SPENCER goes up for 3 points on his way to 1,000. Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak
By TROY THOMPSON
Contributing Writer
Senior guard Spencer Tollefson became the first male Panther in 15 years to surpass 1,000 career points on the hardcourt as his game-high 27-point effort helped propel New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva to a 65-61 victory over rival Waterville-Elysian-Morristown on Friday, January 9th.
But it wasn’t just Tollefson’s offensive efforts that helped to take down the Bucs.
“Spencer Tollefson was amazing tonight,” said Panther coach Pat Churchill. “He guarded one of the best players in our league and did a very nice job on the defensive side.”
Oakley Baker had a good night finding the open man on the squad. WEM had a difficult time stopping the pass without getting in trouble with fouls. Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak
Matched up defensively against 6-5 sophomore Zac Olson, Tollefson held the W-E-M standout to just eight points on the night, with just two points in the second half.
NRHEG needed the spark on both ends of the court as they found themselves down 34-29 at halftime. Poor free-throw shooting by the Panthers and some clutch 3-pointers by W-E-M in the first half helped the take the five-point lead to the locker room. The Panthers were just 2-of-11 from the stripe in the first half and finished 13-of-29 on the night.
“We concentrated a lot of attention on Zac Olson,” said Churchill. “We weren’t rotating out very well on the shooters and they went 4-of-7 from the three-point line.”
With so much attention on Olson, W-E-M’s Cole Pope and Kallen Dorenkemper picked up the scoring for the Bucs. Pope led the Bucs on the night with 19 points while Dorenkemper finished with 18 points.
The Panthers, defending their home court, regrouped from the halftime deficit and roared to a six-point lead after the break thanks to a 12-2 run to start the second half.
“I thought we did a better job getting the ball to Kevin (Kalis) in the second half,” said Churchill. “It really opened up our offense a little bit.”
Kalis contributed 10 points in the Panther win, all of them coming in the second half. Sophomore Oakley Baker added 12 points and Trevor Tracy finished with 9 points, including some key baskets from beyond the three-point arc.
W-E-M would close within one-point later in the game and remained stubborn, but the Panthers would never relinquish the lead again after their 12-2 spurt and finished strong enough on the free-throw line to seal their third straight win.
“This was a nice win, but we know there are things to keep working at to get better,” said Churchill. “There are too many good teams in this league and we need to be ready to play every night.”
The victory pushes the Panthers to 9-2 overall, 4-1 in the Gopher Conference. A key matchup looms Friday, January 16th, when the Panthers travel to United South Central. USC is currently 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the Gopher Conference. The two teams split the conference crown last year and will also meet in New Richland on Friday, February 13th.