Monticello pulls away from Durant

     Monticello had outscored Durant in each of the first two quarters to build a 33-17 halftime lead in a Friday, Jan. 3 boys basketball game at Monticello High School.

     The lead was 17 midway through the third quarter when Justin Recker scored six straight points – the last four on a pair of thunderous dunks – to give the Panthers a 23-point lead and essentially put the game away. Monticello went on to win 57-29, staying unbeaten in the River Valley Conference at 6-0 and moving to 8-1 overall.

     It was the first game of the new year for both teams.

     “We shot well early,” Monticello coach Tim Lambert said, “but we looked a little choppy offensively.”

     The Panthers shot 24-for-41 from the field in this game (58.5 percent), including 6-for-12 from three-point range.

     Luke Lambert continued his hot shooting. After going 6-for-7 from beyond the arc in a Dec. 20 win over Tipton, he was 3-for-5 from long distance Friday. He finished with 15 points in this game.

     Recker was 6-for-8 from the field and finished with 13 points. Freshman Tate Petersen had seven points and three assists. Ty Kehoe had five points, and Devin Kraus added five points, and five rebounds.

     “Luke was really locked in,” the coach said. “And Justin is shooting over 70 percent from the floor, which is pretty amazing. He keeps getting better and better in the point.”

     The Panther defense held Durant to just 34.3 percent shooting from the field, and Monticello outrebounded the Wildcats 29-15, led by Luke Lambert with eight. Those stats were difficult to come by, with 6-7 Durant center Joe Lillenthal – said to weigh more than 300 pounds – as a presence in the middle.

     “Durant plays really hard, and that big kid in the middle was a tough matchup for us,” coach Lambert said.

     The Panthers had 17 assists as a team, led by Luke Lambert, Recker, Petersen and Kraus with three apiece. Connor Lambert and Recker had two steals each.

Jan. 3

Durant    7 10   7   5 – 29

Monti    17 16   8 16 – 57

     DURANT (29) – Drew DeLong 1-5 0-0 3, Jake Willkomm 0-2 0-0 0, Marcus Engstler 0-4 0-2 0, Brendan Paper 4-10 0-0 8, Joe Lillenthal 4-8 3-5 11, Nolan DeLong 1-2 0-0 0, Preston Wiese 1-3 0-0 2, Keagen Head 1-1 0-0 2, Logan Callison 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Hollenback 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 3-7 29.

     MONTICELLO (57) – Justin Recker 6-8 1-2 13, Luke Lambert 5-11 3-5 15, Connor Lambert 3-5 0-0 6, Ty Kehoe 2-4 0-0 5, Tate Petersen 3-6 0-0 7, Devin Kraus 2-2 0-0 5, Tyler Luensman 1-2 0-0 2, Jeff Carlson 1-1 0-0 2, Cade Folken 1-1 0-0 2, Brayden Cleeton 0-1 0-0 0, Riley Manternach 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Martensen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-41 3-4 57.

     Three-pointers: D. Delong, N. Delong; L. Lambert 3, Kehoe, Petersen, Kraus.

     Rebounds: Monticello 29 (L. Lambert 8, Recker 5, Kraus 5), Durant 15.

     Total fouls: Durant 11, Monticello 11.