Concordia bounces back from loss

What a difference a day makes!
Less than 24 hours after suffering a disappointing loss to Wamego, the Concordia Panthers bounced back to defeat Hays 62-40 Saturday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
Concordia used an 18-4 run over the final 1:28 of the first quarter and the first 3:48 of the second to open up a 14-point lead, and would not let Hays get closer than seven points the rest of the way in improving to 14-5.
The Panthers had won four straight games before suffering the setback to Wamego the day before, but shut down a Hays team that was just 4-12, but had handed Abilene its first loss of the season on Tuesday.
“I thought it was a sign of our character, and our guys knew that Friday was not our best performance,” Concordia coach Brandon Rice said, “We were focused, guarded hard, and our intensity was there.”
Concordia will finish up the regular season with a North Central Kansas League game at Clay Center. A win will give the Panthers the number two seed in the Class 4A sub-state to be played in Buhler.
Hays, a team that relies on three-point shooting, had connected on 11 treys in the win over Abilene, but Concordia limited the Indians to just three
“I thought our team defense was extra special. We talked on defense and we were aggressive on defense. It was pretty impressive what our kids did,” Rice said.
Concordia trailed 5-2 early, but grabbed a 9-7 lead when Grant Holmes hit a three with 3:33 to play in the first quarter.
Holmes led all scorers with 25 points. He was 8 of 15 from the field and eight of nine from the free throw line and had six rebounds.
Brady Werth scored for Hays to tie the game at 9-9.
The Panthers got a basket by Gabe Bergmann and made three of four free throws to take a 14-9 lead.
A jumper by Holmes and consecutive baskets by Drew Erkenbrack in the first 1:21 of the second quarter extended Concordia’s advantage to 20-9.
The Panthers would push the lead to 14 points, 27-13.
Werth completed a three-point play, but Nathan Gieber answered with a three, and it was 30-16.
Hays got five straight points by Jordan Windholz and a jumper by Werth to cut the deficit in half, 30-23.
A free throw by Erkenbrack put Concordia up 31-23 at halftime.
Four points by Holmes in the first 1:11 of the second half pushed Concordia’s lead to 35-23, but Hays would hang around.
The Indians trailed just 42-33 when Alex Delton scored on a drive with 2:12 to play in the third period.
Concordia scored nine points in the final 1:41 of the quarter to go up 51-33.
Hays scored the final four points of the final stanza to make it a 51-37 game.
The Panthers would not have a field goal in the final eight minutes, but shot 16 free throws, and made 11 of them, including their last eight, to make sure the Indians did not make a run.
Holmes knocked down six straight free throws during one stretch.
“The fourth quarter, I thought they became desperate and played a little too aggressively and put us on the line,” Rice said.
Concordia shot 36 free throws in the game, and made 22. Hays was five of eight from the line.
Hays managed just three points over the final 6:28 of the game, and would get no closer than 14 points.
Joshua Pounds had 10 points and four assists for Concordia.
Bergmann finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Erkenbrack also scored eight points, and Derick Nordell pulled down eight rebounds.
Werth led Hays with 13 points.

HAYS (40)
Niernberger 0-0-1 0, Petz 0-0-1 0, Delten 4-0-2 9, Windholz 3-0-1 7, Clark 1-0-3 3, Mathas 0-0-1 0, Downing 0-0-2 0, Rounkles 0-1-0 1, Cardinal 0-0-4 0, Parker 1-0-4 2, Bixenman 1-3-5 5, Gonzales 0-0-3 0, Werth 6-1-3 13. Totals: 16-5-30 40.
CONCORDIA (62)
Garcia 1-2-2 4, Pounds 2-6-2 10, Erkenbrack 3-2-0 8, Holmes 8-8-1 25, Gieber 2-0-0 5, Nordell 0-2-3 2, Bergmann 3-2-3 8. Totals: 19-22-11 62.

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