Panthers battle past Vikings, 45-33

LINDSBORG — On a night when the perimeter shots were not falling, the Concordia Panthers did enough damage in the paint to battle their way to a 45-33 road win over the Smoky Valley Vikings on Friday night.
Concordia knocked down just one of seven three-point attempts in the game, but 6-4 junior Tyler Hobrock and 6-6 senior Chase Parker combined for 25 points and 20 rebounds to propel the Panthers to the win and a 2-0 start on the season.
“Between those two they had 25 points and gave us some good inside play, which is very important. Both of those guys played well,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said.
Hobrock led the Panthers with 15 points and 12 rebounds, both career best. He was six of nine from the field and three of six from the free throw line.
“He (Hobrock) has improved so much. I saw his improvement this summer, and from summer to now he has improved even more, and he is going to keep improving. He works so hard,” Holmes said.
Parker scored 10 points in the game. He also had six rebounds and four blocked shots.
Concordia got off to a slow start offensively in the game, scoring just five points in the first 7:03.
Ryan Heline knocked down a pair of three-point shots as Smoky Valley (0-2) got out to a 12-5 lead.
“We had a couple of turnovers early and they had a kid who hit a couple of threes, who usually doesn’t look to score much,” Holmes said.
A basket late in the first period by Hobrock got Concordia within five points, 12-7.
Cav Carlgren scored just 15 seconds into the second period, and the Panthers were down just 12-9.
A bucket by Brandt Heble put the Vikings up 14-9.
Hobrock scored inside and Aceyn Cash got a steal and a layup as Concordia closed the gap to 14-13.
Haven Lysell scored for Smoky Valley to make it 16-13.
Five straight points by the Panthers gave them their first lead of the game at 18-16.
A quick 6-3 spurt put the Vikings back on top, 23-20. Hobrock got free inside and scored with time running out in the first half to leave Concordia trailing just 23-22 at the break.
The Panthers limited Smoky Valley to just one point in the first 7:33 of the second half.
Consecutive baskets by Hobrock and Parker and a three-point shot by Wyatt Trost put Concordia on top 29-23.
“We talked about at halftime how the first few minutes of the second half are always so important, and we came out that third quarter and took that lead and never looked back,” Holmes said.
Smoky Valley went five minutes to start the third quarter without scoring before Lysell made one of two free throws.
Carlgren scored off an offensive rebound and Parker and Hobrock combined to go three of four from the free throw line as Concordia built a 33-24 cushion.
The Vikings' first field goal of the second half came with 27 seconds remaining when Jake Lucas scored to cut the deficit to seven points, 33-26.
Parker made one of two free throws with one second remaining, and the Panthers led 34-26.
Concordia would manage just one field goal, by Parker, in the final stanza, with 2:55 gone by, that made it 36-26.
Joe Osowski scored off an offensive rebound to again get the Vikings within eight points, 36-28, with 4:20 on the clock.
The Panthers would make 9 of 14 free throws over the final 3:51 to hold off the Vikings.
“We are a team, especially early in the season, that is going to have to grind out some victories that are not always pretty,” Holmes said. “I was very happy with the improvement from game one to game two. We fixed a lot of our mistakes. We still have a long way to go, but it was a good victory for us on the road.”
Trost finished with seven points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals for Concordia.
Carlgren scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Heline paced Smoky Valley with 12 points and Lucas added eight points.
Concordia is on the road at Marysville for the first of two North Central Kansas League games this week. The Panthers will host Abilene on Friday night. “Obviously two very good teams. We are really going to have to keep improving,” Holmes said. “We will be ready to go. I believe in our kids. The opponents are going to get tougher, and we have to respond to that.”

CONCORDIA (45)
Francis 0-0-3 0, Vignery 0-2-3 2, Trost 2-2-1 7, Cash 1-2-4 4, Carlgren 2-3-1 7, Hobrock 6-3-1 15, Parker 4-2-1 10. Totals: 15-14-14 45.
SMOKY VALLEY (33)
Elseth 0-2-1 2, Osowski 1-0-3 2, Lucas 3-0-3 8, Miller 0-0-3 0, Heline 4-2-4 12, Haven 3-1-5 7, Heble 1-0-4 2. Totals: 12-5-24