Concordia slips past Liberal 57-56 in SIT
SALINA — It was only fitting that the game-winning point for the Concordia Panthers came on a free throw by senior guard Cav Carlgren.
Concordia and Liberal were tied at 56-56 in the seventh-place game of the Salina Invitational Tournament when Carlgren was fouled with 4.4 seconds remaining.
Carlgren, who had connected on 13 of his first 15 free throws in the game, knocked down the first to give the Panthers a 57-56 lead. He missed on the second attempt and Liberal got the rebound and called timeout with 3.8 seconds left.
The Redskins got the ball in the hands of Quintavius Williams, but his three-point attempt as time expired was off the mark and Concordia escaped with the win Saturday afternoon at Salina South High School.
“We wanted to set up a play and we got the ball in his (Carlgren’s) hands. It worked out well for us and then we did a good job on the last possession. We played good defense and made them shoot a tough shot,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said.
Concordia, which suffered a loss to Wichita South in the opening round, dropped into the seventh-place game after falling 56-44 to Salina South.
Liberal lost to Andover in the first round and then to Abilene 75-48 in the consolation bracket.
With Carlgren scoring six points, the Panthers got out to a 13-3 lead on Liberal.
Carlgren, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 26 points, 17 rebounds and four assists.
“Obviously a big time performance, 26 points and 17 rebounds,” Holmes said.
Williams scored seven straight points for Liberal to close the gap to 13-10.
Concordia (8-5) led 14-12 heading into the second quarter.
Liberal would battle back to take a 20-19 lead.
The two teams would exchange the lead three times over the final four minutes of the first half, and the Panthers led 28-27.
The game was tied at 30-30 in the third quarter when five straight points by Carlgren and a three-point shot by Payton Breese gave Concordia a 38-30 advantage.
Breese was three of six on three-point attempts and six of eight from the free throw line in scoring 15 points.
“Payton Breese stepped up. He had a really great game. He hit some big threes for us. He got fouled on a three and hit three big free throws,” Holmes said.
The Panthers took a 42-25 lead in the final eight minutes of play.
Liberal scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to pull even at 42-42.
Carlgren hit a baseline shot and Joey Henderson made one of two free throws to give Concordia a 45-42 cushion.
The Redskins scored the next three points to tie it up at 45-45.
It was a 47-47 game when Breese hit five straight free throws to put the Panthers up 52-47 with just over four minutes to play.
Concordia, which finished the game 25 of 43 from the free throw line, scored its final 13 points from the charity stripe.
It was a 54-49 Panther lead when the Redskins got a follow by Mekhi Huskey and a three-point shot by Jenkins to pull even again at 54-54.
Two more free throws by Carlgren put Concordia up 56-54, but Huskey scored again with 25 seconds left and it was tied again.
Liberal came up with a steal, but then turned the ball over.
Following a Concordia timeout, Carlgren was fouled with 4.4 seconds left. He went one of two from the line, Williams missed, and the Panthers had the win.
“I am very, very proud of the guys. Three days in a row against 5 and 6A schools. They really fought hard. Showed a lot of heart and toughness. It was just a good, grind it out, tough win,” Holmes said.
Hobrock pulled down nine rebounds for Concordia.
Jenkins scored 20 points for Liberal and Williams added 13.
Andover won the tournament by defeating Wichita South 56-41 on Saturday. Buhler knocked off Salina Central 56-38 in the third-place game and Salina South beat Abilene 50-38 in the fifth-place game.
Salina South 56, Concordia 44
A day after Wichita South connected on seven three-point shots in a win over Concordia, the Salina South Cougars did the same.
Salina South knocked down seven threes in building a 37-19 lead on the Panthers.
Concordia put together a solid second half, but was unable to erase the double-digit deficit.
South connected on four threes in getting out to an 18-8 first quarter lead.
The Cougars tacked on three more during a 13-2 run to open the second period, that made it a 31-10 game.
Concordia got as close as 16 points, 31-15, and trailed 18 at halftime.
It was a 43-25 game in the third quarter when the Panthers got a basket by Hobrock, four straight points by Carlgren and a three by Breese to close the gap to 43-34.
“The second half was one of our better halves of the year. They fought hard and really played well against a good team,” Holmes said. “Our energy was great. We moved on offense as well as we have all year. We were aggressive and attacking on offense,” Holmes said.
Concordia scored the first two points of the fourth quarter and trailed just 43-36.
Salina South then went on a 10-2 spurt to open up a 53-38 lead.
The Panthers scored six points in 1:17 to make it 53-44 but the Cougars scored the final three points.
Carlgren led Concordia with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Hobrock added 10 points and six boards.
Jonathan Turner came off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds.
Tejon McDaniel poured in 25 points for Salina South. Devin Myers added 16 points.
Concordia will be on the road for a North Central Kansas League game at Abilene on Tuesday night.
LIBERAL (56)
Kerr 1-0-4 2, Garcia-Rotolo 3-1-3 7, Jenkins 4-2-3 20, Miller 0-1-5 1, Gilmore 1-0-3 2, Huskey 4-1-2 9, Williams 6-0-3 13, Avalos 1-0-1 2. Totals: 23-5-24 56.
CONCORDIA (57)
Henderson 1-1-2 5, Carlgren 6-14-2 26, Cash 2-1-3 5, Breese 3-6-0 15, Hobrock 1-3-4 5, Turner 1-0-1 2. Totals: 14-25-12 57.
SALINA SOUTH (56)
McDaniel 10-2-1 25, Myers 6-1-2 16, Copes 1-0-2 3, Davidson 1-1-0 3, Purucker 1-0-2 3, Garcia 2-2-3 6. Totals: 21-6-11 56.
CONCORDIA (44)
Henderson 1-0-2 3, Carlgren 6-2-4 14, Cash 2-1-4 5, Breese 3-0-2 8, Hobrock 4-2-2 10, Turner 2-0-0 4. Totals: 18-5-14 44.