Panthers get big win at Cascade, fall to Regina

     It was a monkey-off-the-back type of win, the first time Monticello had defeated the traditional powerhouse from Cascade in nearly three years.

     Justin Recker poured in 24 points, shooting an astounding 9-for-11 from the field, and the Panther boys basketball team held off the Cougars for a 44-41 victory Jan. 4 at Cascade.

     Things didn’t go as well for the Panthers the following day, as they lost at home to Iowa City Regina 47-33 on Jan. 5. The split left Monticello 9-2 on the season, including 8-2 in the River Valley Conference.

     Before Friday, the most recent Panther win against Cascade was a 54-40 triumph in Monticello on Feb. 12, 2016. The last time Monticello had won in Cascade’s building was Jan. 27, 2015, with a 40-38 score.

     On Friday, a strong start helped. Monticello jumped to a 10-3 early lead, and held on to lead 10-7 by the end of the first quarter.

     The Cougars rallied to take a 14-13 lead, but the Panthers answered to go up 15-14, and never trailed again. Monticello led 23-18 at halftime, as Recker drove the lane and tossed in a layup with about two seconds left.

     “We wanted to go inside to Justin and let him go to work, and boy, did he,” Monticello coach Tim Lambert said. “He’s starting to show some flashes of how good he is.”

     Monticello still led 33-29 after three quarters. Then, leading 33-31 early in the fourth quarter, Tyler Luensman canned a three-point shot, then executed a steal-and-score to put the Panthers ahead 38-31 with six and a half minutes to play.

     “I was proud of Tyler,” coach Lambert said. “We believe in him; he needs to shoot it and believe in himself. He had 11 points, and that was big.”

     Connor Lambert hit a big three-point shot with 2:49 to play to put the Panthers up 41-33, and the lead was 43-36 with 1:46 to go.

     The Cougars made a run after a pair of Panther turnovers, and Monticello’s lead was trimmed to 43-41 with 30 seconds left.

     But Luensman made one of two free throws with 14.9 to play, and two Cascade misses in the closing second enabled Monticello to come away with the win.

     “A couple of times Cascade made a run at us, and we answered them,” the coach said.

     The Panthers shot 16-for-28 from the field (57 percent) from the field, in Cascade’s building and in front of large crowds on both sides.

     “Our fan support has been amazing,” coach Lambert said.

     Against Regina on Saturday, the Panthers fell victim to a strong start for the Regals, and the strong shooting of Regina guard Masen Miller, who scored 22 points.

     “We lost him several times,” Lambert said. “He scored the first 10 points.”

     Regina outscored the Panthers in each of the four quarters. The Regals led 12-5 after one quarter, 22-14 at halftime, and 34-23 after three.

     “We cut it to four points two or three times,” coach Lambert said, “but we just couldn’t get the stop we needed. A couple of loose balls went their way, and they made a couple of big shots.

     “I thought we looked physically and mentally drained from Friday night.”

     Recker scored 15 points against Regina, and had six rebounds and two blocks. Luke Lambert had eight points and five rebounds. Connor Lambert had six points, and Devin Kraus had four.

Jan. 4

Monti     10 13 10 11 – 44

Cascade   7 11 11 12 – 41

     MONTICELLO (44) – Tyler Luensman 4-5 0-0 11, Justin Recker 9-11 6-9 24, Luke Lambert 1-4 1-2 3, Connor Lambert 1-7 0-0 3, Brayden Cleeton 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 1-1 0-0 3, Jeff Carlson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-28 7-11 44.

     CASCADE (41) – Carter Green 3-10 2-2 8, Wil Roling 0-2 1-2 1, Reid Rausch 8-17 0-1 17, Haris Hoffman 4-7 0-0 9, Alex Aitchison 0-2 0-0 0, Brett Bower 1-2 0-0 3, Michael Trumm 1-4 0-0 3, Tom Knepper 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 3-5 41.

     Three-pointers: Luensman 3, C. Lambert, Kraus; Rausch, Hoffman, Bower, Trumm.

     Rebounds: Cascade 22, Monticello 18 (L. Lambert 5, Recker 4).

     Fouls: Cascade 14, Monticello 7.

Jan. 5

Regina  12 10 12 13 – 47

Monti      5    9    9 10 – 33

     REGINA (47) – Bryce Barnett 1-7 0-2 2, Masen Miller 8-13 1-3 22, Scotty Arendt 3-7 0-0 6, Ashton Cook 4-11 2-2 11, Luke Stein 1-3 0-0 2, Alec Wick 1-2 0-0 2, Patrick Clark 1-1 0-0 2, Joey Maloney 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Keller 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Dutchik 0-0 0-0 0.

     MONTICELLO (33) – Tyler Luensman 0-3 0-2 0, Justin Recker 6-14 3-5 15, Luke Lambert 3-7 0-1 8, Connor Lambert 2-7 0-0 6, Brayden Cleeton 0-1 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 2-7 0-0 4, Jeff Carlson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-39 3-8 33.

     Three-pointers: Miller 5, Cook; L. Lambert 2, C. Lambert 2.

     Rebounds: Regina 28, Monticello 18 (Recker 6, L. Lambert 5).

     Total fouls: Regina 17, Monticello 12.