam Aljets 1-1 3-4 5, Kelly O'Rourke 1-5 2-5 4, Jordan McMenomy 2-2 0-0 4, Jordan Detwiler 2-3 0-2 4, Jacob Donahue 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 6-13 40.

CLEAR CREEK-AMANA (57): Clay Miller 8-15 1-2 18, Hunter Stokes 6-12 2-4 14, Nile Eckermann 3-6 4-6 12, Zach Manders 3-3 4-6 10, Nash Stopko 0-4 3-4 3, Dillon Villhauer 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Volk 0-0 0-0 0, Evan Hergert 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Schulte 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 14-22 67.

Halftime - Clear Creek-Amana 29, Williamsburg 14.

3-point goals - Williamsburg 0-9 (Donahue 0-3, Petz 0-4, O'Rourke 0-2), Clear Creek-Amana 3-7 (Miller 1-3, Eckermann 2-3, Villhauer 0-1).

Rebounds - Williamsburg 25 (Donahue 6), Clear Creeek-Amana 32 (Stopko 10).

Total fouls - Williamsburg 15, Clear Creek-Amana 10.

Fouled out - None.