Panthers Swept at Rock Creek to Begin 2026

To begin the new year, the Concordia Panther boys and girls basketball teams traveled to "The Rock" to take on North Central Kansas League foe Rock Creek on Tuesday, January 6th. In the varsity girls contest, the Lady Panthers fell 52-36. In the varsity boys game featuring two top ten teams in the state of Kansas, #1 Rock Creek defeated #6 Concordia 71-64.

The first half of the varsity girls' contest featured two teams who were trying to shake the rust off. Rock Creek hadn't played a game since they lost to Hays back on December 20th, and Concordia hadn't played since they beat Marysville back on December 19th. After the first quarter, the Lady Panthers led 9-6, and at the half, Concordia led 16-13.

Despite Concordia struggling to knock down shots, only going 5-16 from the floor and 1-7 from three in the first half, the defense gave the Lady Panthers the lead. Concordia held Rock Creek to shooting an unbelievable 2-25 from the floor and 0-13 from behind the 3-point line. The Lady Panthers were led defensively by Junior Jaylin Roush, who was named the H&R Block of the game, finishing with 6 points, 8 rebounds, a steal, and 3 blocks!

The Lady Mustangs would quickly respond in the 3rd quarter, knocking down 4 of their first 5 shots, 4 in a row, one of them being their first made three of the game from Junior Kylee Frazee, who finished the game with 15 points for Rock Creek. The Lady Mustangs took a 22-17 lead after their quick start to the quarter and never trailed again. Sophomore Marlee VanMeter tried keeping the Lady Panthers in the game as she went 3-4 from behind the arc to lead Concordia with 12 points while also grabbing a steal and 3 rebounds. VanMeter was named the Swenson Jeardoe Family Farms Player of the Game.

After the end of the 3rd quarter, Rock Creek more than doubled their first half point total and led Concordia 36-24. Rock Creek held on to the double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and won the contest 52-36. The Mustangs improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in NCKL play; meanwhile, Concordia falls to 3-3 overall and now 1-1 in NCKL play. Concordia will be back at home to host the two top teams in the league starting Friday. The Lady Panthers host the #9 team in the state, Chapman, on Friday, and #2 Wamego on the following Tuesday.

The varsity boys contest featured two teams ranked in the top 10 in Class 4A. Rock Creek entered the contest 6-0 and ranked #1; meanwhile, Concordia entered with a 4-1 record and ranked #6, their only loss of the season coming on the road at #2 in 3A Hesston.

The game immediately lived up to the on-paper hype as both teams traded buckets going back and forth as Concordia grabbed the early 20-14 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. After the first 16 minutes, Concordia led 36-33. Both teams used their bench effectively after not playing for over 3 weeks. The Panthers used 9 guys, and each player scored, as Rock Creek used 8 players, where all 8 also scored. Senior Baylor Knox was one of those effective bench players for Concordia as he finished with 3 points and 2 assists. He was also named the H&R Block of the game after blocking a Mustang 3-point attempt in the first half.

Both teams shot the ball at a high percentage in the first half. Rock Creek finished the first two quarters going 15-25 from the floor despite only 2-7 from behind the 3-point line. Concordia went 13-25 from the floor and an impressive 7-13 from behind the arc. Concordia was led offensively by Junior Boone Richard, who finished with a team high 16 points, 3 assists, and an impressive 5 steals. Richard was named the Swenson Jeardoe Family Farms Player of the Game.

With 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, momentum shifted to the Mustangs. Concordia led 46-45 when Logan Klingenberg drove to the rim, got fouled, and made the bucket. Following the big play, Rock Creek's Hudson Edelman went over to Chane Parker, who committed the foul, screaming for his team. Parker then shoulder checked Edelman, resulting in a technical foul. Klingenberg made the and-one, Rosa made one of two technical free throws, and the Mustangs had the ball again. Peter Martinie, on the possession, found himself under the rim where he made the layup through a Kale Schroeder foul and made the following free throw. A 7-point possession for Rock Creek to give the Mustangs a 52-46 lead, a lead that they never gave back to Concordia.

Concordia responded with a 6-0 run and was able to tie the game at 52 thanks to 3 free throws from Sophomore Grayson Farha, and then after a Mustang bucket, Boone Richard hit a lefty layup with 6 seconds left to end the 3rd quarter tied at 54. Despite there being 4 ties and 8 lead changes in the game, Rock Creek never let Concordia take the lead again after that 7-point possession. The Mustangs started the 4th quarter with an 11-2 run, giving Rock Creek the 65-56 lead, their largest of the game. With free throws, Rock Creek stayed undefeated with the 71-64 victory.

Concordia falls to 4-2 overall and now 1-1 in NCKL play. The Panthers return to "The Jungle" for the first time in 2026 as they host the winless Chapman Irish on Friday, January 9th.