DIXON – The Dukes put together a second-half rally on Wednesday at Lancaster Gym, getting to within a point a couple of times late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, and had a few chances with the ball down three, but could not complete the comeback in a 79-69 loss to Rockford Lutheran.

Dixon (2-1) had trailed by as many as 16 in the first half before outscoring the Crusaders 20-14 in the third.

Midway through the third, Lutheran led 55-42 before Ryan Pitzer hit a basket in the paint and Cal Kyker added a 3-pointer. After a Jacob Gaither free throw, Pitzer again connected on a layup to cut Lutheran’s lead to 55-50.

After a Zach Derus basket again pushed the lead out to seven, Dixon responded with a 6-0 run on baskets from Riley Abell, Gaither and Kyker to make it 57-56.

“It was flat-out effort,” Dixon coach Chris Harmann said. “We played through a lot of contact all through, all night long, and they kept battling. That’s the one thing about these guys, we’re playing a few days a week, I think this will be four in six days by Friday, so I’m very happy with them in how they played.”

Lutheran responded with a putback from Garret Bertrand to lead by three after three quarters before Gaither opened the fourth quarter with a basket in the paint to again get the Dukes within one.

After a Lutheran basket by Derus made it a three-point game, Dixon had the ball with a chance to tie, but four attempts from 3-point range in the next three possessions were off the mark.

Lutheran responded with a pair of baskets in the paint, and soon had the lead back to seven, eventually pushing it back into double digits.

“I think the first thing to do is just stay calm,” Lutheran coach Tom Guse said. “We have a lot of seniors. We bring four starters back from last year who have been in these situations a lot of times. Just express to them that with the last eight minutes, you’ve just got to win one quarter, try to get good shots every time and eventually they’ll fall.”

Dixon was 7-for-22 shooting from 3-point range, with Abell and Kyker each connecting twice from long range.

“The ones we got were in rhythm and were good,” Harmann said. “Sometimes they’re going to fall, sometimes they’re not.”

Lutheran (3-0) was able to turn up the pressure on defense, forcing 29 Dixon turnovers.

That defense allowed the Crusaders to build their early lead. Dixon’s first eight possessions of the game resulted in seven turnovers and an 11-2 Crusader lead.

The Dukes were able to chip away with back-to-back 3-pointers from Kyker and Pitzer, the second off an assist from Gaither, to cut the deficit to 11-8. But Lutheran soon had its lead up to double digits, getting a putback from Mike Jones, a 3-pointer from Derus, and a layup from Walter Hill off an assist from Derus to make it 18-8.

Lutheran led by as many as 16 in the first quarter, thanks in large part to continually getting chances in transition following 10 Dixon first-quarter turnovers.

“So far this year we’ve come out with a lot of intensity,” Guse said. “Up to this point, Dixon was the first team to really challenge us, and they came out and hit some shots and got us out of pressing. We had to hunker down half-court and just try to stay in front a little better, because our aggressiveness was killing us at times. They were getting wide-open 3s. We were a little undisciplined in our traps.”

Dixon got within 12 at the end of the first quarter after Logan Etheridge hit a putback and then, after Kyker took a charge on the other end, hit a layup to make it 30-18.

The Dukes continued to chip away in the second quarter. Riley Abell hit a basket in the paint and Gaither found Etheridge in the corner for a 3-pointer to make it 30-23.

Lutheran put together an 8-2 run midway through the second, getting a pair of baskets from Logan Villafuerte and two from Tyler Penney to make it 40-28.

Dixon again cut it to single digits when Pitzer fed Abell for a 3-pointer, but Hill responded with a three-point play to make it 43-31.

Dixon once again got within 10 late in the half when Pitzer again fed Abell for a 3-pointer, making it 45-36 Lutheran at the break.

Gaither finished with 22 points, but was held in check until hitting a layup late in the first quarter. Of his eight first-half points, four came from the free-throw line. But even when he wasn’t scoring, Gaither contributed in other ways, blocking a shot in the paint, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out three assists and grabbing two steals.

“He played through a lot,” Harmann said. “He was all over the place, and he does that for us. He’s an extremely good player. They defensively planned against Jake at times.”

Pitzer finished with 15 points. Abell added 14.

Derus led the Crusaders with 21.

Boys basketball

Rockford Lutheran 79, Dixon 69

Star of the game: Jacob Gaither, Dixon, 22 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Key performers: Zach Derus, Lutheran, 21 points; Ryan Pitzer, Dixon, 15 points; Riley Abell, Dixon, 14 points; Mike Jones, Lutheran, 13 points, 5 rebounds

Up next: Rock Falls at Dixon, 7 p.m. Friday