Panthers notch two wins in opening week

   A pair of home games opened the season for the Monticello boys varsity basketball team and resulted in two Panther wins.

   The season opener on Dec. 2 was a 66-59 Panther win over Alburnett, before a 69-36 toppling of Durant on Dec. 5.

Monticello 66, Alburnett 59

   Against the Pirates, Conley Schauf connected for three on the opening possession to give Monti the early lead. The Panthers extended that lead to 9-0 after four-point play from Schauf and forced an Alburnett timeout with 6:26 left in the first quarter.

   A triple from Caiden Bueckers got the Pirates on the board, but after a stretch of back-and-forth baskets and a three from Luke Welter with 4.4 seconds left, the Panthers led 17-12 after one quarter.

   Monti used a 10-0 scoring run to start the second quarter and push their lead to 15, before a three from Bueckers made it 27-15 with 4:40 left in the second quarter. The Panthers outscored the Pirates 12-8 in the last four minutes of the half and took a 39-23 lead into the break.

   Alburnett cut the deficit 12, outscoring Monti 19-15 in the third quarter to make the score 54-42 after three quarters. The Pirates kept pace in the fourth quarter as well, winning the frame 17-12 to make the final Panther lead just seven points.

   “We ran out of gas in the second half a little bit,” Panther coach Tim Lambert said. “In the first half, we had good energy, I thought the ball moved better and our defense was better. The second half, we just have to be more urgent defensively. We have to realize that getting stops is important.

   “I thought our ball movement was crisp in the first half, we got some threes which always helps, but we just looked gassed in the second half. So, we’re just gonna get in better shape and grind more on defense. I thought, for as young as we are around our seniors, it’s a good win.”

(vs. Alburnett)

Monti......... 17  22  15  12    66

Alburnett.... 12  11  19  15    59

TEAM STATISTICS

                       Monti    Alb.

FG Made-Att........... 23-52  23-46

3PT Made-Att........... 9-27   8-19

FT Made-Att............ 11-15     5-7

Rebounds...................... 28      26

Assists............................. 14      13

Steals................................. 5       6

Blocks................................ 2       1

Turnovers......................... 8      12

Fouls.................................. 6      16

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Conley Schauf 31 (10-21); Alex Jamison 15 (7-13); Luke Welter 12 (4-6); Hayden Hackney (1-7); Lincoln Schneiter 2 (1-4); Mac Burkle 2 (0-0)

Three-pointers (Made-Att) – Schauf 4-10, Welter 4-6, Hackney 1-7, Schneiter 0-2, Jamison 0-1, Mason McAtee 0-1

Rebounds – Burkle 7, Schauf 5, Schneiter 5, Jamison 5, McAtee 3, Hackney 2, Welter 1

Assists – Jamison 7, Schauf 3, Schneiter 2, Burkle 1, Welter 1

Steals – Schauf 2, Welter 2, Jamison 1

Blocks – Schauf 2

Monticello 69, Durant 36

   Back at home on Dec. 5 against Durant, the Panthers picked up win No. 2 on the season, dominating the Wildcats 69-36.

   “We are off to a good start and hope to continue to get better as the schedule keeps getting tougher with some big road games coming up,” Lambert said.

   After a scoreless opening three minutes against Durant, Schauf cashed a triple with 4:54 left in the first quarter to give his team a 3-0 lead. Owen DeLong got Durant on the board with a drive and score, but the Panthers went on a 10-0 to take a 13-2 lead with 2:33 left in the opening quarter. After the opening quarter, Monti led 17-4.

   After trading baskets to start the second quarter, an old-fashioned three-point play from Alex Jamison put the Panthers up 21-7 with 6:48 left in the second quarter. An offensive rebound and putback for Jamison made it 30-18 with just under two minutes left until halftime, before a bucket from DeLong moved the score to 31-20 with 46.4 seconds left until halftime. Jamison put the Panthers up 34-20 at the break, after drilling a triple with 4.6 seconds left.

   Jamison started the third quarter the same way he ended the second, knocking down a triple from the top of the key. This one put his team up 37-20 with 6:41 left in the third. The lead hit 20 after a basket-and-one from Lincoln Schneiter made it 40-20 with 6:06 left in the third. The Panthers dominated the rest of the quarter, giving up just six points and taking a 59-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

   Welter nailed a corner three to start the fourth quarter scoring and, after a lay-in from Jamison, the Panthers led 63-26 with 6:42 left in the game. Schauf’s steal and score made it 65-26, and a pair of buckets from Carter Holub finished Monti’s scoring. Durant got late threes from Aaron Kruse and Liam Olderog to close out their scoring.

   “We are getting better on defense, we just need to find five players who want to consistently perform on that end,” Lambert added. “I feel our offense is good, and the defense and urgency on defense need to catch up to the offense.”

(vs. Durant)

Monti......... 17  17  24  11    69

Durant......... 4  16    6  10    36

TEAM STATISTICS

                       Monti

FG Made-Att........... 28-53

3PT Made-Att........... 8-19

FT Made-Att................ 5-8

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

Assists............................. 18

Steals................................. 6

Blocks................................ 1

Turnovers....................... 10

Fouls............................... 16

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Alex Jamison 30 (13-17); Conley Schauf 11 (4-12); Mason McAtee 9 (4-6); Mac Burkle 6 (2-3); Carter Holub 4 (2-3); Hayden Hackney 3 (1-4); Lincoln Schneiter 3 (1-2); Luke Welter 3 (1-3)

Three-pointers (Made-Att) – Jamison 3-4, Schauf 2-6, Hackney 1-3, McAtee 1-2, Welter 1-3, Reid Hinrichs 0-1

Rebounds – Jamison 8, Burkle 8, Schauf 6, Hackney 5, Wyatt Lansing 3, Schneiter 1, Holub 1

Assists – Schauf 7, Hackney 6, Jamison 3, Landry Schauf 1, Luke Welter 1

Steals – Conley Schauf 3, Jamison 1, Burkle 1

Blocks – Jamison 1

RIVER VALLEY CONFERENCE

Boys Basketball Standings

        North Division

TEAM                    Conf.      Ovr.

Bellevue                    1-0        3-0

Monticello              1-0        2-0

Anamosa                  1-0        1-1

Cascade                    0-0        3-0

Northeast                 0-0        2-1

Beckman                   0-0        1-1

Camanche                0-0        0-1

Maquoketa                0-0     0-2