The Panther boys’ basketball team likes to run, and they love to score. Apparently, they enjoy playing a little defense, too.
TMB’s sticky D and a couple of big scoring runs were the stories of Tuesday’s 78-44 dismantling of Canby in a Camden Conference battle.
“I thought we did a really good job of taking away their screen-and-roll, and we closed out hard on threes,” TMB coach Ryan Kruse said. “It was just a good team effort on defense.”
The Lancers started off on the right foot with a 3-pointer to open the game, but they did nothing but stumble after that during a series of turnovers and missed shots. But it wasn’t their fault; they just didn’t have any answers for TMB’s defense.
The Lancers’ inability to score opened the door for the Panthers to open up an early 11-3 lead. It wasn’t until the 13:25 mark of the first half that Canby made its second basket.
“We had a good game plan,” TMB guard Connor Lanoue said. “We executed it for the most part, but there’s always room for improvement.”
TMB’s offense, on the other hand, clicked early behind the hot hand of Griffin Zick who tallied 11 points in the game’s first 7 minutes. The Panthers would continue to pour it on, building a 30-10 cushion.
After the Lancers scratched out six straight points on consecutive threes, Jackson Kruse scored five in a row, and Lanoue capped off a 12-3 run that ended the half.
TMB (3-1, 2-1) lit it up from the outside in the second half as the rout continued. Lanoue hit two straight threes for a 58-25 lead, and after a three by Kruse, Lanoue nailed another to widen the Panthers’ advantage to 70-27, as garbage time commenced.
“We really pride ourselves on our defense in practice,” Lanoue said. “Our defense is what matters the most; we do a lot of drills in practice and it’s paid off.”
Canby scored just two points over the first 5:15 of the second half, as the Panther defense seemed to have upped its intensity ever more after the break.
“They had 23 points at the half, which is pretty good, but I thought we really stepped it up another level to start the second half, which is good to see,” Kruse said.
One of the defensive stalwarts for the Panthers was big man Eli Lightfoot. He had four steals and two blocked shots to go along with his seven rebounds and five points.
“Eli seemed like he had his hands on the ball a lot, whether it was a tip or a rebound, or a block,” Kruse said. “All around, I think he played one of his best games.” Four players scored in double figures for the Panthers: Lanoue and Zick both had 18; Kruse scored 14 and Sanow netted 13 points. Lanoue, Kruse, Lightfoot and Sanow all had seven rebounds.
“We’re just making the right plays now,” Kruse said. “We’re making a lot of shots. I just really like their effort right now. They’re playing together, they’re having fun.”
The Panthers forced 23 Canby turnovers, and 15 of them were steals. Sanow and Lightfoot both had four; Zick had three, and Emery Xiong two.
• The TMB B-squad got 17 points from Parker Kline and 10 from Kruse, who both also had five steals. Braden Morgan had 12 rebounds and eight points, and Nolan Carlson scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 4628 win.
Canby 23 21 — 44 TMB 44 34 — 78 Canby
Abrahamson 1-7 0-0 2, Hoiland 5-6 0-0 10, Kack 4-9 2-2 11, Rangaard 4-10 0-2 11, Hauschild 0-1 0-0 0, Midtaune 0-2 0-0 0, Peterson 3-12 2-2 10, Meyer-Thovson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 17-49 4-6 44. Three-pointers: 6-20.
Assists: 10. Rebounds: 29. Blocks: 3. Steals: 10. Turnovers: 23. TMB
Sanders 3-3 1-2 7, Zick 6-13 6-9 18, Carson Lanoue 0-0 1-2 1, Connor Lanoue 6-12 2-3 18, Xiong 0-3 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-1 0, Kruse 6-8 0-0 14, Sanow 5-9 1-2 11, Kline 1-1 0-0 2, Lightfoot 1-1 3-4 5. Totals: 29-50 14-23 78. Three-pointers: 6-22 (Connor Lanoue 4-7, Kruse 2-3, Zick 0-5, Xiong 0-3, Sanow 0-4. Assists: 19 (Zick 5, Connor Lanoue 5, Sanow 3, Sanders, Carson Lanoue, Kruse, Lightfoot, Petersen, Xiong). Rebounds: 36 (Sanow 7, Lightfoot 7, Connor Lanoue 7, Kruse 7, Zick 3, Xiong 2, Sanders, Morgan. Blocks: 2 (Lightfoot 2). Steals: 15 (Sanow 4, Lightfoot 4, Zick 3, Xiong 2, Kline, Connor Lanoue).
