By TROY THOMPSON
Sportswriter
The NRHEG Panthers held serve in the Gopher Valley Conference last week while rolling to a six-game winning streak overall. The Panthers improved to 12-2 overall, 6-1 in the conference, and hold a slim lead over Maple River (13-2, 5-1) who dealt the Panthers their only conference loss to date.
The Panthers secured wins against a pesky Blooming Prairie squad on Tuesday, Jan. 13, and persevered in a thrilling squeaker against last year’s conference co-champion United South Central on Friday, Jan. 16. NRHEG swept the week after returning home for a Saturday victory against Columbia Heights on Jan. 17.
Three different players stepped up to lead the Panthers in scoring in each of their three wins during the week to flex their depth and build team momentum. The Panthers entered the week ranked No. 10 in the Minnesota Class AA polls before wins over Blooming Prairie, No. 7-ranked (Class A) USC, and the Class AAA Hylanders.
NRHEG 83, Blooming Prairie 63Trevor Tracy and Spencer Tollefson ignited the Panther offense early. The duo combined for 26 first-half points to give NRHEG an early 20-point lead. Tollefson’s shot was especially dialed in as the senior was perfect from the floor (4-for-4) and from the free throw line (6-for-6) in the half.
“I thought in the first seventeen minutes, we played our best basketball of the year,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “Our offense was crisp and we were moving the ball and getting great looks.”
The Awesome Blossoms didn’t quit, though, and responded with an 8-0 run in the final minute to close the gap to 43-31 at the break.
“That was a bad minute,” said Churchill. “We turned it over a couple of times and let them sneak back in the game and get some confidence.”
Blooming Prairie, led by John Rumpza’s double-double, (21 points, 15 rebounds) capitalized on their first-half-closing surge to build momentum and manage to close the gap to seven multiple times in the second half. But the Panther’s responded to each rally with clutch baskets to keep the Blossoms at bay.
“Every time they were getting close we hit a big shot to extend the lead back out,” said Churchill.
Tollefson, who led all scorers with 34 points, hit a number of key 3-pointers as part of a 20-point second-half barrage to help the Panthers fend off any hopes of a Blossom comeback. Tracy finished the game with 14 points while Oakley Baker added 13 points for the Panthers in the victory.
NRHEG 72, USC 70
In a thrilling back-and-forth battle between last year’s Co-Conference Champions, the Panthers squeaked out a 72-70 victory.
USC’s Luke Trio, who led all scorers with 31 points, saw his 3-point shot rim-out and USC couldn’t get the put-back to go in as time ran out to preserve the Panther win.
The Rebels jumped to an early 6-point lead in the first half on their home court, but the Panthers clawed their way back into the game thanks to Kevin Kalis’ strong presence on the inside and some clutch shooting by Spencer Tollefson.
Kalis led the Panthers on the night with 24 points while Tollefson added 21. Oakley Baker netted 13 and Macoy Schwierjohann also contributed 10 points in the win.
“I really felt this was a true team win,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “Kevin fouled out with five minutes left and we still came back and got the win.”
After the Panthers closed the first-half gap, the two teams battled to a 39-38 halftime score in favor in the Rebels.
After the break, the Rebels worked the lead to eight midway through the second half, but the Panthers kept their composure in hostile territory and managed to claw their way back to a 64-63 lead after a jumper by Schwierjohan with three-minutes remaining.
USC’s Trio answered with a trey a minute later to put the Rebels back up 66-65. But Tollefson answered right back with an open-look three off a Trevor Tracy screen to put the Panthers back in front.
NRHEG struggled at the foul line down the stretch, hitting just 1-of-4 at the close, including a pair of misses with 11-seconds remaining, to give the Rebels a final chance. That’s when Trio bounced his last-ditch effort off the rim and the missed tip-in preserved the Panther win.
“Close ball game with two very good teams,” said Churchill. “Macoy Schwierjohan played a great game tonight and Spencer Tollefson hit some big shots as well as Oakley Baker. We were able to hold on for a nice road win.”
The win handed the Rebels their second-straight Gopher Conference loss and helped the Panthers finish the week atop the Gopher Conference by a half-game over Maple River (5-1 in the Gopher Conference). Maple River defeated the Rebels 75-56 earlier in the week and also dealt the Panthers their only conference loss earlier this year. The loss moved USC to 11-3 overall and 4-2 in the Gopher.
NRHEG 71 - Columbia Heights 65
Oakley Baker exploded for 22 second-half points to help the Panthers shake off a sluggish first-half offensive effort and defeat the Class AAA Columbia Heights Hylanders 71-65 on Saturday, Jan. 17 in New Richland.
NRHEG found themselves down 22-18 at the half on a solid defensive effort, but a shaky offensive showing.
“Columbia Heights came out and jumped on us early,” said Churchill. “We played a little bit timid and were not as aggressive on offense. I thought we were a little tense on our shots.”
The Panthers played primarily a 2-3 zone defensively in the first, but Churchill credits the switch to a second-half man-to-man defense with helping open up the offensive spark after the break.
Baker led all scorers with 29 points. Spencer Tollefson added 23 points - 17 in the second half - and 10 boards as the Panthers were able to build a 10-point lead with four-minutes left in the game and hold off a Hylander rally for their sixth-straight win.