Clay Center downs Panthers, 49-37

CLAY CENTER — Hitting the road for the first time since the season opener, the Concordia High School Panthers had a two-game winning streak halted with a 49-37 North Central Kansas League loss to the Clay Center Tigers on Tuesday night.
Concordia, after opening the season with a road loss at Beloit, had played four consecutive games at home.
The Panthers notched league wins over Marysville and Abilene to wrap up the homestand.
Clay Center, coming off of two straight losses, used a 13-4 run in the third quarter to turn a two-point lead into a 34-23 advantage.
Concordia, now 2-4 overall and 2-1 in league play, got as close as six points in the final period but was unable to chase down the Tigers.
"I think we just ran out of gas there in the fourth quarter. Give credit to Clay Center, they were physical, they got after it," Concordia coach Trey Kuhlman said.
Falling behind 5-2 early, the Panthers got a steal and layup by Charlize Cash and a basket by Taylor McDaniel to take their only lead of the game, 6-5.
Clay Center, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, scored the final six points of the first quarter, and led 11-6.
Ayla Johnson scored the first two points of the second period to go up 13-6.
Cash again came up with a steal and made a layup. She was fouled, and hit the free throw to pull the Panthers within four points, 13-9.
"I thought Char, defensively, turning steals into layups, was big," Kuhlman said.
Clay Center answered with a three-point play by Lily Edwards to again make it a seven-point game, 16-9.
Concordia, trailing 18-11, got consecutive baskets by McDaniel and a layup by Cash to pull within a point, 18-17.
McDaniel led the Panthers with 16 points.
"I thought we got really good post presence from Taylor and Jaylin (Roush)," Kuhlman said.
Raegann McDonald made one of two free throws to give Clay Center a 19-17 halftime cushion.
"We told them at halftime that we had that many turnovers and to still only be down by two was a plus," Kuhlman said.
The two teams traded baskets to open the second half.
An 8-0 spurt gave the Tigers a 29-19 advantage.
Cash scored the next four points, and Concordia was down 29-23.
A layup by Candace Lippe, a free throw by Edwards and a follow by Johnson upped Clay Center’s lead to 34-23.
Roush, who finished with seven points, hit a 14-foot jumper as time ran out in the third quarter to pull the Panthers within nine points, 34-25.
McDaniel made two free throws and Roush followed up a missed shot by Concordia to make it a 34-29 game with less than two minutes gone by in the final period.
"We need more than four girls to score the basketball," Kuhlman said.
Edwards, who scored a game-high 22 points, buried a three for Clay Center.
McDaniel scored twice in just over a minute of play, but the Tigers answered each basket with one of their own, and were up 41-33 when Johnson made a short jumper.
Roush went one of two from the line to get Concordia within seven points, 41-34, with 3:09  remaining in the game.
Edwards hit four straight free throws to put the game out of reach at 45-34.
Cash joined McDaniel in double figures with 12 points. She also had nine steals.
Concordia had just four players score in the game.
The Panthers are off until January 2 when they play a road game at Republic County.
"It is a good time to get ourselves healthy and not overdo it," Kuhlman said.

CONCORDIA (37)
Jessup 0-0-3 0, Carlgren 1-0-4 2, Cash 3-6-4 12, McDaniel 7-2-5 16, Williams 0-0-1 0, Roush 3-1-2 7. Totals: 14-9-19 37.
CLAY CENTER (49)
Martin 1-0-0 2, Edwards 5-10-3 22, Lippe 2-4-2 8, Crimmins 1-0-1 2, Johnson 4-0-5 8.  McDonald 3-1-1 7. Totals: 15-14-13 49.