Bulldogs heat up in second half, hand Panthers first loss

MARYSVILLE — Heating up in the second half, the Marysville Bulldogs shot their way past the Concordia Panthers 58-42 in a North Central Kansas League showdown Tuesday night.
Marysville missed its first 11 three-point attempts in the game, and was 3 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Trailing 23-16, the Bulldogs knocked down five of their first seven shots from three-point range in the second half on their way to outscoring Concordia 42-19 to capture the league win.
“We did a really good job in the first half in our zone challenging shots. The second half they got into a little rhythm against us so we mixed up our defenses and went man a lot. In our man defense we didn't guard the ball very well. They beat us off the dribble and the rebounding killed us all night,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said. “I have got to give credit to them. They are a great team. They have 10 seniors.”
It was the first loss of the season for the Panthers, who are now 4-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Both teams struggled to score in the first six minutes of the game, and Marysville led 5-4.
A basket by Joey Henderson and a three-point shot by Peyton Retter gave Concordia a 9-5 advantage going into the second quarter.
It was an 11-0 game in the second period when the Panthers got a three-point basket by Payton Breese and buckets by Alan Garcia and Jonathan Turner to go up 18-10.
Concordia had a 23-16 lead at halftime.
Marysville, now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the league, came out firing in the second half.
The Bulldogs scored the first seven points to pull even at 23-23.
Retter, who was the only Panther to score in double figures with 16 points, connected on a three-point shot. He was six of seven from the field including four of four from three-point range.
Sander Zutterman hit a three for Marysville, but Retter answered, and Concordia led 29-26.
The Panthers would not score again in the third quarter.
“When we dribble too much we struggle offensively. We have got to move and come off screens and move the ball side to side more and not try to beat everybody one on one off the dribble,” Holmes said.
Marysville pumped in the final nine points of the period, including a three by Will Otott as time expired, to open up a 35-29 advantage.
Concordia would cut the deficit to three points early in the final period.
Two free throws by Henderson made it a 39-36 game with 6:15 to play.
Jack Lauer knocked down a pair of threes and scored eight points in less than a minute to stretch Marysville's lead to 47-36.
Henderson hit from five feet, but the Bulldogs answered with six straight points, and led 53-38.
Concordia could get no closer than 13 points over the final three minutes.
Henderson finished with eight points, five assists and five steals for the Panthers.
Concordia shot 41 percent (16 of 39) from the field.
The Panthers made all four of their free throw attempts.
Three Marysville players scored in double figures, led by Lauer and Otott with 15 points each. Rook Williams added 10 points.
Concordia returns home after playing three straight games on the road, to host Abilene on Friday night.

CONCORDIA (42)
Henderson 3-2-1 8, Garcia 1-0-4 2, Retter 6-0-3 16, Cash 3-0-3 7, Breese 1-0-3 3, Turner 2-2-0 6. Totals: 16-4-13 42.
MARYSVILLE (58)
Lauer 7-1-1 15, Otott 5-4-2 15, Zutterman 2-0-2 6, Rh. Williams 2-2-3 6, Ro. Williams 4-1-3 10, Spicer 0-0-1 0. Totals: 21-8-12 58.