Posted: Feb. 5, 2010

Wauwatosa West won its fourth straight and seventh game in eight outings Friday night at Whitnall, defeating the Falcons for the second time in two weeks, 62-57.

The win improved the Trojans to 10-3 behind first place New Berlin Eisenhower (13-0) with four games left to play in the Woodland Conference. Whitnall fell to 8-5.

The Trojans played outstanding defense in the first quarter to take an 18-8 lead and that 10-point advantage held up at half-time (35-25) and through three quarters (53-43). But William Pelkofer scored seven of his team-high 24 points in the fourth period as the Falcons outscored West, 14-9.

Pelkofer banked in a 3-point shot from the top of the key with 2:05 left to play to tie the game at 57-57. But West's Sam Krenzien stole the ball and scored with 1:25 left to play. After the Falcons tossed the ball out of bounds on a long pass, A.J. Krause was fouled with 17.5 seconds left. After missing the first free throw, Whitnall coach Ken Kroupa called time out to try and ice Krause, but he hit the second free throw after time resumed for a 60-57 lead.

Barry Ballinger then came up with a huge defensive play when he forced a Whitnall player into traveling, giving the Trojans the ball with 3.9 seconds left. Krenzien was fouled and he sank both free throws for the win.

With 6:16 remaining in the first half, history was made for the Falcons, as Pelkofer scored his 1,001 point to surpass the 1,000-point mark, something his cousin Jarrod, who was also on hand, also accomplished. The game was stopped, Pelkofer received the ball and his mom, dad and cousin had a chance to congratulate him. He finished the game with 24 points to total 1,021 points in his career.

Ray Sterling, Jr. was outstanding with a game-high 25 points, 17 in the first half and he played excellent defense. Krenzien took over in the second half and scored 14 of his 23 points to spark the Trojans.