A big win, and a milestone; Ries surpasses 1,000 career points

   The sting of two early-week losses was relieved in a couple of big ways Friday for the Monticello boys basketball team.

   The Panthers (7-5, 11-6) edged neighboring rival Cascade 48-45 Jan. 27 at Cascade. In the process, junior Preston Ries reached and surpassed the career 1,000-point mark while scoring 34 points Friday.

   He is the third Panther to do so – Justin Recker reached it two years ago and Tate Petersen achieved it earlier this season. Ries is the first one to go over 1,000 while still a junior.

   “What a competitor,” Monticello coach Tim Lambert said. “He has such a will to win. He has performed at such a high level.”

   Asked about the milestone after the game, Ries said, “It’s another game. It’s good that we won. It doesn’t mean anything if you’re not winning.”

   This one meant quite a bit to the Panthers, who lost at home against West Delaware Jan. 23 by a score of 58-54, then lost at Dyersville Beckman 52-45 Jan. 24.

   The Cascade game was extremely close. Monticello led 11-9 after one quarter, trailed 27-23 at halftime, regained a 39-38 lead after three, and fell behind again for most of the fourth quarter.

   Fittingly, it was Ries who put the Panthers ahead for good, stepping back to hit a three-point shot with 1:56 to play to make it 44-43, Monticello.

   “He wants the ball in his hands in big situations,” coach Lambert said.

   Tate Petersen followed with a big steal and lay-up to give the Panthers a three-point lead.

   The Cougars cut it to one with 1:18 to go, then had to foul four straight times to get the team total to seven and put Monticello at the line.

   Ries took the ball and sank two clutch free throws for a 48-45 lead with 22.0 seconds left.

   Then it was the Panthers’ turn to give fouls – one with 11.1 seconds left and one with 5.2 – and Cascade was unable to get off a last-second shot.

   Ries also had 13 rebounds to complete a double-double. Six of those were on the offensive end.

   Lambert said that in addition to Ries’ performance, the team played well defensively, particularly against Cascade sharpshooter Jackson Lieurance, who had 17 points but only three after halftime.

   “I thought we played very hard, and very smart, defensively,” the coach said. “When (Cascade) set screens, everybody did a better job of recognizing that.”

   Ries said it felt good to be back in the win column.

   “We’ve been in a lot of close games and haven’t been able to pull through, and we finally got one, so it was good,” he said.

West Delaware game

   The West Delaware game was close throughout, until the Hawks opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 53-44 lead with 3:24 to play.

   A three-pointer by Tate Petersen closed the gap to three with 1:28 to go. West Delaware pushed the lead back to five, but after Petersen drew a charging call against the Hawks, Conley Schauf scored on a put-back to cut the Panther deficit to 57-54 with 25.1 seconds left.

   Cayden Gassmann of the Hawks went to the line with 15.8 seconds left, and hit the second of two free throws to make it a four-point lead, and the Panthers didn’t score again.

   “I don’t think, consistently, we play hungry enough,” coach Lambert said. “We’re good when we play hard. West Delaware played harder than we did.”

   Ries racked up 27 points and 16 rebounds for an impressive double-double, and Tate Petersen added 15 points.

Beckman game

   Beckman was in control of the Jan. 24 game most of the way, jumping to a 34-19 halftime lead, and leading by as many as 17, 48-31, early in the fourth quarter.

   The Panthers made a surge near the end. They outscored the Trailblazers 14-4 down the stretch, but the closest they came was the final margin of seven.

   A big factor was Beckman’s Padraig Gallagher, who totaled 25 points, while none of his teammates totaled more than nine. The Panthers were able to slow him a little with a box-and-one defense, but not completely.

   For Monticello, Ries had 20 points and nine rebounds. Petersen had nine points, seven rebounds and five assists. Schauf had eight points. Ian Temple had three points and four rebounds. Jack Lambert added three points, and Brady Gogel had two points and two assists.

   “Our focus now is to just keep getting better every possession,” Lambert said. “You find out what you’re made of in your toughest times. We’ve just got to keep fighting.”

Fulton game

Cancelled

   The Panthers were scheduled to play Jan. 28 as part of a basketball classic in Fulton, Ill., but did not attend due to Saturday’s snowstorm.

Jan. 23

W.Del.  15 12 16 15 – 58

Monti   15 12 15 12 – 54

     MONTICELLO (54) – Peyton Schilling 1-4 0-0 3, Gage Guilford 1-2 0-0 2, Conley Schauf 2-5 0-0 5, Tate Petersen 5-18 0-0 15, Preston Ries 12-20 1-2 27, Ian Temple 1-1 0-0 2, Jack Lambert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 1-2 54.

     Three-pointers – Petersen 5, Ries 2, Schilling 1, Schauf 1.

     Rebounds – West Delaware 29, Monticello 28 (Ries 16).

     Assists – West Delaware 13, Monticello 10 (Schilling 7).

     Steals – Monticello 8 (Petersen 3, Schilling 2, Ries 2), West Delaware 4.

     Blocks – West Delaware 4, Monticello 0. 

     Total fouls – Monticello 18, West Delaware 13.

     Turnovers – Monticello 12, West Delaware 11.

Jan. 24

Monti      9  10  11  15 – 45

DB         13  21   9    9 – 52

     MONTICELLO (45) – Gage Guilford 0-2 0-0 0, Conley Schauf 3-9 0-0 8, Tate Petersen 3-15 2-2 9, Preston Ries 7-16 5-10 20, Ian Temple 1-4 0-0 3, Jack Lambert 1-2 0-0 3, Brady Gogel 1-3 0-0 2, Chesney Capron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 7-12 45.

     Three-pointers – Schauf 2, Petersen 1, Ries 1, Temple 1, J. Lambert 1.

     Rebounds – Beckman 32, Monticello 28 (Ries 9, Petersen 7, Guilford 5, Temple 4).

     Assists – Beckman 14, Monticello 11 (Petersen 5, Ries 2, Gogel 2).

     Steals – Beckman 5, Monticello 4 (Petersen 2).

     Blocks – Beckman 5, Monticello 0.

     Total fouls – Monticello 16, Beckman 15.

     Turnovers – Beckman 14, Monticello 8.

Jan. 27

Monti      11 12 16  9 – 48

Cas          9  18 11  7 – 45

     MONTICELLO (48) – Brady Gogel 1-3 0-0 3, Jack Lambert 0-3 0-0 0, Conley Schauf 1-5 0-0 3, Tate Petersen 3-13 0-0 8, Preston Ries 12-18 7-8 34, Ian Temple 0-1 0-0 0, Peyton Schilling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 7-8 48.

     Three-pointers – Ries 3, Petersen 2, Gogel 1, Schauf 1.

     Rebounds – Monticello 22 (Ries 13, Petersen 4, Schauf 4), Cascade 21.

     Assists – Cascade 11, Monticello 10 (Gogel 4, J. Lambert 3, Petersen 2).

     Steals – Monticello 4 (Petersen 2), Cascade 3.

     Blocks – Cascade 1, Monticello 0.

     Total fouls – Monticello 11, Cascade 11.

     Turnovers – Cascade 9, Monticello 8.