Saturday, December 17th, 2022
Last-minute comeback
Panthers rally in final 67 seconds to stun Wildcats
By Dave Stilwell
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Fletcher Smith goes up for a shot as Minster's Cole Albers defends at Wildcat Gymnasium on Friday.
MINSTER - Parkway outscored Minster 9-1 in the final 67 seconds to rally for a 53-51 Midwest Athletic Conference victory Friday night at the Wildcat Gymnasium.
"You could tell it was a couple young teams out there," Parkway coach Doug Hughes said. "I thought we were more aggressive late. We did not play well in the second and third quarters, but we hung around and stayed close, and that allowed us to make a run at the end."
After struggling in the first half, Minster appeared to take control of the game with a big third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 25-13 to take a 41-33 lead.
Parkway (1-3, 1-1 MAC) stayed within striking distance in the fourth quarter. With 1:07 left to play, Trevor Stearns cut into a Minster six-point lead with a pair of free throws.
Kole Richard answered for the Wildcats by hitting one of two free throws for what would be Minster's final point.
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Minster's James Niemeyer keeps the ball away from Parkway's Caiden Berry at Wildcat Gymnasium on Friday.
With 41 seconds left, Stearns completed an old-fashioned three-point play to shrink the Wildcat advantage to 51-49.
Following a Minster turnover, the Panthers missed a chance to tie the game with a pair of missed free throws, but the Cats could not corral the rebound and Brayden Bruns swished a 3-pointer with 18 seconds to play, giving Parkway a 52-51 lead, its first lead since early in the third quarter.
Minster coach Michael McClurg called timeout with 11 seconds left and the Wildcats set up a play to get the ball into the post for 6-7 freshman Cole Albers. The plan was executed very well and Albers got the ball at point-blank range, but it was knocked away from behind at the last second.
Parkway's Caiden Berry grabbed the loose ball and was fouled. Berry hit one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds left and Minster was unable to get off another shot.
Minster (1-4, 0-1 MAC) had some opportunities to make it a three-possession game late in the fourth quarter, but could not pull away.
"It was a culmination of events four minutes and under that put us in this spot," McClurg said. "We had some turnovers, we missed some shots we should have made, they hit a couple threes, and at the end we didn't get the check-outs.
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Brayden Bruns brings the ball to the wing past a screen by Trent Rollins as Minster's Kole Richard tries to keep up in defense at Wildcat Gymnasium on Friday.
"We were up six or seven and I felt like we haven't been in that situation enough to know how we need to handle it," the Minster coach added. "We were getting shots, but they weren't the right shots and I just don't think we handled the situation very well."
The Wildcats were ice cold to start the game, hitting just 2-of-18 from the floor in the first quarter, allowing the Panthers to open a 12-2 lead.
After Minster missed its first seven shots from behind the arc, James Niemeyer hit a trey with 10 seconds left in the first quarter to trim its deficit to 12-5.
Parkway scored the first five points of the second quarter to build what would be its biggest lead at 17-5. But the Panthers managed just one more field goal over the rest of the half as Minster pulled to within four, 20-16, at the break.
Minster got a big spark from Richard in the third quarter. The Wildcat sophomore scored 13 points in the quarter as Minster opened up its eight-point lead heading into the fourth.
"We just got going and started hitting shots. We were playing a little bit more free," McClurg said. "We're playing in spurts - we look really good and then really bad, and I think our youth has something to do with that. We just need to get more consistent and I think that's going to happen over time."
"We started the game very well, especially on defense," Hughes said. "But then we started turning the ball over and that made it easy for them to score."
Richard scored 16 points coming off the bench to pace the Wildcats, while Albers finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Stearns paced a balanced Parkway attack with 13 points and Fletcher Smith and Berry added 11 each.
Minster is back in action tonight at home against Anna then hosts Spencerville on Thursday. Parkway hosts North Central tonight and travels to Celina on Tuesday.
