“He kept us in the game with his shooting,” said Churchill, who made a startling realization with about four minutes left in the half.
“They had 31 points and I thought to myself, ‘they are on pace for 80,’ which was not good for us,” said Churchill.
The Panthers held the Eagles scoreless until halftime, when they trailed 31-22, and for the first seven minutes of the second half to get back in the game.
“To hold a team like Maple River to four points in over 11 minutes of basketball is impressive,” said Churchill. “Sam Lundberg and Carter Tollefson played great defensively inside and got some big boards against their big boys.”
The Panthers were within one at that point. They had chances to take the lead but just couldn’t do it.
Still trailing by one with nine minutes left, the Panthers’ upset hopes were quickly dashed. Maple River went on a big run, which included a three-point play after a controversial blocking call.
“The air came out of our guys and Maple River did what good teams do,” said Churchill. “They buried us quick. Before we knew what happened it was 12 points and we were fighting an uphill battle.”
Carlson led the Panthers with 19 points. Tyler Sorenson scored nine, Nic Mangskau five, Lucas Meyer four, Spencer Hanna four, Lundberg three and Tollefson three.
“I was very proud of our guys tonight,” said Churchill. “They played their butts off and I honestly thought it was the best we played all year. I told our kids in the locker room to hold their heads up high and be proud of what they did. Much like the score tonight, I don't think our record was very indicative of how competitive these kids were. We are saying goodbye to seven seniors, Sam Lundberg Matt Carlson, Lucas Meyer, Tyler Sorenson, Carter Tollefson, Spencer Hanna, and Pete Blowers.”
