Hosting Smoky Valley and Riley County after defeating Beloit on the road to open the season, the Concordia High School boys’ basketball team advanced to 3-0 with a pair of wins.
Against Smoky Valley, the Panthers won 61-52.
The Panthers scored the first points of the game via Chane Parker, with the Vikings immediately retaliating with two more points, kicking off a close bout between the two teams. The Panthers attacked the basket early and often, but Smoky Valley would never let the game get out of reach and tied the game late in the quarter, before taking the lead 19-17 to end the first quarter.
The Panthers retook the lead as their offense got back rolling and were aggressive on the offensive end. After exchanging baskets and free throws for the entire quarter, the Panthers led 35-31 at halftime.
Concordia’s offense would come out slow to start the second half, but an Ayden Krier deep ball kick-started the offense. Smoky Valley was able to claw their way back and tied the game 42-all, before taking a 43-42 lead. An Ian Loudermilk put-back as time was winding down gave the Panthers the lead back, 44-43 entering the fourth quarter.
It would be the Panther defense that closed out the game for Concordia, holding the Vikings to a game low nine points and exhausting the Vikings, which set up the offense for open looks with good ball movement to skilled outside shooters. The Panthers went on a 7-2 spurt to start the fourth quarter to build some cushion, as the defense never let Smoky Valley land that knockout punch and took the 61-52 victory.
Against Riley County, the Panthers were victorious 73-58.
In a competitive start to the game with two different styles, the Panthers’ physicality matched with Riley County’s finesse, the Falcons held a slim 10-9 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Panthers tied it up 13-all with 2:04 remaining, but the Falcons held a slim 18-15 lead to end the first quarter.
The Falcons opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run, and the deep ball was working to keep the Panthers at bay as they took a 10-point lead, 31-21, with 3:42 remaining. The Panthers were able to tighten up and closed the quarter on an 11-4 spurt, capped by a Grayson Farha deep ball to make it a three-point game, 35-32, entering halftime.
An opening three from the Panthers tied the game 35-35, but an 8-0 Falcon run gave them the lead back. The Panthers were able to fight back every time Riley County tried to pull away and got the lead back down to one, 51-50, with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the score that would start the fourth quarter.
The Panthers took the lead on an Ian Loudermilk layup to open the fourth quarter, which was the start of a 9-0 run as the Falcons’ hot shooting went cold and was held off the board for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. After finally scoring on a free throw with 3:52 remaining, the Falcons were put away by the Panthers as Concordia scored 14 points in the final four minutes to the Falcons’ seven, as the Panthers advanced to 2-0 on the season with a 73-58 win.
