Big second quarter leads to MHS romp

     Monticello already seemed well in control when it took a 17-6 lead over Wilton in a River Valley Conference boys basketball game Dec. 11 at Monticello High School.

     In the second quarter, the Panthers made sure.

     Monti had a 27-8 surge in the second quarter to take a 30-point halftime lead, on the way to a 80-31 victory over the Beavers.

     The difference between the first two quarters, Panther head coach Tim Lambert said, was being better able to apply full-court pressure in the second period.

     “You have to score to press,” he said, adding the Panthers struggled to score in the first quarter. “We couldn’t get the press going, and we couldn’t get the tempo going.

     “(In the second quarter) we started scoring, and it changed the whole game.”

     It was the only game for the Panthers (2-0) last week. Two others were postponed, at West Liberty Dec. 8 because of that school being online only, and Dec. 12 against Bellevue because of inclement weather. The games at West Liberty have been moved to Jan. 18. The Bellevue one was played Monday, after this paper went to press.

     Justin Recker scored 20 points to pace the Panthers, moving to within two of Dale Sperfslage’s all-time Panther career scoring record for boys. Recker was also 15 points away from 1,000 heading into the Bellevue game.

     Recker shot 10-for-14 from the field. Tate Petersen had 17 points and dished out eight assists. Luke Lambert was 3-for-5 from three-point range and finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Connor Lambert was the team’s rebounding leader with eight.

     Grahm Schneiter came off the bench to score nine points, and Preston Ries had eight.

Dec. 11

Wilton    6    8     5  12  – 31 

Monti   17  27  14  21  – 80

     WILTON (31) – Clayton Guyer 0-4 2-2 2, Colby Sawvell 2-7 1-2 5, Caleb Sawvell 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson Hull 2-8 1-3 5, Caden Kirkman 4-6 4-7 12, Landyn Putman 1-1 2-3 4, Mason Nolte 0-2 1-2 1, Lucas Durocher 0-1 0-0 0, Aidan Walker 0-4 0-0 0, Nolan Townsend 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-34 11-19 31. 

     MONTICELLO (80) – Justin Recker 10-14 0-0 20, Luke Lambert 5-8 0-0 13, Connor Lambert 1-6 0-0 3, Ty Kehoe 1-1 0-0 2, Tate Petersen 6-15 1-3 17, Caleb Sauser 1-1 0-0 2, Preston Ries 4-11 0-0 8, Riley Manternach 1-3 0-0 3, Grahm Schneiter 4-5 0-0 9, Jasper Nietert 0-1 0-0 0, Eian Weber 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Kuper 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Hospodarsky 1-2 0-0 2, Lucas Bartachek 0-0 0-0 0, Ian Temple 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Schilling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-67 1-3 79.

     Three-pointers – Petersen 4, L. Lambert 3, C. Lambert, Manternach, Schneiter.

     Rebounds – Monticello 38 (Ries 10, C. Lambert 8, L. Lambert 7, Wilton 20.

     Total fouls – Monticello 18, Wilton 7.

     Assists – Monticello 30 (Petersen 8, L. Lambert 6), Wilton 2.

     Steals – Monticello 14 (Petersen 4, Recker 3, L. Lambert 3), Wilton 8.

     Turnovers – Wilton 20, Monticello 10.