The Panther girls’ basketball team needed this one.
TMB used an 18-0 first-half run to defeat Red Rock Central 69-29 Monday — a win that snapped a six-game losing skid — in its final game of 2025.
“We’ve talked a couple times that this team is getting closer, and they weren’t being rewarded with a ‘W,’” said TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh, whose team is now 1-0 with him and assistant coach James Fultz sporting ties. “We knew it was going to come at some point. It was good that they were able to finish this one off tonight.”
After spending the first few minutes settling in, the Panthers had little trouble with the Falcons.
The big run included threes by Taylor Munson and Gretchen Lanoue, but it was TMB’s defense that set the tone.
The Falcons struggled to get good looks, either down low or on the perimeter for most of the first half. TMB forced 30 RRC turnovers, held the Falcons to just 20% shooting and committed just 10 fouls.
“There were a couple moments early in the game where it was like, ‘OK, what are we doing?’” Ashbaugh said. “Eventually, we did a good job of converting turnovers into transition baskets. We needed some of that, too, because that gave us highpercentage looks. The first few minutes were a little sketchy here and there, but once we had a couple kids see the ball go in, it was contagious.”
A 26-point halftime lead carried well into the second half when Ali Dolan drilled a three with 12:51 left. That was part of a 7-0 run in which TMB got points from five different players.
“We needed this to boost our confidence,” said TMB guard Lauren Knakmuhs, who had six points and five rebounds. “It’s a good way to end 2025; now we can go into 2026 with confidence.”
Each of the Panthers’ losses during their losing streak were by double-digits, including a 48-point, bottoming-out loss to Central Minnesota Christan on Dec. 16.
“We kind of used those games as fuel to work extra hard, show other teams in the section that we won’t give up,” said Knakmuhs. “Our shots haven’t really been falling, and tonight they were, so now we can have more confidence in our shots. We took a lot of smart shots, instead of kind of chucking it up.”
Gretchen Lanoue paced the Panthers with 15 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals. Melaina Ankrum had 13 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Munson and Braelynn Kirk both scored nine points, and Alli Dolan had eight points and four assists. Elsie Knott added six points.
The Panthers (2-7, 1-4) outreboundsed RRC 49-24, and their 39-point first half was their highest scoring half of the season.
TMB is at MCC on Jan. 2
• The TMB B-squad won 49-23, as Mesa Edwards scored 11 points. Sierra Staufacker and Avery Anderson had nine points apiece and Evelyn Buyck scored six.
RRC 13 14 — 27 TMB 39 30 — 69 RRC
Reiner 0-1 0-0 0, Olson 5-14 0-0 13, Weis 0-1 0-0 0, Vogel 3-14 0-3 9,
Roiger 1-1 0-0 2, Wani 0-9 1-4 1, Batalden 1-2 0-0 2, Wondercheck 0-1 0-0 0, Paplow 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 10-50 1-7 27. Three-pointers: 6-24. Assists: 9. Rebounds: 24. Steals: 8. Turnovers: 30.
TMB
Lanoue 5-18 4-6 15, Ankrum 5-18 3-5 13, Munson 3-7 2-2 9, Kirk 2-6 4-7 9, Knakmuhs 2-5 1-1 6, Knott 3-4 0-0 6, Adams 0-5 1-4 1, Dolan 2-5 3-6 8. Anderson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 24-70 15-25. Three-pointers: 6-17 (Dolan 2-5, Kirk 1-1, Lanoue 1-3, Munson 1-3, Ankrum 0-2, Adams 0-1). Assists: 15 (Dolan 4, Lanoue 3, Ankrum 2, Munson 2, Kirk, Knakmuhs, Knott, V. Munson). Rebounds: 49 (Lanoue 14, Ankmrum 11, Kirk 5, Knakmuhs 5, Adams 4, Knott 2, Dolan 2, Edwards). Blocks: 1 (Lanoue). Steals: 19 (Lanoue 7, Ankrum 5, T. Munson 2, Knakmuhs 2, Knott 2, Kirk).
