Haven hands Panthers 53-51 overtime loss
HALSTEAD — Wiping out a double-digit deficit and putting themselves in position to pick up a win went unrewarded for a second straight game for the Concordia Panthers.
Concordia rallied from 11 points down early to take a lead on Cheney before suffering a 47-43 loss in the semifinals of the 54th Annual Adolph Rupp Tournament on Friday.
Trailing Haven by 15 points in the second half, the Panthers mounted a furious comeback and forced overtime only to fall 53-51 in the third-place game on Saturday night.
“Two tough losses,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said. “I told the kids we put that much effort and fight into it and battled back and then we struggled to make the plays when we needed to.”
Third-seeded Concordia, now 6-4, finished fourth in the tournament for the second straight year.
Cheney won the tournament by knocking off Andale 73-67 in overtime.
Rose Hill got past Garden Plain 49-46 in the fifth-place game and host Halstead defeated Winfield 63-58 in the seventh-place game.
Fifth-seeded Haven led Concordia 41-26 when Gatlin Rinehart scored on a drive with 2:16 to play in the third quarter.
The Wildcats were up 44-30 when Luke Donovan and Joey Henderson hit two free throws each and Henderson buried a three-point shot to pull Concordia within seven points, 44-37, going into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers opened the final period with 10 straight points, and led 47-44 when Henderson turned a steal into a layup.
Concordia could have led by more, but missed five free throws during that stretch. They finished 14 of 24 from the line for 58 percent.
Rinehart made one of two free throws for Haven.
Two free throws by Breese gave Concordia a 49-45 advantage.
The Panthers would not score again in regulation play.
A basket by Rinehart and two free throws by Braxton Miller pulled the Wildcats even at 49-49 with just under two minutes to play.
Haven came up with a steal and milked the clock.
During a battle for a loose ball, the officials awarded Haven a timeout with 4.2 seconds on the clock.
Rinehart missed on a three-point attempt as time expired, and the game went to overtime.
A bucket by Rinehart and a free throw by Dalton Bontrager gave the Wildcats a 52-49 lead less than a minute into the extra period.
Jonathan Turner made two free throws to get Concordia within a point, 52-51.
Nash Ray went one of two from the line, and Haven led 53-51 with 1:21 left.
Henderson was unable to knock down a three-point shot, but the Panthers got the ball back when Rinehart was called for an offensive foul with 34 seconds remaining.
Concordia then ran the clock down and called a timeout.
With time running out, Peyton Retter put up a three-point attempt and was off the mark, and Haven escaped with the win.
“We ran a play and it wasn’t open. We got a good look at it. It just didn’t go down. It was not bad shot selection, it just didn’t fall,” Holmes said.
Breese led three Panthers in double figures with 14 points. He also had seven rebounds and four assists.
Henderson and Retter added 13 points each.
The Panthers made 7 of the 11 two-point shots they took but were just 7 of 24 from three-point range.
“That 1-3-1 (zone), we settled a little bit,” Holmes said.
Miller scored 16 points for Haven and Bontrager finished with 13.
Concordia got out to a 7-3 lead in the game.
A 7-2 spurt put Haven up 10-9.
The two teams then went back and forth over the next eight minutes.
The Panthers were up 20-19 in the second quarter when Bontrager scored seven straight points to give the lead back to Haven, 26-20.
The Wildcats led 28-23 at halftime and opened the third period with a 13-3 spurt to make it a 41-26 game.
Concordia came charging back only to fall in overtime.
The Panthers are now off until January 30 when they play at Clifton-Clyde.
HAVEN (53)
Nisly 1-0-2 3, Miller 5-2-4 16, Wray 2-1-2 6, Rinehart 4-1-4 9, Richey 2-2-4 6, Bontrager 5-3-1 13. Totals;: 9-9-20 53.
CONCORDIA (51)
Henderson 4-3-2 13, VanMeter 1-0-0 2, Parker 0-0-4 0, Retter 5-1-2 13, Breese 4-3-0 14, Donovan 0-4-3 4, Turner 1-3-3 5. Totals: 14-14-14 51.