By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
Too many turnovers and not enough physicality led to another loss for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys' basketball team Monday night, 77-46 at St. James Area.
The Panthers, 1-7 in the Gopher Conference, dropped to 3-20 overall.
"We still need to work on valuing every possession, and we've slipped of late fighting for rebounds and that position," said NRHEG coach Dan Schmidt. "We were very evenly matched with St James, but it's those little things that continue to put us in big first-half holes. It's on me to figure out how to get that second-half effort to start in the first half, so we don't have to play from so far behind. We've got three regular season games to try to square it away."
Will Tuttle led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points and seven rebounds. Jared Lee and Greyson Schaefer kicked in seven points each, Jase Knudson, Jordan Brouwers, and Ricky Zapata four each. Jackson Chrz, Hudson Chrz, and Dom Olson scored two each, and Brendan Schmidt added a free throw.
"I can't say enough about how hard Will plays game in and game out," said Coach Schmidt. "Even if the numbers aren't there, I know he'll leave it all out on the court. I'm proud of the way that Jared has stepped up in a point guard role after Daxter went down. He's playing out of position, but he's giving it his all, and has done a good job trying to be a leader on this team as a sophomore. That's something this team needs, and he's taken on that role to the best of his ability."
The Panthers ran into a red-hot JWP team last Friday and lost 52-35 in game two of a boy-girl doublehader in Janesville.
"The gym was packed, so the atmosphere was great," said Schmidt. "Unfortunately, turnovers were again a killer for us, as JWP jumped out early and never looked back. JWP's defense has been outstanding this season, and between the half-court pressure and their full-court trap, they forced us in to 27 turnovers, which led to 31 points. We shot poorly from the field, especially around the basket. It was just a dominant effort from an extremely good JWP squad. The effort was definitely better in the second half."
Tuttle and Greyson Schaefer scored 10 each, Olson six. Brooks Gilliland had five. Jackson Chrz, Levin Kitzer, Lee, Knudson, Jordan Brouwers, and AJ Deen all had two.
Memphis James from JWP led all scorers with 22, followed by Daulton Bauer with 17.
The previous Friday, a short-handed Panther crew hosted United South Central and fell short 52-35.
"We ended our week with the beginning of a battle against illness, missing two players to illness, upping our total to four guys out," explained Schmidt. "Out of those four, we're missing the top two scorers, and it shows while we try to find some offensive rhythm without them."
After trailing 28-10 at the half, NRHEG managed to claw back to within 12-13 points in the second half, but just didn't have enough to keep going.
Jackson Chrz led the Panthers in scoring with 10. Lee added nine points and five rebounds. Schaefer chipped in 5 points, Hudson Chrz four, Levin Kitzer three, and Brooks Gilliland and Zapata two apiece.
Jonathon Stanke of USC led all scorers with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
The Panthers' infirmary list shifted a little Feb. 6 as they lost 69-51 at WEM.
"We got a couple players back from our JV, but lost another on the varsity," said Schmidt. "That said, the boys really worked hard."
After trailing by 20 early in the first half, NRHEG battled back to close it to a 44-28 deficit going into the break, paced by Jackson Chrz's 12 first-half points. The Panthers continued to battle in the second half and cut the lead to 10 at one point before succumbing to depth and experience.
Jared Lee played a great game 15 points and five rebounds. Jackson Chrz added 12 points and five boards. Knudson turned in another solid game, adding nine points. Schaefer and Deen each had five points, while Deen added nine rebounds. Kitzer added a three-pointer, and Zapata hit a couple free throws to round out the scoring.
"The last two or three games have given us the opportunity to see what some of the freshmen and sophomores can do," said Schmidt. "Deen has been phenomenal off the bench giving us a rebounding spark."
The banged-up Panthers traveled to Hayfield Feb. 5 and lost 62-31.
"The weekend was not kind to our health, as we were missing 11 players between the C-squad, JV, and varsity, five of which were varsity players," said Schmidt. "We rolled in with seven varsity players, and rounded out the bench with some healthy members of the JV."
But the offensive woes continued, without Daxter Lee and Will Tuttle.
It showed early as the Vikings assumed a 32-11 lead at halftime.
"We did not do a good job of attacking the rim, and far too often settled for outside shots, and we weren't hitting those at all," said Schmidt. "We had a little more energy in the second half, but shooting continued to be our Achilles Heel, finishing the night shooting 23 percent from the field. Knudson scored 10 points, Zapata six, Jared Lee five. Kitzer and Owen Wayne had three each, Jackson Chrz and Deshawn Jones added two each. Despite not scoring, freshman Deen came off the bench and gathered nine rebounds.
Rylan Nelsen of Hayfield led all scorers with 14 points.
After playing Tuesday at Maple River, the Panthers conclude the regular season next week, Feb. 20 at St. Clair/Mankato Loyola and Feb. 22 at LeSueur-Henderson.