Concordia Basketball Splits with Wamego
The Concordia High School boys and girls basketball teams returned to their home "Jungle" floor for this first time since January 17th as the Panthers hosted North Central Kansas League foe Wamego on Friday February 7th. In the varsity girls contest Wamego came away with the 59-38 victory handing the Lady Panthers their 3rd straight loss. In the varsity boys game, Concordia earned their 10th win of the year and fourth win in a row with a 63-53 win over the Red Raiders.
VARSITY GIRLS
Concordia got off to a solid start on their home floor, forcing the Red Raiders into early turnovers and tough shots. The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Wamego wouldn't score until the 3:37 mark of the first quarter as Concordia maintained the 4-point advantage. That's when Junior Lexi Hecht knocked down a three and the Red Raider offense settled in. Sophomore Ceila Hargitt would give Wamego the lead with a three from the left wing with 1:26 to go in the opening quarter, this turned out to be a lead that would not be relinquished. Wamego ended the quarter up 10-4.
This momentum for the Red Raiders continued as Wamego eventually made it an 18-0 run until the 4:26 mark of the 2nd quarter. Freshman Morgan Lister finally stopped the bleeding for Concordia to end the run with a bucket in front of the rim. Lister was named the Altius Awards Player of the Game with her best night as a varsity player. Lister finished the game with 7 points to lead the Lady Panthers while also grabbing 3 rebounds. Wamego led 25-11 at the halftime break.
Concordia struggled throughout the 2nd half with turnovers (18) and was only able to shoot 31% from the floor knocking down 13 shots total in the game. Concordia continued to fight and ended up outrebounding the Red Raiders 30-26 and forcing Wamego into tough shots. Char Cash was named the H&R Block of the Game as she finished with 5 points, a block, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists. The Lady Panthers found themself down by 20, 43-23 at the end of the 3rd quarter and Wamego was able to coast and run out the clock in the final frame.
Concordia has now lost three in a row and falls to 3-11 overall and 1-7 in NCKL play. The Panthers look to bounce back as Concordia returns home to host 2-13 Chapman. A team that Concordia defeated on Tuesday, January 28th with a 39-33 victory. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the Panther Pregame show beginning at 5:40 on KNCK Radio 1390/98.3.
VARSITY BOYS
Concordia like they did on Tuesday night got off to a quick start as the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Peyton Retter knocked down a 3 and Chane Parker got a layup after an offensive rebound it looked like it would be a similar recipe for the Panthers as it was on Tuesday in Marysville where the Panthers went ahead 7-0 and never threatened to trail the rest of the game.
Wamego despite the slow start and only 3 wins to their season total, fought and fought hard throughout the entire game. The Red Raiders had the Panther's unique "lock left" defense figured out and continued to get shots right at the rim possession after possession. At the end of the first quarter Concordia led 19-18. Head Coach Shane Traughber joined KNCK Radio for the Panther Postgame Show and spoke about the challenges the Panthers faced in the first half.
Wamego's Jace Johnson got an and-one layup to start the 2nd quarter and give Wamego a lead of 21-19. A lead that Concordia could not take back through the first half. Overall there were 6 ties and 6 lead changes, a large majority of the ties happened in the 2nd quarter, as the Panthers struggled to get stops but always seemed to answer with buckets of their own. Yet Concordia trailed 31-30 at the half. Sophomore Boone Richard spoke about the halftime message and the response from him and his teammates.
Concordia would respond in the 3rd quarter as Richard started to knock down timely shots for the Panthers to grab a lead. Boone was named the Altius Awards Player of the Game as the Sophomore finished leading Concordia with 20 points while grabbing 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Traughber spoke on the halftime adjustment after his Panthers outscored Wamego 16-10 in the 3rd quarter and 33-22 overall in the final 16 minutes.
Senior Peyton Retter buried a 3 from the left corner to give Concordia their first double-digit lead of the night 54-43 with 4:39 to go in the game and Concordia finally was able to pull away and hold on for the victory. Chane Parker was named the H&R Block for Concordia who after having 6 team blocks on Tuesday at Marysville did not have one against the Red Raiders, however, Parker finished the game with 14 points, and a team-high 9 rebounds. Richard spoke on how his team uses this win to create momentum for next week.
Concordia improves to 10-4 overall and an impressive 6-1 in NCKL play. The Panthers will host Chapman on Tuesday night back in the Jungle.