Regina, Cascade have second half surges to overcome Panthers

     Monticello played tough against a pair of highly-regarded River Valley Conference opponents in boys basketball action last week, but in each case the foes took control in the second half and handed losses to the Panthers.

     First, Monticello lost at home to Iowa City Regina by a score of 56-39 on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Then, the Panthers traveled to Cascade Friday, Dec. 15, and lost 57-34.

     Those results left Monticello 2-4 in conference play, and 4-4 overall heading into the holiday break.

     Against Regina, the Panthers employed a triangle-and-two defense to key on two of the Regals. It worked well, for a while.

     “I thought the kids really executed the triangle-and-two well in the first half,” Lambert said.

     The Panthers trailed by just two points at halftime, 20-18. But the Regals took control in the third quarter, outscoring Monticello 18-7 to take a 13-point lead. It helped Regina that some of the less prominent players were doing the scoring.

     “They got on a run, and it snowballed,” Lambert said. “I thought the kids kept playing hard.

     “That’s the thing with our league. It’s fun to play those good teams and have those challenges. The kids really have to play hard, and we have to coach well to compete.”

     Justin Recker led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points; Alex Nealson and Kyle Sperfslage had eight points each, Ryan Manternach had seven points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Jacob Manternach had six points. Jacob Manternach and Alex Nealson had four assists apiece.

     Monticello played at third-ranked Cascade on Friday, Dec. 15. Cascade led 26-20 at halftime, and led by seven late in the third quarter. Connor Lambert came off the bench for the Panthers and hit a three-point basket to cut the margin to four with 20 seconds to go. But the Cougars answered with a three-pointer of their own to lead 36-29 after the third quarter.

     Cascade then went on a 14-0 run to start the fourth quarter, and was in control the rest of the way.

     “We were really careless with the ball in the fourth quarter,” Lambert said. “That leads to easy baskets.”

     In all, the Panthers had 23 turnovers in the game.

     “When we executed and valued the ball, we got good shots and attacked them real well,” the coach said. “In the stretches where we didn’t, they went on a run.”

     Sperfslage led the Panthers in scoring with 11 points, Avery Martensen had six assists. Jacob Manternach made three assists, and Recker had three steals.

Dec. 12

Regina    12   8 18 18 – 56

Monti      10   8    7 14 – 39

     IOWA CITY REGINA (56) – Zach Seaman 2-3 0-0 5, Masen Miller 1-6 0-0 3, Jocoa Kerschen 4-8 0-4 8, Jake Phillips 7-14 5-6 22, Even Brauns 3-6 2-2 8, Blake Berns 1-3 2-3 4, Jacob Sueppel 1-2 0-0 3, Luke Stein 1-4 0-0 2, Bryce Barnett 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 20-49 10-17 56.

     MONTICELLO (46) – Jacob Manternach 3-9 0-2 6, Avery Martensen 0-2 0-2 0, Justin Recker 3-9 2-2 10, Alex Nealson 2-4 4-6 8, Kyle Sperfslage 2-9 3-5 8, Ryan Manternach 3-5 1-1 7, Gavin Cooper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-39 10-18 39.

     Three-pointers: Phillips 3, Seaman, Miller, Sueppel; Recker 2, Sperfslage.

     Rebounds: Regina 28, Monticello 24 (R. Manternach 8, Martensen 5).

     Total fouls: Regina 23, Monticello 14.

Dec. 15

Monti      11    9   9    5 – 34

Cascade 12 14 10 21 ­– 57

     MONTICELLO (34) – Jacob Manternach 2-4 1-4 5, Avery Martensen 1-2 2-2 4, Justin Recker 2-6 0-0 5, Alex Nealson 1-5 1-2 3, Kyle Sperfslage 3-9 2-2 11, Connor Lambert 1-2 0-0 3, Gavin Cooper 1-1 0-0 3, Ryan Manternach 0-2 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 0-1 0-0 0, Ty Kehoe 0-1 0-0 0, T.J. Nealson 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison Eastburn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 6-10 34.

     CASCADE (57) – Brock Simon 3-5 9-13 17, Derek Koppes 2-10 1-1 6, Johnny Supple 2-6 3-3 8, Gannon O’Brien 4-10 1-1 11, Haris Hoffman 3-4 0-0 6, Reid Rausch 1-3 0-0 3, Tom Knepper 2-2 0-0 4, Logan Otting 1-1 0-0 2, Luke Bertling 0-1 0-0 0, Wil Roling 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Simon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 14-18 57.

     Three-pointers: Sperfslage 3, Recker, Cooper, Lambert; B. Simon 2, O’Brien 2, Koppes, Supple, Rausch.

     Rebounds: Cascade 25, Monticello 19 (Martensen 6, J. Manternach 4, Sperfslage 4).

     Total fouls: Monticello 15, Cascade 15.