COLBY — Closing out the Colby Black and Orange tournament fighting for seventh place, the Concordia High School fell in a brutal loss to Ulysses 60-51, after entering the tournament 6-1 and leaving 6-4.
Jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first quarter, the Panthers’ hot start quickly got doused, as the Tigers roared awake, taking the lead, 16-15. The Panthers spurred another run and ended the quarter with a 21-18 lead.
As the game progressed, the Tigers’ lead and momentum just kept growing, tying the game up at halftime 36 all, taking a five-point lead, 51-46, after three quarters, and holding the Panthers to five points in the fourth, before winning 60-51.
Dropping to the consolation bracket, the Panthers got a rematch with a familiar foe, Beloit, three hours west of their usual stomping grounds. Unlike earlier in the season, Beloit got their revenge, 52-42.
Just like in their previous matchup, the two teams locked horns and were physical and neither team let each other gain any ground. The Panthers got out to an early lead, at the cost of getting into early foul trouble, ending the first quarter leading 12-10.
With Concordia picking up more fouls to start the second quarter, Beloit tied the game up 14 all, and Beloit’s defensive pressure limited the Panthers to only eight points in the quarter, and the Trojans entered halftime with a 23-20 lead.
After a Peyton Retter layup to start the quarter, the bout continued, with both teams unable to gain ground over one another. Both offenses would struggle to score, only having 17 combined points as they entered the fourth quarter tied 30 all.
Beloit would finally be able to pull away, jumping to a five-point lead. The Panthers would fight back and keep the game close, with a five-point game late, but Beloit would go on a nine to four run to end the game and get the revenge win, 52-42.
In a 5A vs 4A matchup in the first round of the Colby Black and Orange tournament, the Concordia High School boys’ basketball team fell to Hays 51-31.
After a tumultuous start to the game by both teams, with both teams unable to get any offense going between missed shots and turnovers, the first quarter ended with Hays leading with an 8-7 advantage.
In the second quarter, Hays would start to pull away, crashing the offensive glass and capitalizing on the Panthers’ mishaps. Led by six-foot-six-inch Dawson Ruder, the Indians slowly started to establish their presence before ending the half with an eight-point lead, 25-13.
The Panther offense continued to hinder the team. Between turnovers, poor shooting, and Hays’ defensive presence, the Indians blew the game wide open, handing the Panthers a 51-31 point loss in the opening round.
Retter had 28 points in the tournament, alongside seven rebounds and nine assists.
Chane Parker had 27 points and 24 rebounds in the tournament.
Boone Richard had 16 points and seven steals.
Ian Loudermilk had 17 points.
“We faced some adversity this weekend,” head coach Shane Traughber said. “Defensively, we played well enough to win games, but live-ball turnovers are undercutting that right now. With a young team and backcourt especially, we have to learn to stay calm and not speed up when pressure comes, and I think we will—it just takes some time. We’re going to need to come together as a team and fight to get back to how we were playing earlier this season, along with making some adjustments on how teams are attacking us as well.”
The Panthers will travel to Clay Center in an NCKL matchup Friday, January 31, with a competition start time of 4 p.m.