Sports from the week of January 23, 2002 Headlight Herald - Serving Tracy, Minnesota, since 1880
TMB boys win first 212 Conference game
The Tracy/Milroy/Balaton boys' basketball team got their second win of the season at Tracy Thursday.
The Panthers beat winless Kerkhoven/Murdock/Sunburg 51-44 for their first 212 Conference win.
"It wasn't that we played so well but it sure was nice to get a win!" said Panther Coach Jon Ruoff. "We had some boys step up tonight to pick up the slack caused by Scotty (LaVoy) and Jake (Peterreins) each having an off night shooting."
The Panthers took a 16-12 first- period lead. Thirteen of those points were contributed by the Peterson boys. Bryce Peterson meshed two field goals and Eric Peterson hit two three-point field goals plus a driving lay-up which drew a foul which he converted for the three point play. Brandon Lightfoot gave TMB its biggest lead at 15-9 when he scored on a rebound with 2:10 left in the period.
The Panthers pulled down 38 rebounds (Bryce Peterson nine), had nine steals (LaVoy three), and committed 13 turnovers.
Eric Peterson finished with 18 points.
The Panther C won 38-19, with the B-squad winning its first game, 51-43.
Panthers finish near bottom of team standings
The Panther wrestling team finished seventh in the 212 Conference Wrestling Tournament held in Kerkhoven Saturday.
Team scores were: BOLD, 251; Renville County West, 173; KMS, 161; ACGC 117.5; Yellow Medicine East, 91; MACCRAY, 87.5; Tracy/Milroy/Balaton, 74; Ortonville, 36.
Two Panther wrestlers captured third-place honors. Adam Snyder (119) won two out of three matches. Donald Strand (125) won three of four matches.
Wrestlers win big at Luverne
The Panther wrestling team won its dual meet with Luverne Tuesday night by a score of 52-19. The team registered nine wins, six of them by pins.
"We are coming along," said Panther coach Travis Christenson. "We are doing the right things, the things you have to do to eventually win. Scott's (Torkelson) pin in the first match followed by Colin's (Evans) decision really got us going."
Scott Torkelson, Chad Cooreman, Cody Arnold, Adam Snyder, Matt Prairie and Erik Kathman all registered pins and Colin Evans, wrestling at heavyweight because he didn't make weight at 189, Andy Nelson, and Paul Carlson registered decisions.
The Panthers will next participate in the Plum Creek Tournament in Lamberton on Saturday and will host a quadrangular at the Prairie Pavilion on Friday, Feb. 1. The visiting teams will be Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, New Richland-Heartland, Ellendale-Geneva and River Valley.
"We will see some very good competition at the Plum Creek Tournament," said Christenson. "This part of the state has some very good wrestling teams. Teams such as Minneota, Wabasso, BOLD, Adrian, Canby and now KMS. They are all very tough."
Girls pull upset in Granite
The Panther girls' basketball team used a strong fourth quarter to upset Yellow Medicine East 48-43 at Granite Falls Friday.
The win improved T/M/B's season record to 8-5 and 7-2 in the conference. The conference-leading Sting fell to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
"I am happy with the way the girls played," said Panther coach Paul Soupir. "Everyone played their role and that is all I can ask."
The Sting led most of the game. The score was tied 7-7 at the end of the first period. YME pulled ahead 20-18 at the half and led 35-31 after three quarters of play. TMB tied the score at 41-41 with less than two minutes to play. The Panthers out-scored YME 7-4 to win the game.
"We played with good consistency and they got a little rushed at the end," said Soupir. "YME is a good team and they are not in that position very often."
The Panthers out-rebounded the Sting 34-24. "We played good defense and didn't give them many second shots," said Soupir.
Girls fall short against Tigers
On Tuesday night the Panther girls lost to Marshall , at Marshall, by a score of 45-31. The loss dropped Tracy/Milroy/Balaton's season record to 8-6 and they are 7-2 in the 212 Conference.
Using a very hot shooting hand, the Tigers jumped off to a 23-6 first-period lead over TMB. They shot the ball at a 60 percent clip including three three-pointers to attain that lead.
"Everything fell in for them in that first period," said the Panthers' assistant coach, Katie Gervais.