Panthers dominate Irish, 74-47

CHAPMAN — A dominant second half lifted the Concordia Panthers to a 74-47 North Central Kansas League victory over the Chapman Irish on Friday night.
Concordia led winless Chapman just 31-29 at halftime of the second meeting this season between the two teams.
The Panthers, with a 17-0 run in the third quarter, outscored the Irish 43-18 in the second half to pull away to their third consecutive win.
“The third quarter was obviously a phenomenal quarter. We just came out with the defensive intensity we needed, moved the ball and shot the ball very well,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said.
Sweeping the regular season series with Chapman, the Panthers improve to 11-7 overall and 4-4 in league play.
Concordia is back on the road Tuesday night for a non-league game at Phillipsburg.
The Panthers will then host Wamego in a league game on Friday night and finish up the regular season with a league game at Clay Center.
“We had that three game stretch there where we struggled before the SIT (Salina Invitational Tournament), but I feel like we are really starting to hit our peak. We are playing well, we just need to finish our last three regular season games strong going into postseason,” Holmes said.
Chapman, 0-16 overall and 0-8 in league play, was able to keep the game close throughout the first half.
Concordia had a 27-21 lead in the second period, but the Irish rallied to within a point on two occasions, and were down just 31-29 at halftime.
Four straight points by Aceyn Cash and two free throws by Cav Carlgren upped Concordia’s lead to 37-29 just 1:29 into the second half.
Cash, who was 8 of 11 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line, led all scorers with 25 points. He also had nine rebounds and three assists.
Chapman, which went the first 7:34 of the third period without a field goal, got two free throws by Ian Suther to make it a 37-31 game.
After Cash knocked down a jumper, Cam Liebau went one of two from the line, and the Irish trailed 39-32 with 5:40 to play in the quarter.
Starting with a basket by Cash, the Panthers would score the next 17 points to blow the game open at 56-32.
Joey Henderson scored the final 11 points for Concordia during that run and finished the game with 17.
“With Payton (Breese) out with a back injury we needed to get some more perimeter shooting and Joey and Aceyn really stepped up and shot the ball well,” Holmes said.
A three-point basket by Liebau ended Chapman’s field goal drought with 26 second remaining in the period, and made it a 56-35 game.
Concordia opened the final quarter with a quick 6-2 spurt to go up 62-37 and cruised to the win.
Cav Carlgren finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Panthers.
Tyler Hobrock added 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“We had Joey, Aceyn, Cav and Tyler all in double figures, and can score the ball well, we are pretty hard to guard,” Holmes said. “You throw Payton in the mix, when he is healthy and playing, we have starters who can shoot it and score it and we are pretty hard to guard.”
Liebau led Chapman with 18 points and Suther added 11 points.
Knocking down a pair of three-point shots, the Irish led Concordia 10-8 in the first quarter.
Scoring six straight points, the Panthers went on top 14-10, and would not trail again.
Chapman would tie the game at 16-16 on a three by Liebau.
Concordia led 18-16 after one quarter of play.
The Panthers would up the lead to six points in the second period, but couldn’t shake the pesky Irish.
Chapman got back within a point, and was down by just two at halftime, before Concordia used the big third quarter to pull away.

CONCORDIA (74)
Henderson 6-2-2 17, Carlgren 7-4-2 18, Garcia 0-0-4 0, Retter 0-1-0 1, Cash 8-8-4 25, Hobrock 4-5-3 13, Turner 0-0-3 0. Totals: 25-20-18 74.
CHAPMAN (47)
Picking 1-2-0 4, Suther 3-4-4 11, Cavanaugh 1-0-4 2, Riegel 3-1-1 8, Liebau 6-2-4 18, Langvardt 0-0-2 0, Holm 1-2-2 4. Totals: 15-11-17 47.