Panthers get by West Branch in district play

   After a 15-6 regular season record, the Monticello boys basketball team earned the top seed in District 8 of the Class 2A, Substate 4 bracket and opened postseason play with a 53-46 win over West Branch on Feb. 19 inside Monticello High School. Conley Schauf led the Monti attack with 29 points.

   “We knew going in that it’d be a hard game,” Panther coach Tim Lambert said. “They’re senior heavy and in the preseason, PrepHoops had them as a team to watch in 2A. So, we knew it would be hard.”

   West Branch scored the first points of the contest and led for the entirety of the first quarter. Alex Jamison hit a three for the Panthers with 1:05 left, but the Bears led 10-8 after one frame.

   The teams traded baskets to start the second quarter before West Branch pushed out to a 23-15 lead halfway through the quarter. The Panthers responded, going on a 10-2 run over the last three minutes of the frame. Schauf hit a pair of triples, one of them an “and-one” and Luke Welter came off the bench to knock down a three. It was all tied up at halftime, 25-25.

   “I didn’t think we played very well in the first half and we were tied. So, we felt pretty good about that,” Lambert said. “We told the kids, ‘we played about our C (graded) game and we’re tied.’”

   Monti outscored the visitors 18-9 in the third quarter, after it was tied 34-34 with 3:20 left in the frame. In those last three minutes, the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to lead 43-34 after three quarters.

   A bucket from Mac Burkle, a triple and two free throws from Schauf and a put-back basket from Jamison made up the run.

   The Bears won the fourth quarter 12-10, but the Panthers third-quarter run and late free throws kept them in front.

   “We’ve talked all season about trying to have single-digit quarters defensively,” Lambert added. “In the third, we held them to nine and scored 18, those are huge. I think we kind of survived the first half and then locked our D down a little better and got the win.”

Feb. 19

(Class 2A, District 4 Second Round vs. West Branch)

Monti...... 8  17  18  10    53

WB........ 10  15    9  12    46

TEAM STATISTICS

                                Monti

FG Made-Att........... 18-48

3PT Made-Att........... 7-24

FT Made-Att............ 10-13

Rebounds...................... 32

Assists............................... 7

Steals................................. 4

Blocks................................ 3

Turnovers....................... 12

Fouls............................... 14

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Conley Schauf 29 (9-23), Alex Jamison 12 (5-9), Mac Burkle 4 (2-3), Luke Welter 3 (1-2), Landry Schauf 2 (0-2), Lincoln Schneiter 2 (1-4); Three-pointers (Made-Att) – C. Schauf 4-11, Jamison 2-4, Welter 1-2, Schneiter 0-1, L. Schauf 0-2, Hayden Hackney 0-4; Rebounds – Burkle 12, Schneiter 7, C. Schauf 4, Jamison 4, Hackney 3, Welter 2; Assists – Hackney 3, C. Schauf 2, Jamison 1, Burkle 1; Steals – C. Schauf 1, Hackney 1, Schneiter 1, Burkle 1; Blocks – Jamison 1, Welter 1, Burkle 1

RIVER VALLEY CONFERENCE

Boys Basketball Standings

        North Division

TEAM                      Div.      Ovr.

Bellevue                  12-2      20-3

Northeast               11-3      16-7

Monticello              9-5     16-6

Cascade                    9-5      15-7

Beckman                   8-6    13-10

Maquoketa               5-9      8-13

Anamosa                2-12      4-18

Camanche              0-14      1-21