On Monday, Linn traveled to Class 4 Sullivan and returned with a 67-64 win.

“Monday’s game was big,” said Coach John Viehland. “Having almost everybody back with Kahne Brandt and Cody Heckman healthy is huge. The only person I’m missing right now is Craig Laughlin, but the crew we have right now is starting to gel. They believe in each other; they believe in the system; they believe in the program; and they believe in loving each other and the game, and it showed as they worked together.”

Gus Peters hit a trey and scored 21 points to lead the offense, and Heckman scored 16.

Tony Peters, who put in four, was the leader in the middle of the lane, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. “He had his best game of the year,” said Viehland. “You can’t really tell all the time but he probably has five blocks, five assist, five rebounds, six points … I mean, we’re talking almost like half of a quadruple-double he was our feeding man. We went through him to ride him, and we actually came out above.”

Despite a slow first half, the Wildcats came alive in the second half as Kahne (trey, 6) and Aaron Starke (6) stepped up as well. “We worked and played well as a team, both obviously and defensively,” Viehland said.

By the end of the third, the Cats led 48-33. Linn led by 16 at one point but Sullivan made a run hitting four threes in the second half to pull within a double digits. “Not being in those positions a lot this year, we’re learning as we go, and we overcame two close back-to-back games. We pulled off a win leading into one the biggest, if not the biggest game of the year versus our rival Fatima on Friday.”

Also scoring were Nash Tyree (6), Dawson Sprenger (5), and Colton Leivian (4).

The victory tied last year‘s win total of three with 13+ games remaining this season. “We have a chance to break that and set new personal and team goals based off that,” said Viehland.