Panthers dominate in second half, drop Falcons

Returning to action after a week off, the Concordia Panthers used a big third quarter to pull away to a 58-38 victory over the Riley County Falcons Tuesday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
Concordia, which had not played since a win at Pike Valley the previous Tuesday, had a 14-point lead in the first half cut to just four points, 30-26, at halftime.
The Panthers scored seven points in the first 1:53 of the third quarter to again build a double digit advantage on its way to the 20-point win.
“I thought we played well except for the last three minutes of the first half. We had a few turnovers and some miscommunication on defense and they got a 10-0 run on us. But other than that I thought we were solid all night,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said.
Concordia improves to 10-6 on the season heading into a North Central Kansas League game at Chapman on Friday night.
The Panthers led Riley County 30-16 when Cav Carlgren scored off an offensive rebound with 3:18 to play in the first half.
Riley County scored the next 10 points to close the gap to 30-26.
Concordia got a free throw by Aceyn Cash and a basket by Tyler Hobrock in the first 54 seconds of the second half.
Cash scored following a Panther steal and a basket by Carlgren put the Panthers up 37-26.
A three-point basket by Kolton Payne pulled Riley County within eight points, 37-29.
Baskets by Cash, Hobrock and Carlgren extended Concordia's lead to 43-29.
Korin Koenig made two free throws for the Falcons, but the Panthers scored the next five points, and had a 48-31 advantage.
A bucket by Zak Zeller left Riley County trailing 48-33 going into the final eight minutes of play.
The Falcons would get as close as 12 points, 50-38, when AJ Wilane completed a three-point play with 4:50 to play in the game.
Riley County would not score again.
Connecting on six consecutive free throws and getting a layup by Carlgren, the Panthers pulled away.
Carlgren who was seven of eight from the field and seven of eight from the free throw line, led Concordia with 21 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Hobrock scored 16 points and pulled down six rebounds.
The Panthers finished the game with 35 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive end.
“We were really good on the glass,” Holmes said. “We were really all over the glass defensively. They didn't get many second chances. And offensively, if we missed a shot we were all over it getting put backs.”
Riley County was led by Koenig with 12 points.
Leading 6-5 in the early going, the Panthers got baskets by Hobrock and Carlgren, a layup by Henderson off a Riley County turnover and a three-point shot by Payton Breese to open up a 15-5 advantage.
Riley County used an 8-3 spurt over the final 3:48 of the first period to close the gap to 18-13.
Scoring the first six points of the second quarter, Concordia led 24-13.
Eli Harmison hit a three for the Falcons.
The Panthers tossed in six points, four by Carlgren, in 51 seconds to extend its lead to 30-16.
Concordia would not score over the final 3:18 of the first half.
It was a 30-21 game when Riley County had Koenig score five points in 47 seconds to pull within four points, 30-26, at halftime.
Opening the second half with seven quick points to again go up by 11 points, the Panthers kept the Falcons at bay over the final two quarters.
“I thought defensively in the second half we were really good. We held them to 12 points,” Holmes said.

RILEY COUNTY (38)
Payne 3-0-4 7, Harmison 2-0-2 5, Webber 1-0-1 3, Koenig 4-2-2 12, Zeller 2-2-2 6, Wilane 2-1-4 5. Totals: 14-5-16 38.
CONCORDIA (58)
Henderson 4-0-2 9, Carlgren 7-7-4 21, Garcia 0-0-1 0, Cash 2-3-3 7, Breese 1-0-2 3, Hobrock 8-0-4 16, Turner 1-0-1 2. Totals: 23-10-17 58.