Second half surge not enough as Panthers fall to Bulldogs

A spirited second-half comeback by the Concordia Panthers went unrewarded.
Concordia rallied from 18 points down late in the third quarter to take a 55-53 lead on Marysville when Corben Monzon hit a three-point shot with 1:00 remaining in the fourth period.
Marysville would battle back to force overtime.
The Bulldogs connected on four of six free throws over the final 32 seconds of the extra period to pull out a 65-61 North Central Kansas League victory over the Panthers Tuesday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
“I kind of feel like we let one slip away. We kind of had them on the ropes and we turned it over at the wrong time and didn't give ourselves a good chance of taking the lead late in the game,” Concordia coach Michael Roe said.
Concordia, 2-6 overall and 1-4 in league play, was coming off an overtime win at Wamego last Friday, but fell behind Marysville 47-29 when Jacob Backus made two free throws with 35 seconds to play in the third quarter.
A three-point basket by sophomore reserve Jacob Williams 24 seconds later would jump start Concordia.
Down 47-32 at the end of the third quarter, the Panthers scored the first 13 points of the fourth, nine by sophomore Wyatt Trost, to close the gap to 47-45.
“The entire game we had struggled, and struggled and struggled to score the basketball. Him (Williams) hitting that three was kind of the spark we needed believe in ourselves and score the basketball,” Roe said.
Concordia was down by three points, 52-49, when Dyelan Reed completed a three-point play to tie it at 52-52 with 2:24 on the clock.
Matt Holle went one of two from the free throw line to give Marysville a 53-52 advantage with 1:27 to play.
Monzon then buried the three that gave Panthers their first lead of the game, 55-53.
Gavin Pieschl drew a foul 18 seconds later. He made both free throws to knot it up at 55-55.
Concordia had the ball with a chance to reclaim the lead.
Chas Carlgren drove into the lane, and was called for traveling with 30 seconds remaining.
“That was actually the look we wanted. We knew Chas going to his left is a pretty high percentage shot. We knew that Dyelan's man in the corner wasn't going to help off. He had a clean look at the lane, and he kind of got caught trying to decide whether he should try passing it or shooting it,” Roe said.
Concordia was able to knock the ball away from Marysville's Dalton Denner with time running out, and Reed's halfcourt heave was off the mark.
A three-point shot by Holle 16 seconds into overtime put the Bulldogs up 58-55.
Carlgren scored off an offensive rebound and Trost made a layup to give Concordia the lead back at 59-58.
Denner buried his sixth three of the game to put Marysville on top to stay, 61-59.
Reed made one of two free throws, and Concordia trailed 61-60 with 37 seconds left.
Backus connected on two free throws five seconds later, the Bulldogs were up 63-60.
Monzon and Backus each knocked down one of two free throws in the next 15 seconds, and it was a 64-61 game.
A three-point attempt by Carlgren to tie the game wouldn't fall, and Pieschl hit one of two free throws with nine seconds on the clock to secure the win for Marysville.
“You start the fourth quarter down 15 most games you won't have a chance to win. We had our chance to win and we just didn't get it done,” Roe said.
Trost and Reed scored 15 points each for Concordia.
Reed also had five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Monzon added 13 points.
Marysville, 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the league, was led by Denner with 25 points.
Backus scored 20 points for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs would score the first four points of the game, and would not trail until late in the fourth quarter.
Marysville had a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Knocking down three threes, the Bulldogs used a 13-7 spurt to start the second period to take a 25-16 lead.
Concordia would close the gap to 25-21 on a jumper by Monzon with 28 seconds to play in the half.
A follow by Braeton Faulkner put Marysville on top 27-21 at halftime.
The Bulldogs would push that lead to 18 points, 47-29, late in the third quarter.
Concordia came charging back to take the lead, but couldn't pull out the win.
The Panthers travel to Chapman for a league game on Friday.

MARYSVILLE (65)
Pieschl 0-5-4 5, Backus 7-5-3 20, Rader 1-0-2 3, Faulkner 1-0-2 2, Denner 9-1-1 25, Schroeder 1-0-4 2, Holle 1-3-3 6, Brown 1-0-2 2. Totals: 21-14-20 65.
CONCORDIA (61)
Williams 1-0-0 3, Vignery 1-1-0 3, Trost 6-0-5 15, Cav Carlgren 0-0-2 0, Monzon 5-1-1 13, Owen 1-2-2 4, Chas Carlgren 3-0-4 6, Reed 5-4-1 15, Rosenbaum 0-0-1 0, Parker 1-0-1 2. Totals: 23-8-17 61.