GILBERT – Gut check time found the Webster City boys’ basketball team at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening.

Coming off an emotionally-sapping 37-36 loss to Fort Dodge St. Edmond less than 24 hours earlier in a physical test of wills that went down to the buzzer, the Lynx were asked to play a third game in three days against another worthy adversary.

WCHS responded to the challenge.

It wasn’t always pretty – beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? – but an energetic start pushed the Lynx out to a 13-point lead after one quarter and they hung on the rest of the way to knock off Gilbert, 52-43, in a clash of two-loss teams on the Tigers’ home floor.

“It was gutsy,” WCHS head coach Marty McKinney said. “After three games in three days and what happened (Friday) night with a huge heartbreaking loss, it was tough to come back and play another game. But the kids shook it off and really went out and gave their best effort.”

With a rotation of only seven and sometimes eight guys, McKinney knew there would be tired legs. Jumpers that usually find the bottom of the net clanged off the front of the iron, which is why the defense of the Lynx (13-2) was again so key.

“We were dead at the end of that (St. Edmond) game,” McKinney said. “But the guys looked at (Saturday’s game) as an opportunity against a good team that has won a lot of games. We thought if we could keep them in the low 50’s or 40’s that we would have a really good chance to win the game and we did that. We had to win the game with defense and once again we did.”

WCHS owns one of the top-rated defenses in Class 3A, allowing just 45.6 points per game.

Senior forward Colt Richardson played a starring role in the Lynx 18-5 first-quarter run. Knocking down mid-range jumpers from the baseline and turnaround jumpers in the lane, he scored 10 of the team’s first 11 points and finished with a game-high 18. He also lassoed seven rebounds, tops on the team.

“This was a challenge for all of us and we definitely had to push through,” Richardson, who also collected a team-high two steals, said. “I wanted to be one of those guys that got us going early and give us a good start to the game, which was very important.”

WCHS maintained a nine-point advantage at the half, 27-18, but Gilbert (13-3) slowly started to creep back into contention in the third quarter. The Tigers eventually closed to within 32-29 at the midway mark of the period, but that’s when Lynx senior forward Sean Vogelbacher asserted himself at the offensive end to get the lead back to seven, 39-32, heading into the fourth quarter.

Vogelbacher drove through traffic, scored and got fouled, the end result a three-point play to provide some breathing room in the third. WCHS went on a 7-0 run where Vogelbacher either scored or assisted on all seven points.

Vogelbacher finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

“Sean did a great job of asserting himself, especially in that second half run,” McKinney said. “We needed that because some of our other guys were gassed.”

Gilbert pulled to within three points on two more occasions in the fourth quarter and had a lay-up to trim the WCHS lead to one, but it circled the rim and came out.

Back-to-back buckets in the paint by Richardson pushed the margin to seven points with 4:03 to go. WCHS knocked down 5 of 6 free throws in the final 29 seconds to pull away.

Alec Fuhs pitched in 14 points in the win. Twin brother Avery Fuhs struggled with his shot and scored just five points, but he did distribute three assists. Landon Daniels added three points and four assists.

Ryan Fleener poured in 13 and Adam Baker finished with 11 for Gilbert, which leads the race for the Heart of Iowa Conference title.

WCHS will get back to work at home in the North Central Conference on Tuesday with the first of two late-season meetings against Humboldt. If the forecasted weather of snow should postpone the game, it will be played on Thursday instead.