By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The NRHEG boys' basketball team has not stopped battling.
But it gets tough sometimes with so many players missing from the lineup.
The depleted Panthers lost twice last week, 79-57 at LeSueur-Henderson Thursday, two days after a 78-53 setback at St. Clair.
The Panthers kept it close early against a solid LSH team, but the Giants went on a 12-0 run to go up 28-13. Led by the hot shooting of starter Greyson Schaefer and Levin Kitzer off the bench, NRHEG went on a 20-10 run of its own to pull within 38-33 at halftime.
"After the break, we slipped a little bit early, but kept it to within 10 or 12 points until around 5 minutes left in the game," said NRHEG coach Dan Schmidt.
Then the Giants went on another run to put it away.
Schaefer led the Panthers in scoring with 16 points, including an outstanding 5-for-8 from the three-point line. Will Tuttle added 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line; he added five rebounds. Jared Lee and Jase Knudson had seven points apiece, Kitzer six. Jackson Chrz and Sam Olson each had three.
Grant Adams of LSH led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Logan Freeney with 20.
After struggling the last month putting the ball in the basket, the Panthers were looking to get some sort of offensive rythym in a nonconference game at St. Clair. They found it, but lost 78-53.
"It was easily our best effort since the end of January, even if the score didn't show it," said Coach Schmidt. "We really battled for three-fourths of the game, trailing by 10-15 points until about 5 minutes to go. St Clair went on a little run at that point, and put it away."
Schmidt said the Panthers received another great effort from Tuttle, who totaled 22 points and eight rebounds, and a great effort from Lee, who scored 13 points and hit a couple three-pointers.
Jackson Chrz added eight points and five rebounds. Hudson Chrz added four points, Aaden Hanna and Brooks Gilliland two each each. Olson and Jordan Brouwers added a free throw each.
The Panthers, 3-23, are off while awaiting seeding for the sub-section playoffs starting Tuesday, March 5.