Sports from the week of January 24, 2001

Panther girls improve to 11-3

The Panther girls basketball team clawed their way back from an early 20-3 deficit to defeat Yellow Medicine East 59-53 at Tracy Monday night.

The win improved Tracy/Milroy/Balaton's season record to 11-3, 7-2 in the 212 Conference. The loss dropped the Sting's record to 6-6 and 3-5 in the conference.

Plagued by early foul trouble and low percentage shooting, the Panthers had nine team fouls by the end of the first period, T/M/B was down 17-3 at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second period a YME field goal and their 12th free throw of the game gave the Sting a 20-3 margin.

“We were limited to what we could do because of the early foul trouble,” said Panther Coach Paul Soupir. “But give the kids credit they kept working with a lot of energy.”

Matmen win home meet

The Panther wrestling team won over Luverne, before a good parents night crowd, at the Prairie Pavilion by a score of 40-27. The crowd filled the east bleachers and chairs were set up on the west side of the mat to accommodate the fans.

103 pound Ross Ryan got the meet off to a good start for T/M/B by registering a pin over his opponent in the first match of the meet. By the time Aldon Struchen, at 140 pounds, won on a forfeit the score had mounted to 34-3 in favor of the Panthers. At that point in the meet Luverne started a comeback and three straight pins in the top weights brought the final score of 40-27.

“I have no complaints, everyone gave a good effort,” said Panther Coach Joe Kemp. “They all wrestled hard whether they won or lost.”

Cagers came close against Tigers

The Panther boys basketball team put up a great effort but lost their 12th straight game, this one to the Marshall Tigers (now 8-4 for the season) at Marshall Saturday.

The score was 45-39, but the Panthers pulled to within two points of the Tigers at 41-39 with an 11-1 run that started with 4:08 left in the final period.

A three-point shot by Derek Rignell, who led all scorers with 23 points, brought about the 41-39 score with a minute left to play. That was as close as the Panthers would get and the Tigers scored the final four points for the win.

“We out-played and out-scored them for the last three quarters of the game,” said Panther coach Jon Ruoff. “We had a lot of good opportunities, many from only about two feet away. You have to give Marshall's defense some of the credit for our low shooting percentage.”