The Bucs were nursing a 25-23 halftime lead and the Panthers kept it close until a second-half shooting drought left the door open for WEM.
“The first half was great playoff basketball, going back and forth with no one getting out too far ahead of the other,” said Panthers coach Pat Churchill.
But the Panthers struggled mightily with shooting in the second half, going a long, long stretch with no points.
“We just ran out of gas and went too long without scoring,” said Churchill.
Junior Oakley Baker led the Panthers with 22 points and 10 rebounds. John Cole had a double-double in his final game as a Panther with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Others: Chad Agrimson seven points, Tyler Raimann two points, seven blocked shots, Benji Lundberg two points, Dempsey Tucker two points.
The Bucs were led by Zac Olson’s 28 points.
“I was really proud of my team tonight,” said Churchill. “We played a really good team and battled them for 26 minutes, and great teams play great at winning time, and give credit to WEM. I am really going to miss those six Seniors John Cole, Dempsey Tucker, Cole Ignaszewski, Tyler Schlaak, Nic Schultz, and Luke Overgaard. They have carried themselves with great character and I know they will be successful in whatever they want to achieve.”
NRHEG 58, BEA 38
The Panthers held the visiting Bucs to 11 first-half points and breezed to victory in New Richland Tuesday, Feb. 23.
“I thought early we did a good job defensively making things difficult for them to get good looks and I thought we did a good job rebounding the misses,” said Churchil. “It’s always good to win in the playoffs.”
Scoring: Baker 14, Cole 14, Agrimson nine, Prigge nine, Raimann six, Jason Jongbloedt three, Lundberg two.
Bailey Olson and Brandon Olson each scored 10 to lead BEA, which finished with a 4-21 record.
