SUB-SECTION 3A, ROUND 2 / HBC 75, TMB 40
Hills-Beaver Creek outscores Panthers 42-16 in second half for 75-40 sub-section tournament win
The Panther girls basketball team may not have been favored to win against No. 1 seeded Hill-Beaver Creek Saturday, but they sure didn’t look like it in the first half. However, the second half was a different story as the Patriots showed the reason for their seeding and pulled away for a 75-40 victory, ending the Panthers’ season.
The Panthers jumped on the board first after Melina Ankrum was fouled and sunk both free throws. The Panther defense was able to keep the Patriots off balance much of the first half, and an Ankrum steal and Gretchen Lanoue three put the Panthers up 5-2. Lanoue would hit two more threes before the HBC coach called a time out to settle down his team.
“The girls did a nice job, especially early in the game getting stops,” TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh said. “There were moments in the first half I felt we really played well, We just didn’t sustain those spurts long enough. Offensively, it was hot early.”
The timeout didn’t slow down the Panthers, who continued to battle and force Patriot turnovers — 19 for the game. Buckets by Ankrum and Elsie Knott continued to build the lead for the Panthers at 15-10. The Patriots clawed their way back to take their first lead 16-15 with just over 9 minutes left in the half. However, Lauren Knakmuhs was fouled on a three-pointer and drained two of her free throws to take back the lead, 17-16. With 8:40 left in the first half, that’s the last time the Panthers would have the lead on the day.
The Patriots went on an 11-2 run to take a 2717 advantage. Ankrum stopped the momentum with a bucket and Alli Dolan followed with a three, but the Patriots answered back with baskets of their own and Ankrum put up another two of her 12 points with :35 seconds left to bring the Panthers to within nine at the half.
The second half was a completely different game for both teams. The Panthers may have scored first, on a Lanoue free throw, but that was about all the similarities there were.
Ashbaugh acknowledged the changes the Patriots were able to make to alter the momentum.
“They are a smart team, they made some adjustments and we really seemed to struggle after that,” Ashbaugh said. “The zone got us out of that attack mentality, and then we had a flurry of turnovers that they took advantage of. Just need to play a little cleaner.”
The Patriot defense caused 20 turnovers on the day, and the Panthers’ shooting went cold. The Panthers, who finished with a 9-13 record, were only able to add 16 points in the second half, while the Patriots added 42 to their total as they shot 54% on the day. They also outrebounded the Panthers 33-20.
“Our big issue for us all game long and most of this season was giving up offensive rebounds,” Ashbaugh said. “Hills is one of the better teams in the area getting offensive rebounds and we end up -13 on the glass.”
To start, the Panthers tried to keep pace on free throws from Lanoue and Knott but for each point the Panthers put up, the Patriots answered with four of their own. The Patriots continued to consistently pull away to end the Panthers’ season.
The Panthers were lead by Lanoue with 15 points and four rebounds and Ankrum, who added 11 points and six rebounds.
While the loss ended the Panthers’ season, the team doesn’t lose any players to graduation and looks to build on the young team next year.
“I thought we really, in the first five minutes, outplayed them,” Ashbaugh said. “They did a nice job of taking advantage of nice opportunities. It may be an inexperienced team, but we need to capitalize on the lessons we’re learning this year and move forward and learn some things from that. There is a really good core here and we just need to sharpen the skills, get stronger and put in good work in this off season to see this group’s potential. There’s a lot there, but we need to keep working toward it to achieve it.”
TMB 24 16 — 40 HBC 33 42 — 75 TMB
Lanoue 4-15 2-7 12, Ankrum 4-11 3-5 12, Munson 0-3 0-0 0, Knakmuhs 0-3 2-3 2, Knott 1-3 0-2 2, Adams 0-1 2-3 2, Dolan 1-3 0-0 3, Buyck 1-1 0-0 2, Anderson 1-2 2-4 4. Totals: 12-43 10-22 40. Three-pointers: 6-17 (Lanoue 3-8, Anderson 1-1, Dolan 1-2, Ankrum 1-3, Adams 0-1). Assists: 9 (Ankrum 3, Lanoue 2, Munson, Knott, Adams, Dolan). Rebounds: 20 (Ankrum 6, Lanoue 4, Knott 3, Dolan 2, Buyck 2, Munson, Adams, Anderson). Stelas: 8 (Ankrum 5, Lanoue, Knott).
Turnovers: 20. HBC
Moser 0-1 0-0 0, Knobloch 3-3 0-0 8, Deelstra 6-10 2-2 14, Bakken 8-11 2-3 18, Sammons 3-9 0-1 6, Steinhoff 1-4 1-1 3, Spath 3-6 2-2 10, Rheault 5-9 0-1 10. Totals: 32-59 7-10 75. Three-pointers: 4-15. Assists: 21.
Rebounds: 33.
ABOVE: TMB GUARD LAUREN KNAKMUHS drives in for a layup during the Panthers’ loss to Hills-Beaver Creek in Saturday’s Sub-Section 3A Tournament Saturday. BELOW: ELSIE KNOTT goes in for two.
