Panthers tumble to Thunder, 55-48

Home court did not turn out to be an advantage for the Concordia Panthers.
Concordia, earning the number four seed and first-round home game in the Class 3A sub-state tournament, lost 55-48 to the fifth-seeded Nemaha Central Thunder Tuesday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
Nemaha Central battled back from a 12-point deficit in the first half, went up by five points midway through the fourth quarter and held on down the stretch to pick up the win.
Concordia finishes its season 10-11.
“Our kids, they laid it on the line. I am proud of them, their effort was tremendous. It is obviously not the way you want to end it,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said. “Overall, it was up and down this year. We started off well and then hit a tough stretch. We had a four-game winning streak and then didn't finish the year like we wanted.”
Nemaha Central (8-12) advances to the sub-state semifinals, and will play top-seeded Sabetha (21-0) in the semifinals Friday night in Marysville.
Sabetha was a 65-35 winner over eighth-seeded Minneapolis in the first round.
Second-seeded Marysville downed seventh-seeded Hiawatha 62-39 in the opening round. Third-seeded Atchinson County knocked off sixth-seeded Riley County, 55-45.
Marysville (19-2) and Atchinson County (14-7) play in the other semifinal on Friday.
The championship game is scheduled for Saturday night with the winner advancing to the state tournament next week in Hutchinson.
Concordia came out firing from three-point range in the opening quarter against Nemaha Central.
Payton Breese knocked down three threes and Joey Henderson hit one as the Panthers grabbed a 21-12 lead.
Breese, who was four of eight from three-point range, finished the game with 12 points.
Henderson also scored 12 points and also had six rebounds and six assists.
Peyton Retter connected on a three 43 seconds into the second quarter, and Concordia had its biggest lead of the game, 24-12.
“We moved the ball really well. Something we talked about a lot and worked on in practice, and of course we made shots also,” Holmes said of the fast start.
The Panthers scored just one more point in the period, that coming on a free throw by Henderson with 2:48 remaining.
“We just went cold in that stretch and had three turnovers,” Holmes said.
Trailing 25-14, the Thunder shot their way back into the game.
Carter Rottinghaus hit a three and Wade Leonard drilled two straight threes to pull Nemaha Central to within two points, 25-23, at halftime.
Nemaha Central tied the game at 25-25 on a jumper by Gavin Cain 18 seconds into the second half.
The two teams traded baskets, and it was 27-27.
A three by Retter and a free throw by Aceyn Cash gave the Panthers the lead back at 31-27.
Concordia could have been up more, but missed four of five free throws. They finished 11 of 21 for the game for 52 percent.
“You are going to miss a free but you can't go 11 for 21 against a solid team,” Holmes said. “Our margin for error is not very big already. We can't miss 10 free throws, and some of them are one-and-ones.”
Leonard and Rottinghaus hit threes during a 10-0 run that put the Thunder on top, 37-31.
Concordia pulled to within two points, 39-37, late in the third quarter.
Jonathan Turner scored 22 seconds into the final period to tie the game at 39-39.
Concordia then went nearly four minutes without scoring.
A basket by Abe Hilbert, two free throws by Cain and a free throw by Cooper Hajak put Nemaha Central on top to stay, 44-39.
Cash and Alan Garcia made two free throws each, and Concordia trailed just 44-43.
Each team missed on the front end of a one-and-one opportunity.
Rottinghaus scored on a drive, and Nemaha Central led 46-43.
A three-point attempt by Breese to tie the game was off the mark.
Cain drove to the basket and scored with 1:10 remaining in the game. A foul was called on the play, and there was a discussion by the three officials.
The basket was counted and Cain went to the line and made the free throw to give the Thunder a 49-43 cushion.
Following a Concordia turnover, Brayden Uphaus made two free throws to push Nemaha Central's lead to 51-43.
Breese hit a three to close the gap to 51-46 with 35 seconds to play.
That is as close as the Panthers would get as the Thunder made four of six free throws over the final 28 seconds.
“I am proud of the kids. I appreciate their effort,” Holmes said.
Cash finished with nine points and five rebounds for Concordia.
Leonard hit five threes in scoring 15 points for Nemaha Central.
Rottinghaus also scored 15 points for the Thunder and Cain added 10 points.

NEMAHA CENTRAL (55)
Rottinghaus 5-3-1 15, Hajek 0-1-2 1, Frehe 0-0-1 0, Cain 3-4-2 10, Uphaus 0-5-1 5, Leonard 5-0-3 15, Hilbert 4-1-3 9. Totals: 17-14-13 55.
CONCORDIA (48)
Henderson 5-3-4 12, Garcia 0-3-2 3, Retter 2-0-2 6, Cash 2-5-4 9, Breese 4-0-4 12, Turner 3-0-2 6. Totals: 18-11-18 48.