Panthers use big second half to rally past Trojans, 74-67

BELOIT — Heating up in the second half, the Concordia High School boys’ basketball team opened its season with a 74-67 come-from-behind road win over the Beloit Trojans on Friday night.
Concordia trailed Beloit 36-26 at halftime.
Knocking down six threes, the Panthers matched that total in the third quarter, but still trailed the Trojans, 53-52.
Concordia battled back to take a 66-63 lead with under two minutes to play.
Senior Cav Carlgren connected on eight straight free throw attempts as the Panthers sealed the win.
“We played tight the first half and we didn’t guard and rebound very well,” Concordia coach Derek Holmes said. “We went over some things at halftime, some adjustments, and these kids have a lot of heart and fight and they definitely responded.”
Trailing by 10 points at halftime, the Panthers didn't waste any time shooting themselves back into the game in the third quarter.
A three-point play by Tyler Hobrock, a three-point shot by Payton Breese and another bucket by Hobrock got Concordia within two points with just 1:30 gone by.
Wyatt Broeckelman hit a three for Beloit, but Breese answered with one of this own.
A three-point play by Owen Eilert and a three-point shot by Broeckelman gave Beloit a 45-37 lead.
Joey Henderson sandwiched a pair of threes around two free throws by Carlgren and one by Aceyn Cash as the Panthers took their first lead of the game, 46-45, with just under three minutes to play in the third period.
Beloit scored the next six points, four by 6-5 sophomore Bryce Beisner, to reclaim the lead at 51-46.
Back-to-back threes by Breese and Henderson put Concordia back on top, 52-51.
Breese and Henderson, both sophomore guards, each hit three threes in the quarter.
Knocking down five of nine three-point attempts, Breese scored 15 points in the game.
Henderson was four of six from beyond the arc in scoring 12 points.
“Payton and Joey were huge in the second half. Alexis (Garcia) came in and played good defense. It was a good team win,” Holmes said.
Concordia made 11 of 23 three-point tries for 48 percent.
Two free throws by Beisner gave Beloit a 53-52 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Beisner, who scored 21 points in the game, completed a three-point play 10 seconds into the final period to make it a 56-52 game.
The Panthers would battle back and pull even at 61-61 on a layup by Cash with 3:29 to play in the game.
Beisner scored just nine seconds later to give Beloit a 63-61 lead.
Concordia got three straight points by Hobrock and a basket by Carlgren, and led 66-63 with 1:43 on the clock.
Carlgren, the leading returning scorer for the Panthers, had a big game with 30 points and 19 rebounds. He was 9 of 17 from the floor and 10 of 10 from the free throw line.
“He (Carlgren) had a huge performance. He was all over the place. He just plays so hard, and had 19 rebounds,” Holmes said.
Beisner scored for Beloit, but Carlgren hit to more free throws.
Beloit again got the ball to Beisner, he scored and was fouled with 56 seconds left and had a chance to tie the game, but missed on the free throw and it was 68-67.
Carlgren then made six of six free throws over the final 38 seconds to lock up the win for the Panthers.
“The last two minutes of the game we defended well, took care of the ball and rebounded and made free throws. And that is what you have to do to close out games and that is what we did,” Holmes said.
Hobrock finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for Concordia.
Beloit had Broeckelman score 15 points and Eilert score 13.
The Trojans led the game 16-8 after one quarter of play.
Concordia trailed by as many as 12 points in the second period.
The Panthers would get back within six points, but were down by 10 at halftime before using the big second half to rally for the win.
Concordia plays at Republic County on Tuesday night.

CONCORDIA (74)
Henderson 4-0-2 12, Carlgren 9-10-3 30, Cash 1-1-2 3, Breese 5-0-1 15, Hobrock 6-2-4 14. Totals: 25-13-12 74.
BELOIT (67)
Broeckelman 6-2-1 12, Burks 2-2-2 7, Gestner 1-0-0 3, O. Eilert 5-3-3 13, Q. Eilert 4-0-3 8, Beisner 9-3-4 21. Totals: 27-6-13 67.