It took a little extra work, but Panther boys find a way to win key Camden Conference game, 85-80
Nothing has come easy for the TMB boys’ basketball team in January, including its game against MACCRAY on Monday.
But in front of a packed house, the Panthers were able to scratch out their third win of the month, an 85-80 doubleovertime thriller.
“The losing streak we had, I think what makes a good team is just learning from that,” said Lanoue, who scored 23 points, and had 11 assists and five steals. “There were a lot of ups and down in this game. I think it’s something that we can build off of.”
While Lanoue did most of his damage in the second half — he scored 17 of his 23 points after halftime — fellow senior guard Griffin Zick did the heavy lifting in the first, when he scored 17 of his game-high 31 points, consistently hitting key baskets that helped TMB build an early 17-8 lead. His long-range accuracy later prevented the Wolverines from establishing any sense of control.
Zick connected on four threes in the first half, the final one, trimming a 34-29 lead to 34-32 with :47 left.
The Panthers (8-8, 6-4 in the Camden) hit 13 threes for the game, which was key considering MACCRAY had a considerable height advantage in the paint.
“We had to hit shots from the outside, and we did,” TMB coach Ryan Kruse said. “We needed every one of them. Grif just kept hitting shots for us; in the middle of the first half when we were struggling, he was the one that kind of kept us in the game. Has to, we count on him to do it.” Zick started the second half with another three, and a put back by Eli Lightfoot gave TMB a 43-41 lead with 13:27 left; it was its first lead since the 7:23 mark of the first half.
That’s when things got really interesting. Back-to-back threes by Lanoue and Emery Xiong put TMB up 56-53, and Lanoue scored three more in a row as the Panthers tried to take charge, but MACCRAY wouldn’t go away and tied it at 60-60 with 2:49 to go. A MACCRAY charity shot tied it up again at 63-63, and neither team was able to finish the other off before the final buzzer.
“We made some plays at the end of the game that you don’t want to make,” coach Kruse said. “We were up and we threw the ball right to them and they score … but we were able to react and make the next one. I was really happy with how we didn’t put our heads down and just kept playing.”
In the first overtime, Lanoue struck again with a three, and Jackson Kruse scored to push the Panthers to a 68-63 advantage with just 1:48 left. However, the Wolverines clawed their way back again, and after two Lanoue free throws, Jonah Janssen hit a three from the wing at the buzzer to send it to a second overtime.
The Panthers slowed things down in the final overtime after building a 76-72 cushion, and after MACCRAY made it a 76-74 game, Zick buried a three from the corner, then made a layup to put TMB up 81-74 with :39 to go. Another Janssen three with :17 left made it 81-77, but Lanoue, who had missed two free throws with his team up by one with :27 left in the first overtime, came through with two clutch free throws to ice the game.
“Good overall game for Connor — handling the ball rebounding and scoring,” coach Kruse said.
Lanoue, who missed five games recently because of an injury, said it was good to get back on the court.
“I think I learned even more on the bench than sometimes I do playing,” he said. “Missing those games really helped me; I think I’ve been playing a lot better.”
It was the Panthers’ second overtime game in less than a week. TMB lost to RCW on Jan. 20.
“We came out on the wrong side of that, so it was nice to get this win,” coach Kruse said. “It was a fun game. In the end, we just made more plays than them.”
Despite the height disadvantage, TMB was able to outrebound MACCRAY 41-37, with Aiden Sanow grabbing 13 and Eli Lightfoot nine.
“We knew if we won the rebound battle we’d win this game,” coach Kruse said. “We fought hard for those rebounds, and that helped us get out and run.”
• The Panther B-squad won 53-46. Parker Kline had 17 points and seven rebounds, and Carson Lanoue and Kruse both scored nine. Talon Brinkley and Nolan Carlson both added eight points, and Carlson pulled down eight boards.
TMB will look for its second straight win at Ortonville tonight (Jan. 29).
MACCRAY 36 27 7 10 — 80 TMB 32 31 7 15 — 85 MACCRAY
Noble 3-8 0-1 7, N. Thissen 1-2 0-0 2, Jannsen 5-10 1-2 14, Schlägel 4-7 2-5 10, Klinghagen 1-2 0 -0 2, Meyer 0-1 1-2 1, Janssen 8-17 5-6 25, L. Thissen 0-1 0-1, Dirksen 6-9 4-6 16. Totals: 28-57 13-23 77. Three-pointers: 8-19. Assists: 25. Rebounds: 37. Blocks: 1. Steals: 11. Turnovers: 32
TMB
Sanders 0-1 1-2 1, Zick 10-29 4-5 31, Carson Lanoue 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Lanoue 7-16 5-8 23, Xiong 1-7 1-2 4, Kruse 4-8 2-2 10, Sanow 2-11 0-2 5, Lightfoot 4-6 1-2 9. Totals: 29-79 14-23 85. Three-pointers: 13-42 (Zick 7-20, Connor Lanoue 4-11, Xiong 1-6, Sanow 1-3). Assists: 23 (Connor Lanoue 11, Zick 5, Sanow 2, Lightfoot 2, Carson Lanoue, Xiong, Kruse).
Rebounds: 41 (Sanow 13, Lightfoot 9, Connor Lanoue 6, Kruse 6, Carson Lanoue 3, Zick 2, Sanders 2). Blocks: 2 (Lightfoot 2). Steals: 23 (Kruse 5, Connor Lanoue 5, Sanow 3, Lightfoot 3, Zick 3, Xiong 3, Sanders, Carson Lanoue).
