By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
The NRHEG boys' basketball team finished the regular season on a positive note, winning three of four games last week to improve to 11-14 overall. They finished xx-xx in the Gopher Conference. Section seeds were to be announced Wednesday.
NRHEG 56, USC 44
Playing their fourth game in five nights, coach Isaiah Lundberg wondered how much energy his Panthers would have Saturday afternoon in New Richland.
It wasn't good early. The Rebels hit some tough shots and led 7-0 before Blake Ihrke hit a three and another basket to get NRHEG going.
"Throughout the first half, we did a good job on the defensive end and rebounding," said Lundberg. "Once they got up 7-0, we did a much better job moving the ball."
Eventually, with just under a minute remaining, NRHEG took the lead and it was 22-21 at halftime.
The second half started much like the first. NRHEG had some turnovers and the Rebels capitalized, taking a 30-27 lead, but NRHEG came back to tie it at 32. A seven-point run made it 39-32 and the Panthers never looked back. USC pulled within 39-35, but NRHEG stretched it to 52-38.
"It was one of our better games of the year," said Lundberg. It felt good to beat a really good team."
Jacob Schuller paced the Panthers with 21 points. Ihrke scored 10, Brady Agrimson 6, Lonnie Wilson 6, Troy Christenson 4, Devin Buendorf 3 and Ashton Johnson 2.
A.J. Kloos scored 21 for USC.
NRHEG 74, Medford 49
The Tigers have struggled this season and the Panthers didn't give them much of a chance at New Richland Friday, Feb. 22.
"We came out and started really fast and played with a lot of energy," said Lundberg, whose team had a comfortable 50-15 lead at halftime.
Wilson did a great job coming off screens and getting to the basket, according to Lundberg, as the Panthers moved the ball about as well as they have all season.
"I thought we did a much better job of going after offensive rebounds as well, something we haven't done very well at times," said Lundberg.
The Panthers were active on defense, particularly in the first half. They totaled 22 offensive rebounds.
"In the second half we didn't quite come out with the same intensity that we did to start the game," said Lundberg. "This was one of our better games we have played."
Wilson finished with 23 points, Agrimson 15, Schuller 13, Kordell Schlaak 8, Ihrke 7, Johnson 4, Buendorf 2 and Porter Peterson 2.
Noah Pirkl and Ryan Hermanstorfer scored nine each to lead Medford.
BEA 42, NRHEG 36
The Panthers faced a tough test, traveling to Blue Earth Tuesday, Feb. 19, a night after going into overtime.
They almost passed it.
NRHEG saw a 19-12 halftime lead and 26-16 second-half advantage slip away as the Panthers struggled to score down the stretch.
"It's always tough to play on back-to-back nights," said Lundberg. "I thought we came out and played good defense, but in the end we didn't do enough to beat a solid team."
The Panthers, according to Lundberg, were played by turnovers and a lack of rebounding.
"When we had chances, we didn't get rebounds when we needed to most," said the coach.
Agrimson totaled 11 points, Schuller 10, Wilson 10, Ihrke 3 and Johnson 2.
Caelan Sanders led BEA with 17 points.
NRHEG 74, Maple River 71, Overtime
"What a game this finished out to be," said Lundberg after his Panthers rallied for victory Monday, Feb. 18 in New Richland.
The Eagles controlled the action in the early going as NRHEG turned the ball over on its first five possessions. They finally got it going behind three 3s by Ihrke and Schuller's first 3 of the season. Maple River led 37-31 at halftime.
The Panthers picked up their defensive effort in the second half, leading to some transition baskets, and they rebounded better than in the first half while eventually taking a 51-50 lead. Some turnovers and missed shots allowed Maple River to take a 62-61 edge, and the teams went to overtime as the Panthers missed a 3 at the buzzer.
In overtime, the Panthers hit some clutch free throws and the Eagles missed a buzzer-beating 3.
"I really liked how hard we played in the second half," said Lundberg. "It was like a playoff game for intensity and the atmosphere was awesome with all the fans getting into the game."
Schuller finished with a career-high 34 points. Agrimson scored 17, Ihrke 10, Wilson 9 and Buendorf 4.
The Eagles were led by Mason Sohre's 16 points. Among them was Sohre's 1,000th career point.