Momence was active and effective on defense in the first half of Friday’s 50-31 River Valley Conference win against Grant Park, holding the host Dragons to just six points in the first two quarters.

But despite forcing plenty of stops and turnovers, scoring was a bit hard to come by for Momence, which scored just 22 points in the first half.

Still well in control of the game with a 16-point halftime lead, Momence (11-7, 5-3 RVC) stepped on the gas to open the third quarter, growing that 16-point lead to 31 before Grant Park (1-15, 1-7) scored a point in the period.

After the Dragons stopped the run and made it a 37-8 game, Momence quickly added six more points, going up by 35 and cruising the rest of the way for the win.

Senior D’Angelo Hundley scored nine points in Momence’s third-quarter run before sitting the rest of the night with a game-high 19 points.

“I think we just upped our energy,” he said. “We got more turnovers, led to more fast breaks and open layups. We just kept energy up through the whole game, kept pressure.”

The ability to get out in transition off of turnovers was key to Momence’s increased offensive output, especially on a night where shots were not falling from outside.

Momence made just two of its 3-point attempts in the game, and head coach Kevin Ecker said the team’s defensive output is something he expects to be key over the rest of the season.

“We really want to be able to dictate the game based off our defense,” he said. “Like tonight the shots weren’t falling, so what can we do to still be successful? Offensively, we got a lot of good shots that we’ve been practicing and working on.

“As the shots fall, we’re going to build confidence and hopefully go into (the RVC Tournament and regional) with a lot of success.”

Erick Castillo added 12 points while Aiden Jones had six and Anthony Jones had five.

The win was the third in the last four games for Momence and the 151st in the 12-plus season head coaching career of Ecker, who with Tuesday’s win over Illinois Lutheran became the second coach to reach 150 wins in the program’s nearly 90-year history.

He came into the season third in school history in wins behind his predecessor Ben Sikma (147 wins) and five-time regional champ Tom Cirks (249 wins).

“The kids gave me a signed basketball, and it’s something that I do treasure,” Ecker said. “I honestly had no idea it was 150. My daughter came up to me and asked about it a couple days beforehand. To be the second in school history, with of course coach Cirks being the first, is something I really cherish.”

Castillo is in his fourth season as a starter under Ecker. He said being able to celebrate the milestone earlier in the week was a fun way to pay tribute to his coach.

“He’s been a part of this program for a long time, and he’s done a lot for this program,” Castillo said. “I think giving back to him was a really good thing for this program.”

Grant Park found its footing a bit on offense over the final quarter and a half on Friday, bridging the third and fourth quarters with an 11-2 run and scoring 19 more points in the second half than in the first.

Freshman Shawn Kveck scored a team-high 12 points, all of which came in the second half, while senior Julian Barnas added six on a pair of 3-pointers and freshman Max Paez chipped in four points.

The Dragons are a young and relatively inexperienced team that has had to replace its top six scorers from a season ago, and head coach Joe Smuskiewicz said he has been happy with the progress overall despite Friday’s slow start.

“Unfortunately we dug ourselves a hole in the first half,” he said. “We had some turnovers, didn’t move the ball as well, but we kept fighting throughout the game.

“...I’m proud that we fought through. We’re an inexperienced team, so we’re looking to just keep getting a little bit better each and every day.”