Falcons pull away to a 61-42 win over Panthers
When the shots stopped dropping and the fouls started mounting, the Concordia Panthers were unable to keep pace with the Riley County Falcons.
Concordia knocked down three of its first five three-point attempts in grabbing an18-12 lead on Riley County.
The short-handed Panthers led the Falcons 23-21 2:30 into the second quarter when shots quit going in and foul trouble started to take a toll.
Riley County used a 10-2 run to go up 31-25 at halftime, and then outscored Concordia 30-17 in the second half to capture a 61-42 victory Tuesday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
“We are capable of shooting the ball well, but as any team, you can get into a funk and get into a drought, and I thought we did a nice job of coming out and overcoming that,” Concordia coach Michael Roe said, “Obviously it wasn't for four quarters.”
Concordia falls to 3-12 with the loss, and Riley County improves to 11-3.
Cav Carlgren and Chas Carlgren knocked down three-point shots as the Panthers got out to a 10-6 lead in the game.
Two free throws by Garrett Harmison and a layup by Ian Uphoff pulled Riley County even at 10-10.
Jacob Rosenbaum hit two free throws and Chas Carlgren made another three to put Concordia up 15-10.
Harmison scored inside for the Falcons, but Easton Atwood drilled a three, and the Panthers led 18-12 heading into the second period.
Concordia had the lead, but also had some foul trouble with starters Chas Carlgren and Tyler Hobrock, each saddled with two quick fouls.
The Panthers were once again playing without Wyatt Trost and Chase Parker because of injuries.
“We are thin, but at the same time, good grief, our subs gave us some good minutes tonight. You think about how Easton played in the first half tonight. Tucker (Arnold) played pretty well in the second half. Jacob Williams got out there and did some nice things. Nick (Vignery) got out there and was a contributor. We are short, but we are kind of getting some guys to give us some minutes,” Roe said.
Riley County scored the first six points of the second quarter to pull even at 18-18.
Cav Carlgren scored on a drive, but Avery Holle hit a three to give the Falcons their first lead, 21-20, with 6:05 to play in the first quarter.
Ivon Owen answered with a three 23 seconds later, and Concordia had the lead back at 23-21.
The Panthers would connect on just one more three in the game, and that was by Chas Carlgren in the fourth quarter. They finished 6 of 26 for 23 percent, and were just 15 of 57 from the field for 26 percent.
Scoring seven unanswered points, the Falcons went on top to stay, 28-23.
Chas Carlgren scored off an offensive rebound to make it 28-25 with 2:05 left in the first half.
Scoring the final three points of the half, Riley County led 31-25.
The Falcons would push the lead to 11 points, 41-30, in the third quarter.
A basket by Chas Carlgren with time running out in the period left the Panthers trailing 41-32 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Two free throws by Furious Fleshman put Riley County up 43-32.
Cav Carlgren completed a three-point play, and Concordia was down just 43-35 with 6:50 remaining.
Riley County scored six straight points to open up a 49-35 advantage.
Concordia got no closer than 11 points over the final 3:48.
“They (Falcons) hit a bunch of 15-foot jump shots which is what we were willing to give up,” Roe said, “We knew they were really strong inside, so we were going to force them to try to score from outside, and we gave them the 15-foot jump shot. You have got to give credit to them for stepping up, and I don't know how many jumpers they hit, but it was a bunch.”
Chas Carlgren scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds for Concordia.
Cav Carlgren finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Harmison led three Riley County players in double figures with 25 points.
Ian Uphoff scored 15 points for the Falcons and Fleshman added 14.
Riley County shot 52 percent (23-45) from the floor and 81 percent (13 of 16) from the free throw line.
The Panthers are on the road Friday night for a North Central Kansas League game at Chapman.
RILEY COUNTY (61)
T. Harmison 1-0-4 2, Holle 2-0-2 5, Fleshman 4-6-4 14, G. Harmison 9-7-0 25, Uphoff 7-0-1 15, Payne 0-0-1 0, Bohnenblust 0-0-1 0. Totals: 23-13-14 61.
CONCORDIA (42)
Vignery 0-0-1 0, Arnold 1-0-0 2, Cav Carlgren 4-3-5 12, Atwood 1-0-1 3, Cleveland 0-0-1 0, Owen 2-0-3 5, Rosenbaum 1-2-2 4, Hobrock 1-1-2 3, Chas Carlgren 5-0-4 13. Totals: 15-6-19 42.