Falcons soar past CHS girls, 54-23

RILEY — Looking to get off to a fast start against a Riley County team that had lost five games in a row, the Concordia Panthers couldn't get untracked.
Concordia connected on just two field goal attempts, turned the ball over 10 times and gave up 11 second chance points in falling behind Riley County 34-4 at halftime.
The Panthers played the Falcons nearly even in the second half, but couldn't overcome the large deficit.
“They (Riley County) have been struggling so we wanted to get out and try to jump on them early. We were getting good shots, they just weren't falling,” Concordia coach Michael Wahlmeier said, “We could see that getting into the girls' heads, and then they start not taking shots that they should. And then we tried to force some passes that we shouldn't and turn into turnovers and points on the other end. It was kind of a snowball effect.”
Riley County (9-6) jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game.
Concordia (3-13) did not score until a bucket by Katlynn Miller with 2:17 remaining in the first period.
Scoring five straight points, the Falcons led 15-2 heading into the second quarter.
A basket by Terin Rundus left Concordia trailing 15-4.
The Panthers (2-14) would not score again in the half.
Riley County poured in 19 points in the second period to open up the 34-4 halftime advantage.
“We told them to win the third quarter,” Wahlmeier said of the message at halftime, “And they did that. Abby Donovan, I thought gave us a lift and played hard. We tried to find people who were going to do that, come out and play hard and try to make things happen.”
Donovan scored four points in the third quarter for the Panthers.
Jessi Brummett scored the first three points of the second half to give Riley County a 37-4 cushion.
The two teams traded baskets, and it was a 39-6 game.
A three-point basket by Zoe Bechard started a 10-3 Concordia run that made it 42-16.
Sophomore Kendall Reynolds scored five of those points for the Panthers. She finished with a team high nine points, all in the second half.
Reynolds hit seven of eight free throws.
“That was good to see because she has been struggling with that some this season. She also came up with some steals,” Wahlmeier said.
A basket by Ames Burton and a free throw by Sara Thomson put the Falcons on top 45-16 going into the fourth quarter.
Rundus made one of two free throws early in the final period to make it a 45-17 game.
Five straight points by Thomson extended Riley County's lead to 49-17.
There would be a running clock the rest of the way, and Concordia scored six points to five for the Falcons.
Morgan Vargo led Riley County with 14 points. Thomson added 13 points.
Concordia will begin a stretch of four straight home games to finish up the regular season by hosting Chapman on Friday night.
“We want to take advantage of that,” Wahlmeier said of the homestand, “We have a good team in Chapman coming in here n Friday, and we have got to be ready for them. They beat us earlier in the year so we know they can do it. We have just got to play our game. We talk a lot about being the best version of us we can be. We see moments of it, we just have to be more consistent.”

CONCORDIA (23)
Bechard 1-0-4 3, Donovan 2-2-0 4, E. Wahlmeier 0-0-2 0, Conway 0-0-3 0, Reynolds 1-7-3 9, Strait 0-2-0 2, K. Wahlmeier 0-0-1 0, Rundus 1-1-3 3, Miller 1-0-3 2. Totals: 5-12-20 23.
RILEY COUNTY (54)
Brummett 3-3-1 9, Vargo 3-6-1 14, Thomson 2-8-0 13, Wagner 2-0-1 6, Oliver 1-0-1 2, Kulp 0-2-2 2, Burton 4-0-3 8. Totals: 14-19-9 54.