By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
There was no magic in the air Friday night for the Panthers boys’ basketball squad, which dropped a 54-52 heartbreaker to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.
It appeared both teams were trying to lose late in the second half. A scoring drought of four minutes saw both teams throwing balls at the basket to no avail. WEM found the well with a running jumper which proved to be the gamewinner with just over a minute remaining.
In their last gasp, with 8 seconds remaining, the Panthers struggled to inbound the ball. When they did, a stray Buccaneer hand intercepted Daxter Lee’s crossover and sent the ball rolling. William Tuttle scooped up the ball, turned and fired. No good. His 20- foot spinning jumper hit the backboard and bounced off the center of the rim. Just a little more touch, and, maybe another second to shoot, and the Panthers may have been singing a different tune walking off the court on Senior Night.
The game started poorly for the Panthers, who fell behind eight points over the first two minutes of play and trailed 22-8 with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. If not for that bad start, the Panthers would have
likely won. They dominated the rest of the first half, clawing back and taking a 35-28 lead into halftime.
Many turnovers, and, well, a drought, turned the tide for the Panthers in the second half. They led by as many as 10. With the loss they fell to 3-21 and will likely earn the lowest spot in section seeding.
“We came out of the half and built a big lead, but once again failed to run our offense efficiently and allowed WEM to come back,” NRHEG head coach Dan Schmidt said. “A couple of missed layups and an offensive foul in the last minute really hurt us. We had a chance at the buzzer, but just couldn’t get a clean look.”
Individually for the Panthers: Lee 19 points, 6 rebounds; Jace Knudson 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Sam Olson 6 points; Sawyer Prigge 6 points; Jackson Chrz 5 points; Lukas Loverink 4 points, 11 rebounds; Tuttle 2 points, 9 rebounds; Jaylin Raab 2 points.
The Panthers lost 71-52 at LeSueur-Henderson Tuesday after trailing 31-24 at halftime.
Individually: Lee 11P, 3A; Prigge 9P; Chrz 6P, 7R; Alden Dobberstein 5P, 3A; Olson 4P; Raab 3P, Tuttle 2P, 8R; Brady Schlaak 2P; Levin Kitzer 2P; Loverink 2P; Jordan Brouwers 2P;Greyson Schaefer 2P; Knudson 2P. The Panthers play Friday, Feb. 24 at USC.