Monti closes week with back-to-back wins

     A pair of wins on back-to-back nights made it a winning week for the Monticello High School boys basketball team.

     Following a River Valley Conference loss at Camanche Dec. 5, by a score of 63-58, Monticello (2-2, 4-2) dispatched North Cedar 55-40 in an RVC home game Dec. 8, and knocked off neighboring rival Anamosa 57-46 Dec. 9, also in Monticello.

Camanche game

     Traveling to Camanche is always a challenge, but Monticello held its own despite a five-point loss Dec. 5.

     “We told the kids after the game that we were proud of how hard they played,” Monticello coach Tim Lambert said. “They gave a very honest effort.”

     Monticello trailed 31-21 at halftime, and cut the margin to three late in the third quarter.

     Then, Lambert said, “our unforced turnovers hurt us. In the games we’ve lost, we’ve had too many empty possessions.”

     The Panthers got the margin down to two points when Justin Recker hit a three-point shot late in the game, but Camanche answered with a three-pointer of its own, and held on to win.

     It was a big game for senior Alex Nealson, who scored 23 points, shooting 10-for-15 from the field; and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. He also had five steals.

     Justin Recker scored 12 points and made six assists. Avery Martensen and Kyle Sperfslage had nine points each; Martensen grabbed eight rebounds. Jacob Manternach made five assists, and Ryan Manternach had seven rebounds.

     “Avery had by far his best game of the year,” the coach said. “He’s a warrior inside. And Ryan gives us good minutes every game. He’s a smart player.”

North Cedar game

     North Cedar was giving the Panthers a battle in the Dec. 8 game in Monticello, trailing just 38-32 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

     That was when Panther freshman Justin Recker took over the game, scoring 14 of his 24 points over the game’s final 10 minutes as Monticello pulled to a 55-40 win.

     “He’s very versatile offensively,” Lambert said. “He can put it on the floor, he can hit the three. He can create offense.

     “And, it’s been nice to see how the older kids have been willing to let him have that role.”

     Recker was 9-for-12 from the floor in the game. Alex Nealson finished with nine points, Avery Martensen led the team in rebounds with eight, and Jacob Manternach had five assists.

     “It was probably one of our better defensive games,” Lambert said. “If you hold the opponent to single digits in a quarter, that’s huge, and we did that for two of the four quarters.”

Anamosa game

     Monticello saw an eight-point halftime lead over Anamosa disappear in a hurry in the third quarter. The Blue Raiders scored the first 11 points of the second half to take the lead, but the Panthers outscored them 28-14 the rest of the way to win 57-46 Dec. 9 in Monticello.

     “It’s good to face a little adversity like that,” Lambert said. “But in the last five minutes of the third quarter they scored four points, and they had 14 points in the last 13 minutes of the game. That was the difference.”

     Four Panthers scored in double figures: Sperfslage with 15, Jacob Manternach with 14, Recker with 11, and Ryan Manternach with 11 off the bench.

     “Ryan played real well. He gave us really good minutes,” the coach said.

     Alex Nealson had 10 rebounds. Recker had seven rebounds and five assists.

Dec. 5

Monti     11 10 18 19 – 58

Cam       12 19 15 17 – 63

     MONTICELLO (58) – Jacob Manternach 2-5 1-1 5, Avery Martensen 4-6 0-0 9, Justin Recker 5-13 0-2 12, Alex Nealson 10-15 2-2 23, Kyle Sperfslage 4-16 1-1 9, Ryan Manternach 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 4-6 58.

     CAMANCHE (63) – Carson Seeser 0-3 0-0 0, Dev Patel 3-9 23- 9, Cameron Soenksen 4-14 6-8 15, Evan Hall 7-9 0-0 20, Calvin Ottens 1-5 1-2 3, Caleb Delzell 3-5 0-1 9, Jordan Lawrence 1-6 3-4 5, Jaxon White 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-53 12-18 63.

     Three-pointers: Recker 2, Martensen, Nealson; Hall 6, Delzell 3, Patel, Soenksen.

     Rebounds: Camanche 42, Monticello 38 (A. Nealson 10, Martensen 8, R. Manternach 7).

     Total fouls: Monticello 16, Camanche 12.

Dec. 8

NC           8  10 14   8 – 40

Monti     11  14 18 12 – 55

     MONTICELLO (55) – Jacob Manternach 2-8 0-0 4, Avery Martensen 2-5 0-0 5, Justin Recker 9-12 4-5 24, Alex Nealson 4-6 1-1 9, Kyle Sperfslage 3-6 3-4 10, Gavin Cooper 1-2 0-0 3, Ty Kehoe 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Manternach 0-3 0-0 0, T.J. Nealson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 8-10 55.

     Three-pointers: Justin Recker 2, Martensen, Cooper 1, Sperfslage.

     Rebounds: Monticello 28 (Martensen 8, Recker 5, A. Nealson 5).

     Total fouls: Monticello 15.

Dec. 9

Ana         8 13 15 10 – 46

Monti      8 21 10 18 – 57

     MONTICELLO (57) – Jacob Manternach 4-14 4-5 14, Avery Martensen 1-2 0-1 2, Justin Recker 3-5 4-4 11, Alex Nealson 2-7 0-0 4, Kyle Sperfslage 4-14 5-6 15, Ryan Manternach 5-6 1-1 11, Gavin Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 14-17 57.

     Three-pointers: J. Manternach 2, Sperfslage 2, Recker.

     Rebounds: Monticello 40 (A. Nealson 10, Recker 7, J. Manternach 7).

     Total fouls: Monticello 15.